Latest news with #FiannaFáil
Irish Independent
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
25% increase in adult homelessness in Cork in the last 12 months
Corkman There has been a 25% increase in adult homelessness in Cork in the last 12 months. The latest homeless figures released on Friday, May 30 showed that 650 adults in Cork and 193 children in Cork and Kerry live in emergency accommodation. Nationally the number of people accessing emergency accommodation rose again last month. The number of people in emergency homeless accommodation across Ireland has increased to a record of 15,580, according to the latest Government figures. The data shows that 10,805 adults and 4,775 children were accessing emergency accommodation during the last full week of April. It is an increase of 1,571 in a year, when 14,009 people accessed emergency accommodation in April 2024. Reacting to the latest figures, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for 'letting' the emergency get worse. '25% increase in Cork adult homelessness in 12 months. It is not normal that 650 adults in Cork and 193 children in Cork and Kerry live in emergency accommodation. "Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are letting the housing emergency get worse and trying to make it normal. Shame on them,' he added. The people of Cork are being urged to attend the forthcoming 'Raise the Roof' housing protest in Cork City on Saturday, June 21. The Raise the Roof campaign includes a wide group of organisations including political parties, unions who represent older people, students, families and people with disabilities. The Cork TD encouraged as many people as possible to attend the housing protest. 'The housing protest will be held on June 21 in the Grand Parade at 2pm. It has never been more urgent. Let's fight back together.'
Irish Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The first cracks in the Coalition: ‘Some Independents you would not bring lion-hunting with you'
In December, when Government-formation talks were under way, a Fianna Fáil TD stopped for a chat on the steps of Leinster House. At that time there was still a possibility that Labour might be willing to make a deal. This Fianna Fáil TD clearly preferred that option. 'My gut instinct is to be supported by a bloc,' he mused. 'Labour is a bloc. The Independents have been trying to create one but the reason they are Independent is they have no whip. I worry about a shock.' READ MORE At that moment, an Independent TD appeared on the plinth before him. He nodded at the TD and remarked quietly. 'Some Independents you would not bring lion-hunting with you under any circumstances.' When Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and his Fine Gael counterpart began formation talks in earnest, one of their primary goals was to create a coalition with a working majority and that would be robust enough to last the full five-year term of the 34th Dáil. In the end they settled for a deal with the Healy-Rae brothers and a group of nine regional Independents TDs, whose chief negotiator was the controversial Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry . When the deal was brokered, Lowry used a by now infamous phrase, vowing support 'through thick and thin'. As has been shown over the past 30 years, most coalitions have some degree of intrinsic brittleness. In the first week of government in 2020, a Green Party TD (Neasa Hourigan) voted against a Government Bill on residential tenancies, and a newly appointed minister of State (Joe O'Brien) abstained. [ Barry Heneghan moves Dáil seat away from Michael Lowry to emphasise his 'independent' status Opens in new window ] Finian McGrath was a left-leaning Independent TD who supported the Fianna Fáil/Green coalition in 2007. When the economy starting hitting the buffers, and austerity measures were introduced, McGrath was frequently baited by the Opposition, who accused him of jettisoning his principles. When a harsh and punitive budget was announced on October 2008, McGrath withdrew his support. Intriguingly, McGrath, who retired from the Dáil in 2020, has acted as a mentor and adviser to Barry Heneghan , the 27-year-old TD representing Dublin Bay North. Heneghan is one of four Government-supporting Independents who does not have a ministerial role: Lowry, Gillian Toole , and Danny Healy-Rae are the others. On Wednesday night, Heneghan voted against the Coalition in favour of the Sinn Féin Bill that would have prevented the Central Bank approving a prospectus that allows Israel to sell bonds in the EU. So did his colleague Toole. Her vote took many people by surprise, as she has not been prominent in that group. The vote was 87 to 75 in favour of the government, still a comfortable margin. [ Independents Barry Heneghan, Gillian Toole vote against Coalition and in favour of Sinn Féin's pro-Palestine Bill Opens in new window ] Was this a once-off? Or was it a straw in the wind? Are we seeing the first flecks of rust in the superstructure? Toole said she had voted that way because of a lack of a detailed briefing from Government. For his part, Heneghan said: 'This is about standing up for international law and basic human rights.' Heneghan has learned over the past six months that when you are a freshman left-leaning TD supporting a centrist Government, there is no such thing as a shallow end. On the issue of Gaza in particular, he was harangued from the Opposition benches, and faced a social media pile-on when he pledged support for the Occupied Territories Bill but voted with the Government against a Sinn Féin motion on the Bill in March. McGrath went public to defend his protege, saying Heneghan would not 'bottle it' on the Bill when all the technical and legal flaws were resolved. 'Unlike many others he is not afraid to make tough decisions and step up,' he said. Heneghan on Thursday indicated that his inexperience told against him for that vote in March. In a sense the vote this week was him standing on his own two feet. Heneghan argues his commitment is to support the programme, financial measures, votes of confidence but there are other issues on which he can vote according to his conscience. Is this twin-track approach consistent and durable? He says it is. One of the five Independents with a ministerial office, Seán Canney, admits that a vote against the Government can cause problems but that this is not on a core issue. 'It's just that Barry and Gillian had a particular issue with this,' he says. 'It's not the case that they are gone, or anything like that. He adds a note of caution: 'It would not want to happen too often.' [ Records show what Independent TDs backing the Government want for their constituencies Opens in new window ] When you speak to Ministers from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael you are immediately struck by a notable sense of fatalism about future Independent defections. A Fine Gael Minister, speaking privately, points to what could be coming down the tracks, and some really tough decisions that might be necessary. 'If our people are voting against the Government on this, you can imagine how they will vote when it's something really unpopular,' says the Minister. A Fianna Fáil Minister, who does not wish to be named, says it is inevitable that the Government will shed numbers. 'It does not take a genius to figure out that the TDs who do not have ministerial gigs will be the flakiest,' he says. That said, nobody in Government is unduly concerned. None can foresee the current majority of 17 falling to single figures, even if a lion-hunting expedition becomes necessary.
Irish Examiner
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Paul Hosford: Jim O'Callaghan making up for lost time with leadership whispers
If a week is a long time in politics, five years is equivalent to a geological era. Go back a little over five years, and Jim O'Callaghan was the forgotten man of Fianna Fáil. Overlooked for a Cabinet position — ostensibly in favour of a party interloper in Stephen Donnelly — O'Callaghan rejected Taoiseach Micheál Martin's offer of a junior role, saying he would focus of strengthening the Fianna Fáil party. 'At a time when many of our party's senior members will be pre-occupied with their ministerial duties, I want to devote more time to strengthening our great party by making it a more attractive option for young voters,' he said at the time. 'I also believe Fianna Fáil needs strong voices outside government who can ensure that our party's identity can be protected during the term of this coalition government.' The pitch was clear as O'Callaghan set off on a covid-era road trip around the country, meeting party members and trying to position himself as their voice. The man inside the tent willing to shout out However, somewhere between covid lockdowns and a lack of spotlight, the assumption that the Dublin Bay South man would emerge as the obvious successor to Micheál Martin burned out without much incident. For a party which internally argued it needed to be stronger in Dublin, the idea of a Dublin TD with huge name recognition being somewhat sidelined was odd Micheál Martin's quiet control of his party and a lack of real openings meant that, for the most part, O'Callaghan was relegated to the backbenches for the last Dáil term. As the Cabinet reshuffle in 2022 came and went, there he remained — a high-profile TD who was a good media performer, but had to work to find something to perform. Fast forward to the election campaign of 2024, however, and something had shifted. While in 2020, Micheál Martin was perceived to have effectively ended any leadership aspirations O'Callaghan would have had by publicly offering him a junior role, knowing he would refuse, he was a key player in the 2024 campaign which saw Fianna Fáil come out the largest party in the Dáil. A large part of this was his utility in justice debates leading up to polling day, even sparking a sexism row with his now Cabinet colleague and predecessor in the role Helen McEntee. 'We need to build on the good proposals that Fianna Fáil came up with before,' he told RTÉ's Prime Time, effectively dismissing Ms McEntee's work as being built on his own ideas. 'Far more effective' When McEntee shot back that she had 'turned up' and he had refused the call to the junior ministerial ranks, O'Callaghan was quick to say that he had been 'far more effective as a backbench Fianna Fáil TD… than being the minister's assistant'. It was combative and hardly collegiate, but many in his party found it energising. Many attributed, unfairly in many cases, much of the coalition's woes to McEntee's performance. But this went further, in that it showed clear water between the two parties in a campaign which forced them to run on a joint record. Yet, Even his leading role in the campaign did not make him an automatic pick for many who read the cabinet tea leaves, with then junior justice minister James Browne among those who were tipped as potentially pipping him to the justice seat at Cabinet. At one point, an agreement where O'Callaghan would simultaneously be Attorney General and a TD was floated in the press — though this was never really seen as a runner. Due to his closeness to the justice role — he is a qualified barrister — O'Callaghan was seen by many as only fitting that role in the run-up to the announcement of ministers, which ended up being both delayed by a Dáil row and truncated by the incoming Storm Éowyn, though nobody who got the call to Áras an Úachtaráin that evening seems to have minded the short victory lap. When O'Callaghan's name was confirmed as justice minister, it marked an arrival at Cabinet that some felt was delayed. He has set about making up for lost time Perhaps aware of his predecessor's last few months under the microscope, since his appointment as justice minister, O'Callaghan has worked quickly to establish a public narrative that he is on top of his brief — particularly in the area of migration. Within weeks of the Government being formed, he was keen to publicise the fact that Ireland had commenced deportation flights to Georgia. A second flight followed weeks later. While these were an initiative kick-started under McEntee, and led to relatively small numbers of people being deported, they impress upon the public the idea that O'Callaghan is on top of the issue. Of course, some of this is circumstance — data shows there has been a 43% drop in applications for Ireland's asylum system here, compared to the same timeframe for last year — and he has been helped by the fact that large scale protests around individual sites for international protection services applicants have not been much of a feature in this year's discourse. However, O'Callaghan seems aware of perception as much as reality. To that end, his language is tougher than McEntee's. In an early radio interview he said 'too many people' are coming to Ireland seeking international protection who are not entitled to it. He upped that ante last month by proposing new laws around international protection that seeks to cut processing times and majorly cuts the usage of oral hearings, as he said the existing asylum laws in Ireland were not fit for purpose. Law and order O'Callaghan has leaned into the perception that he is a man of law and order and, to a large extent, it has worked. He has not fallen out with the garda rank and file members, but an ongoing struggle to fill the Garda Commissioner's job remains. Likewise, a pair of high-profile stabbings in Dublin early in his tenure did not become the crises they might have and this week's extradition of Sean McGovern, a senior figure in the Kinahan group, from Dubai was something put in train months ago — but was good news that happened on his watch. His decision this week to give a State apology to the family of Shane O'Farrell was the right thing to do, and avoided a subject which O'Callaghan had been vocal on from the backbenches becoming a problem in Government. All of this has seen O'Callaghan re-emerge as a name mentioned as a Fianna Fáil leader in waiting, whenever Martin departs Privately, members of the party believe that O'Callaghan has shown the political instincts that the party leader would need and is considered a better media performer than his most obvious rival: Public expenditure minister Jack Chambers. Those close to Martin insist he is going nowhere for now — he has over two years left of his second term as Taoiseach — but there is also a recognition that he cannot be the leader forever. Sources in the party say that O'Callaghan's challenge is to avoid becoming a lightning rod for the coalition — easier said than done from a beefed-up justice portfolio which once again includes migration. Along the way, he has to avoid controversies in a department which has derailed potential party leaders on a number of occasions, many through scandals and controversies which nobody could have foreseen. While many consider him the current leader in the non-existent-but-still-kind-of-happening-but-also-not-happening race to succeed Martin, that is based largely on a good start to his time in justice. However, as the saying goes, a good start is half the work.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Ireland on a journey from solid fuel to clean and green
In 1939, the painter Séan Keating produced a mural for the Irish pavilion at the World Fair in New York. The theme of the Fair was 'The World of Tomorrow'. Keating's mural depicts the monumental Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power station built in 1929, a twin propeller Aer Lingus plane and, in the middle, a mechanical peat excavator representing the fledgling peat industry. The Turf Development Board was established in 1934 by the newly elected Fianna Fáil Government. In the early 1930s, turf was entirely cut by hand and was largely for domestic use. Coal was the predominant fuel in the country, imported from Britain with infrastructure and logistics to support it — from Dublin port to the coal hatches built into Victorian houses. Unlike the modern feat of engineering represented by Ardnacrusha, the traditional practice of turf-cutting was associated with backwardness and poverty, a legacy of the colonial era. One Fine Gael TD, opposed to the development of an indigenous turf industry, quipped: 'I never thought that the day would come in this country when a Bill would be introduced into our Parliament purporting to solve unemployment by turning the people's eyes to the bogs of Ireland.' Thirty years later, the Bellacorrick turf-fuelled power station was opened with a celebratory dance in Crossmolina town hall. The Western People declared it the 'event of the century', noting that fifty years earlier, the realisation of such a project would have been more unlikely than an independent Irish state. Eighty people were employed in the power station, three hundred on the bog, providing electricity to rural households, farms and businesses. The familiar story of Irish modernisation begins with Séan Lemass ushering in T.K. Whitaker's new economic policy in the early 1960s. This periodisation insists that the Ireland that came before 1960 was backward, inward-looking and conservative. But where does this leave Séan Keating's confident mural depicting a brave new modern Republic? Where does it leave the history of Ireland's peat industry, initially a project of sovereign development and energy decolonisation? And how does this history speak to the present conjuncture of climate crisis, energy insecurity, and Ireland's geopolitical alignments in an uncertain world system? Energy decolonisation In 1956, Todd Andrews, who established the Turf Development Board, gave an address to the Statistical and Social Enquiry Society of Ireland entitled 'Some Precursors Of Bord Na Mona'. He gave generous praise to individuals who were 'characterised by abundance of public spirit' but whose 'endeavours were dissipated in the unpropitious social, economic and political climate of their times.' This climate was, in a word, colonialism. Some might dismiss Andrews' reading as outdated anti-colonial sentiment. But this is to gloss the material ways in which colonialism structures the economic activity of colonised countries, including after formal independence. Dependence on British coal fundamentally constrained Southern Ireland's capacity to embark on energy-intensive, industrial development. The creation of an indigenous turf industry was thus a project of energy decolonisation. Efforts to develop an indigenous energy industry were blocked not only by Britain, but by Irish coal merchants and their associated economic and political allies. When coal merchants were required to sell a certain amount of turf for every unit of coal, W. T. Cosgrave, leader of Fine Gael, argued that this was 'an interference with the citizen's ordinary right to purchase whatever commodity he requires'. The national media aligned with Cosgrave's position, raising the 'spectre of socialism'. To break the status quo, to initiate something new, required state intervention at scale. After World War Two, Bord na Móna was established with new authority and resources to purchase land, embark on 10-year development plans, and to finance these plans through long term, low-interest loans from the state. Within a decade, Ireland had its first turf-fired power stations and the development of 24 new bogs producing over a million tonnes of turf a year. A New Internationalism In 1936, an Irish delegation led by Todd Andrews visited Finland, Germany and Russia. Weismoor was the showpiece of the German turf industry and a tourist attraction for residents of Bremen and Hamburg who came to visit the large glass houses heated with surplus heat from the turf-powered station. Andrews also observed the neat and comfortable houses of those who worked the bogs. 'I made up my mind then', he writes in his memoir, 'that if ever I had the opportunity, I would recognise as a priority the value of maintaining a decent environment for people at work.' For Andrews, these visits demonstrated that turf was not a source of derision or backwardness, but the basis of modern ways of living if only the proper infrastructures and planning were put in place. Between 1950-57, the Bord na Móna research station in Kildare recruited new engineering and agricultural science graduates to experiment with techniques and technologies for exploiting turf. As this expertise developed, it was only right that Ireland hosted the first International Peat Symposium in 1954, with delegates from fifteen countries. At a time when thousands were taking to boats, the Midlands of Ireland saw internal migration in the 1950s and 1960s as the peat industry grew. Bord na Móna was the only semi-state that built housing for its workers. Frank Gibney, a modernist architect and planner, was commissioned to design 'worker villages' from Kildare to Roscommon. These housing developments represented for Andrews, 'the fulfilment of a process aimed at industrialising a rural population while at the same time improving rather than disrupting its environment'. Energy sovereignty According to Todd Andrews, Bord na Móna would not have been possible without Frank Aiken. Better known for his role as Minister for Foreign Affairs through the 1950s and 1960s, Aiken had always been a strong advocate of national industry and the development of indigenous resources. Bord na Móna needed this support. Even the ESB, the main purchaser of peat, was cool towards the industry, understanding that coal, and then oil, offered a more reliable, efficient and, ultimately, cheaper source of fuel for generating electricity. In 1956, Bord na Móna had to lay off technical workers because the ESB refused to purchase more peat. Aiken questioned the Fine Gael Minister responsible: 'Does the Minister think it good national policy to depend on imported coal and oil for the generation of electricity?' The late 1950s was a pivotal moment in Ireland's economic development. Under strong pressure from the US, the country was shifting away from indigenous industrialisation, towards an economy reliant on foreign direct investment. This would ultimately involve new forms of dependency on the US and EEC, undermining what indigenous industry existed, including in the energy sector. Sovereign development means being less dependent on powerful states, such as Britain or the US. This in turn enables a country like Ireland to act more confidently on a world stage. Frank Aiken is best known for representing Ireland at the UN, speaking in favour of the People's Republic of China, supporting decolonisation across the Third World, and pushing for nuclear non-proliferation. Such principled positions were attacked by the opposition in Ireland for putting off US industries and investment. As he advanced Ireland's policy of neutrality and multilateralism in the UN, Aiken also advanced support for newly independent countries across the Third World through solidaristic aid and cooperation. In 1964, Aer Lingus trained up to 80 African and Asian engineers and pilots in the maintenance and flying of planes, while Bord na Móna co-operated with the Government of Pakistan in initiating peat development in that country. Reclaiming the past We should always avoid the trap of nostalgia. But we also need to recognise that history is not a linear path. Despite what we are told, Irish modernity does not begin and end with entry into the EEC and the arrival of US companies. There are modernisation paths that were not taken, promises unfulfilled, that speak to us with new relevance today. At a time when Ireland is doubling down on its dependence on US fossil fuels with Shannon LNG, we should remember our historic struggle for energy sovereignty against Western imperial powers; as Ireland's energy transition is increasingly dictated by the needs of US tech companies and their data centres, we should remember the public ethos and social priorities that drove the development of Bord na Móna; and as we face a situation in which Ireland has abundant offshore wind energy and yet the highest energy prices in the EU, we should remember the political ambition and state planning required to build an indigenous turf industry from the ground up.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
Fuel prices fall across Ireland as diesel drops 9c and petrol eases at the pumps
Fuel prices in Ireland have experienced a decline this May following a stable period, according to the latest AA Ireland Fuel Price Survey. Petrol prices have decreased by 4c per litre, while diesel has seen a significant drop of 9c per litre. In contrast, the running costs for electric vehicles (EVs) have remained unchanged for the third consecutive month. This drop in fuel prices can be attributed to a mix of factors, including slightly lower global oil prices, improved supply conditions, and a stronger euro against the US dollar, which has reduced import costs for fuel in Ireland. A spokesperson for AA Ireland stated, "It's good to see some easing at the pumps for petrol and diesel drivers, who've been paying more in recent months. These kinds of savings, even just a few cents, can add up quickly — especially for those with longer commutes or larger vehicles." Drivers are encouraged to compare fuel prices locally and seek ways to reduce their fuel expenses. "If you shop around — especially in border counties — you'll often find cheaper rates than the national average," the spokesperson added. EV owners continue to benefit from stable running costs, particularly those using night-rate electricity plans and home-charging options. Read More Fianna Fáil TD apologises for inaccurate Dáil claim about British army actions in Ireland
