Latest news with #LeinsterHouse
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
The Indo Daily: Election fraudster linked to Healy-Rae family firm
This unusual case of voter fraud first played out in a district court in Kenmare. But what initially seemed like a local matter has now become a national story, with Fine Gael senator Mike Kennelly using his speaking time in Leinster House to call for a thorough investigation. 'We had voter impersonation at Kenmare polling station at the local and European elections in June 2024, caught on CCTV… I called for a thorough investigation into the facts of the incident last week, and we still need clarity about how this was quietly hushed up. It has made a mockery of our democracy.' But how did the man pull off the voting fraud in the first place? Who put him up to it? How often does this kind of thing happen in Ireland, and what is his connection to the Kerry political dynasty of the Healy-Raes? Today, Tabitha Monahan is joined on The Indo Daily by Kerryman journalist Sinead Kelleher, and by Ireland Editor at the Irish Independent Fionnán Sheahan, to look at the details of this unusual case and to ask how one vote could go from a local court to the national parliament.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Budget to focus on long-term gains at cost of short-term pain
TDs and senators may well have departed Leinster House for the summer recess but Tuesday will see not one but two major political set pieces. The summer economic statement (SES) will set the stage for this year's budget and how much the Government is likely to splash out when it comes to spending and tax measures. The revised National Development Plan (NDP) will lay out the trajectory for perhaps the next 10 years – and as much as €200 billion – in investment in housing , hospitals, roads, rail and schools. All of this happening at a time of deep economic uncertainty caused by the prospect of a full-scale trade war over US president Donald Trump 's threats of punishing tariffs on goods from the European Union . READ MORE The messaging from Government Buildings has been clear for some time that the budget giveaways of recent years are a thing of the past. One-off cost-of-living measures are highly unlikely to feature when Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers take to their feet in the Dáil on budget day. As part of the SES, Cabinet colleagues are set to be put on notice too that they will have to rein in current spending, which has risen as part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and other economic shocks. As The Irish Times reported last week , increases in current spending of 8 to 9 per cent in recent years are expected to be reduced significantly, perhaps towards 5 per cent. This could have implications for budgetary questions such as the increase in welfare rates. The period leading up to budget day will see intense negotiations as Ministers seek to carve out the biggest possible slice of the pie for their departments amid constraints not present in recent years. They had practice in recent weeks as they made requests as part of the revision of the NDP. Departments where allocations were agreed over the weekend include transport – set to get increased funds generally and money earmarked for MetroLink – education and defence. Minister for Housing James Browne – who has been awaiting the NDP as he develops the Government's new housing plan – had big asks. These are not only in terms of funds to help meet housing targets, but also to cover investment in water services to pave the way for home building. There is also the need to fund financial assistance to people with homes affected by defective concrete blocks. NDP talks on housing were said by one source to have been 'heated', though Mr Chambers sought to play down any tensions during an interview on RTÉ radio on Sunday. Talks were said to be ongoing as of last night. There was no confirmation that allocations for health – where negotiations have also gone to the wire – have been agreed yet either. This week's NDP update will be more focused on the sums involved than specific infrastructure projects to be funded. Ministers are expected to outline specific programmes and investment as part of the budget. There is already pressure from the Opposition over the likely elimination of one-off cost-of-living measures, with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald telling the Dáil last week that people 'desperately need' help. The Coalition may well learn if announcements of plans for spending large sums on yet-to-be-delivered infrastructure projects – albeit many of them badly needed – will make up for a lack of energy credits and double welfare payments on budget day in the eyes of the public.
The Journal
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
The Dáil schedule is broken and there appears to be no appetite from politicians to fix it
DID YOU KNOW that the Dáil only sits three days out of the week, with work on a Tuesday starting at 2pm. This results in government business and opposition questioning being crammed into a tight schedule, with late-night sittings almost always an inevitability. Just recently, the support staff who work in Leinster House said that they didn't get to leave work one night until 2am. Not only is this just not a great way to foster a nice workplace, it's not family-friendly and it also incurs costs in overtime and transport costs to get people home in the late-night hours. So why does Leinster House operate this way? Well, having Mondays and Fridays off is meant to allow politicians tend to their constituency work, while the late start on a Tuesday was also explained away as to allow TDs who live rural areas time enough to make the journey to Dublin. The Dáil also only sits 33 weeks of 52 in a year. On Thursday this week, the politicians went on holidays and won't be returning until mid-September. But in a time of great uncertainty and with widespread acknowledgements that we are living in the midst of a housing and cost-of-living crisis, not to mention looming global threats from US tariffs, is it okay for Leinster House to cram its work into a short work-week and to shut up shop for such an extended period of time over the summer months? Many would say it is not and there's a better, more functional way for our parliament to work. These observations are not new. In fact, for over a decade, there has been debate, recommendations and some tinkering around the edges to change things. But nothing has really ever stuck or improved things. Stretching out the working week On the back of the 2008 crash, politicians were feeling the heat from the public and pressure was on them to up their game and their workload, but it also meant stretching out the week. In 2011, it was agreed that that Dáil would meet more often and sit earlier in the day in what was viewed at the time as the most significant package of Dáil reforms in decades. The new rules meant that more TDs were required to sit in the Dáil chamber for the duration of debates, while the formula of sittings also be changed to allow for more daily topical debates. Advertisement It stretched-out the working week, with sittings adjourning earlier at night, but continuing into Friday mornings, initially on a once-a-month basis. Thursday's sittings also included a new session of Leaders' Questions, something that has stuck around since. At the time, Friday sittings were devoted entirely to allowing opposition parties and backbenchers introduce proposals for new laws. One of the key changes was also a reduction in the amount of recess time over Christmas, Easter and summer. Dáíl chamber Oireachtas / Flickr Oireachtas / Flickr / Flickr At the time, the then Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe told The Journal that the changes resulted in the Dáil sitting around 42% more than it did under the previous administration. He said the changes also allowed for more opportunities for legislation coming from the opposition side of the house to be debated in the Dáil. At the time, Niall Collins, who is now a government minister, was on the opposition benches as Fianna Fáil's justice spokesperson and was all for the Dáil being utilised more. Friday sittings He told The Journal in 2011 that the Dáil was not sitting nearly enough. Not only was he in favour of the Dáil sitting on a Friday, he said committees should also, stating: 'If we're going to have the Dáil sitting and the cost associated with it then we must have all aspects of it functioning and not just the optics.' He dismissed claims that it would costing a huge amount of money – some estimating at the time that it could cost around €90,000 for the Dáil to stay open on a Friday. Collins said such a claim was 'absolute rubbish', stating that the Dáil is open either way on a Friday. 'The only extra thing you are doing, you have the chamber open and a number of staff. These staff are in the building either way and the more you use a chamber the less it costs. That's the way I would put it,' he said. In the end, Friday sittings were done away with, along with any momentum to stretch out the Dáil working week. Fast forward ten years, to 2021, and the discussions around how to make Leinster House more functional and more family friendly were still going on. In 2021, the former Ceann Comhairle, Fianna Fáil's Seán Ó Fearghaíl published a report from the 'Forum on a Family Friendly and Inclusive Parliament'. Current politicians such as Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns and Minister of State Neale Richmond, sat on the forum, along with other experts and stakeholders. Related Reads Racism, doxxing and assaults among dozens of incidents of abuse of 2024 election candidates Late-night sitting hours One of the forum's priority recommendations included: 'Reduce long, late and unpredictable sitting weeks With immediate effect, Members and political parties and groups are to facilitate appropriate flexible working and remote working arrangements for their staff to address the long sitting hours, until other recommendations to eradicate long hours have been implemented.' It also called on the Houses of the Oireachtas Service to address areas where staff are working very long, late and unpredictable hours to serve sittings. The report also said that by the end of the 33rd Dáil term, or until a referendum to amend Article 15 can be held, the Houses of the Oireachtas to introduce hybrid sittings of some Dáil, Seanad and Committee business where Members can choose to participate in certain business remotely or to be physically present. By September 2022, Dáil voting blocks should be moved within the weekly schedule, so that it is taken in the afternoon, the report recommended. Votes continue to be held late on Wednesday night, with votes in the last week being held after 10pm. The September 2022 deadline was also given to ensure that the Dáil, Seanad and committees holidays align with school holidays at Easter, Halloween and Christmas, as set out in Department of Education circulars. This is something that largely does appear to be in place now, though there might be mixed views as to whether this is a good or bad idea. One of the biggest ideas to come from that forum in 2021 was the idea to have a second Dáil chamber in Leinster House. It was viewed as a possible way to make working hours more family-friendly for politicians through parallel sittings. The idea being that simultaneous Dáil debates and discussions around a bill could be going on but topical issues could be discussed at the same time in another location. O'Fearghail said at the time that it would allow more work to be put into the week without the anti-social and unacceptable hours. However, despite €3.7 million being put into fleshing out the project over a three-year period, the plans were shelved earlier this year amid concern about a public backlash. What has happened since? Nothing. It appears the push to make Leinster House a more functional, family-friendly workplace, is as dead in the water as the second chamber idea. Maybe in ten years time we'll have another report with ideas to look forward to. It can sit on the shelve with the others to gather dust. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Thousands attend pro-Palestinian rally in Dublin
Thousands of people have taken part in a pro-Palestinian rally calling on the Irish Government to implement sanctions on Israel. Saturday's rally saw demonstrators march from the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square to Leinster House. Advertisement It was the 16th such demonstration since October 2023 and came after the Dáil rose for the summer recess. The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) accused the Irish Government of an 'absolute refusal to hold Israel accountable for a genocide in which the Apartheid state has slaughtered more than 58,000 Palestinians'. The march demanded an end to the Central Bank of Ireland's role in approving Israel Bonds for sale in the EU, for the Government to include services in the Occupied Territories Bill and to pass that legislation. It also called for an end to the use of Irish airspace for the transport of weapons to the region. Advertisement The group also criticised the Government after 33 Palestinian children were recently denied entry to Ireland over visa issues. GAA Palestine said it had to take the 'heartbreaking' decision to cancel a planned Irish tour for the children. Speaking ahead of the protest, IPSC chairperson Zoe Lawlor said: 'The Irish government is barely lifting a finger to end Ireland's deep complicity in this genocide.' Ms Lawlor added: 'On top of this we have the appalling spectacle of the state refusing visas to child medical evacuees and Palestinian kids to visit Ireland to play our national sports.' Advertisement Stretching along Molesworth Street in front of Leinster House was a 120ft long and 5.5ft wide quilt, made up of 2,300 panels. Each panel – the vast majority of which were knitted by hand – is designed to represent the deaths of 10 children in Gaza, adding up to a total of 23,000 children. Anna Doyle and Niamh Bonner, from Craftivism For Gaza, said they are still accepting squares as the death toll continues to rise. Ms Doyle told the PA news agency: 'Each square represents 10 children. Their voices have been lost to the world forever. Advertisement 'It also represents the voice of the crafter because most of them are made by people who wouldn't be able to come to a protest.'
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Miriam's Lord's Week: The gang's (almost) all here for the Healy-Rae hooley
Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae held a big hooley in Leinster House on Thursday for his general election team to thank them for helping him top the poll yet again in Kerry and return in triumph to the Dáil. About 100 people headed up from the Kingdom to enjoy a lunch 'hosted by Minister Michael Healy-Rae'. There was no mention on the printed menu of his brother Danny, the second member of team Healy-Rae to retain a seat in the constituency. There were drinks in the bar before the guests moved down the corridor to the Members' Restaurant, where they dined on roast chicken supreme with summer pea and asparagus cream, gratin potatoes and a medley of vegetables. READ MORE Dessert was caramelised lemon tartlet with a meringue crumb. At the end of the meal, Michael went into the kitchens and emerged with a birthday cake for team member Tom O'Shea from Waterville, who had just turned 70. The group brought it up from Maloney's cake shop in Castleisland and it was gorgeous. Earlier, they toured the House and popped into the Dáil and the Seanad, where the Cathaoirleach, Kerryman Mark Daly, made sure to mention them. 'They are guests of Danny and Michael Healy-Rae. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann. I hope they have an enjoyable day in Dublin and we'll all be back up the weekend after next for another enjoyable day in Dublin, please God, and we'll be bringing Sam Maguire back home.' [ Man who pleaded guilty to electoral fraud worked for Healy-Rae company, Fine Gael senator claims Opens in new window ] Danny didn't attend the lunch. The Healy-Rae contingent wasn't in the chamber when Kerry-based Labour Senator Tim Kennelly told the Upper House under Seanad privilege that a man who pleaded guilty in Kenmare District Court to election fraud worked for a plant-hire company owned by the family of Danny Healy-Rae. When contacted by The Irish Times on Thursday, Danny Healy-Rae said: 'I have no comment.' Who rubbed out Jack Lynch's pipe? Decades of political memory and experience, valued service to the State, grudges and begrudgery, huffs, cute-hoorism and hissy-fits all come together when the Irish Association of Former Parliamentarians meets in Leinster House. More than 50 blasts from the recent and distant past gathered last Friday for the association's agm, held this year in the airy confines of Fianna Fáil's parliamentary party rooms on the fifth floor. Guest speaker on the day was former president Mary McAleese, who gave a talk on her time in the Áras which included some fascinating detail on Queen Elizabeth's historic State visit in 2011. There was no discussion about who might fill her successor's shoes when his time is up in November. The large contingent of former Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators were also fascinated by a long-standing feature of the party room: the line of framed photographs of former leaders. They recalled the black-and-white portraits from their own days at parliamentary meetings. After the 2011 election, when the party had to give way to Enda Kenny and swap its fifth-floor penthouse for Fine Gael's dark and stuffy meeting room in the basement, the pictures came too. 'From as far back as I can remember, the leaders always started with De Valera and they ended with the most recent person,' said a former FF Oireachtas member. 'Left to right, Dev first. But now, it's the other way around. Micheál Martin is first and Dev is kinda last. Oh, and Micheál is the only one in colour.' But that wasn't the real talking point. 'We were looking at the row of photos and something wasn't quite right. Something was missing. Then somebody twigged it was Jack Lynch. Jack always had a pipe. Always,' recalled our former parliamentarian. 'This was a new picture of Jack Lynch and he no longer has the pipe. Suppose we can't be doing with that sort of thing these days. So Jack's trademark pipe has been airbrushed from history. Honest to God. It's gone.' Wonder if the other Cork Taoiseach knows about this – the current full-colour incumbent who introduced the world's first workplace smoking ban in 2004? Classic Micheál, if you ask us. Soc Dems turn 10 Social policy professor turned Social Democrat TD Rory Hearne plays senior hurling on the housing crisis in the Dáil, and to unwind he has returned to junior hurling with his local club, Whitehall Colmcilles. The Dublin North-West TD is enjoying the game so much he decided to organise an end-of-term cross-party GAA knockabout for colleagues in Leinster House. There are regular rugby and soccer matches between Oireachtas members but Gaelic games haven't had much of a look-in. A small but enthusiastic group assembled in the grounds of Trinity College Dublin, where their host, Provost Linda Doyle, watched the politicians thrash about in the rain in the name of sport. They attempted a game of football as well as the hurling. Dublin legend Michael Darragh Macauley, along with Cormac Donohoe of the Dublin Masters team, tried to keep some semblance of shape on the proceedings. 'The only thing at stake was our dignity,' says Rory. 'There were no results. We decided to call everything a draw.' Among the politicians lining out were Fine Gael TDs Joe Neville (Kildare North), Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim), Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford), Sinn Féin's Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth) and Darren O'Rourke (Meath-East), Labour's Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South-West) and Marie Sherlock (Dublin-Central), Fianna Fáil's Peter 'Chap' Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny) and Kerry Labour Senator Mike Kennelly. TDs line out for a hurling match at Trinity College Dublin: 'The only thing at stake was our dignity' Now that they've established themselves, the players hope more TDs and Senators will sign up for a charity match they have planned for September, hopefully in Croke Park. Meanwhile, Hearne got back to Leinster House in time for the family photo with his fellow Soc Dems as the party marked 10 years since its foundation in 2015. Its three founding members have since left national politics. Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy retired at the last election and Stephen Donnelly, who defected to Fianna Fáil and was minister for health in the last government, lost his Dáil seat in November. He didn't join his erstwhile co-leaders at a celebratory dinner with the parliamentary party in the Members' Restaurant on Wednesday night. Stephen isn't totally out of the loop – he was in Glenties on Friday as one of the guest speakers at the MacGill Summer school, Ireland's Glastonbury for political anoraks. He was in good spirits, thanking his host for correctly identifying him as the former minister for health and not the current leader of Aontú. Former minister for health Stephen Donnelly and Jess Majekodunmi, managing director of human sciences studio at Accenture, at the MacGill Summer School. Photograph: North West Newspix 'I've had three people over the last 24 hours kind of look at me, put out the hand and go: 'It's Peadar Tóibín, isn't it!' So for any of you here who are still wondering, no, it isn't. Yes, we do look a little alike – he's a good-looking chap, nobody will take that from him ... but I'm not Peadar Tóibín.' And for good measure, he also stressed that he isn't the economist Dan O'Brien, the other person he is frequently mistaken for. Speaking of Donegal, we wrote last week about the Blaney family's 100 years of unbroken service at local level. A reader has been in touch to point out that they may well have sat on Donegal County Council since 1925 but, like all the other county councils, it was founded by the local government reforms of 1899. We, er, knew that. Horrible histories Congratulations to Sinn Féin's Chief Whip and spokesperson on fisheries and the marine who had some good news to announce on Wednesday. 'I have been appointed to be the convener of the Ireland-Norway Parliamentary Friendship Group by the Ceann Comhairle,' wrote Pádraig Mac Lochlainn in an email to all Oireachtas members. 'There is so much that we can learn from the Norwegian people, particularly how they have maximised the potential of the seas alongside them to create huge wealth and prosperity for their coastal communities. 'The connections between Ireland and Norway go back as far as the ninth century,' he added, inviting all TDs and Senators to contact him if they want to join the new friendship group. That's nice. Fair play to the Vikings. Not like those horrible Normans, who were descendants of Vikings and left behind a lot of historical baggage here too. Only last May, Pádraig's party colleague Aengus Ó Snodaigh was blasting the Government for approving plans for Ireland to participate in the Year of the Normans initiative along with other European countries. He said the proposal to celebrate the birth 1,000 years ago of England's first Norman King, William the Conqueror, whose successors subjugated Ireland, was 'offensive'. It was 'scraping the barrel of colonialism, imperialism and English royalism for themed tourism'. Mind you, conquest, pillage and rape was all the rage more than 1,000 years ago when the Scandinavian marauders established significant settlements around ancient Ireland and parts of Normandy. We hope Pádraig consulted Aengus about our ninth-century 'connections' with Norway before joining the friendship group. Bastille Day bash Liberté! Égalité! Fraternité! Buckets of Rosé! One of the last embassy garden parties of the summer diplomatic season was held at the French ambassador's residence on Monday night. The magnificent late 19th-century pile on Ailesbury Road has just reopened after a lengthy renovation. More than 1,200 guests joined Her Excellency Céline Place in her 1.75-acre back garden for the annual Bastille Day celebrations. All the political parties were represented. The Shinners were there, making a beeline for the ice-cream van when they arrived. They must have been happy to get out. They don't attend the UK embassy party and they had to boycott one of their favourite ones – the US ambassador's Fourth of July bash because of the US's stance on Gaza. Labour and the Social Democrats also snubbed Uncle Sam this year, although the members of Independent Ireland were happy to attend. They all came together to toast La République (proposed in a proud Cavan accent by Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam) and Ireland (proposed by the ambassador) and to hear Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill deliver a speech in fluent French. It was most impressive. There wasn't a frog's leg or a piece of fromage in sight but the wine flowed and waiters patrolling the lawns with magnums of Whispering Angel rosé were in great demand. Somehow, the denizens of Leinster House managed to regroup for their end-of-term parties on Wednesday night before the Dáil and Seanad rose on Thursday for the summer recess. They'll be back in mid-September.
