‘Farcical’ Dáil row sees efforts to appoint a taoiseach fail

By Cillian Sherlock, Cate McCurry and Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The Government and opposition are blaming each other for a “farcical” row in the Dáil that saw efforts to appoint a taoiseach fail.

The Dáil parliament reconvened on Wednesday with the aim of appointing a taoiseach and Cabinet ministers after a coalition deal was struck between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and several independents.

Proceedings were disrupted by opposition several times over a row about opposition speaking time – whether the independents who negotiated and agreed the programme for government but who do not have ministerial roles should get opposition speaking slots.

The Ceann Comhairle suspended or adjourned proceedings four times on Wednesday, without a resolution.

A group of five opposition parties called on the leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to meet with them to resolve the issue ahead of the Dájl parliament reconvening at 9am on Thursday.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin, who was poised to become the next taoiseach, called chaotic scenes in the Dail a “subversion of the Irish Constitution”.

Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, who is set to become deputy Irish premier, or tanaiste, branded the oppositions actions “farcical” and “stunt politics on speed”.

“The most fundamental obligation of the Dáil is to elect a taoiseach and, indeed, to elect a government,” Mr Martin told reporters outside Government Buildings after the Dáil was adjourned for the day.

“That opportunity was denied today by a premeditated, co-ordinated and choreographed position by the opposition and particularly by Sinn Féin party.”

Mr Martin said there were numerous attempts to facilitate a resolution to a dispute on speaking time arrangements, but added: “It became very clear to us that there was no intention ever to reach agreement on the nomination of a taoiseach or a government today.”

He said there had been agreement to establish a Dáil Reform Committee which would have met at midday on Thursday.

The establishment of the committee would require the formation of a Government, which did not happen because of the adjournment of the Dáil.

Mr Harris, who spoke to the media alongside Mr Martin, said the events were “unprecedented” and “utterly farcical”.

“There was a clear majority of the people’s representatives ready, willing to elect Micheál Martin as taoiseach and to elect the next government and get on with the people’s work,” he said.

“Instead, what we saw was an effort to obstruct, an effort to shout down, an effort to disrespect the Ceann Comhairle and her constitutional office, and ultimately preventing a majority of the democratically elected representatives of Dáil Éireann to discharge their duty and their mandate to elect a taoiseach.

“Today was unprecedented, unseemly, and tomorrow Dáil Éireann must reconvene and must elect a taoiseach and get on with the urgent work of government.”

Five of the nine independents who entered into negotiations are due to be given junior ministries, with the remainder expressing for the Programme for Government but not taking up an official post.

The four remaining independents are seeking to a technical group, which is a mechanism designed to allow opposition TDs to sit in groupings of at least five to gain an allocation of speaking time.

This has been widely rejected by opposition parties – including Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats – who argue that the independents who ed the incoming government should not be allowed to technical groups.

As the Dail met to nominate a taoiseach from 11am on Wednesday, opposition TDs repeatedly objected to the order of business set out by the government chief whip and repeatedly interrupted proceedings.

Independent TD for Tipperary North Michael Lowry, who is among the independent TDs who took part in programme for government talks and want to speak during opposition time, said that there was an agreement reached at by 3.30pm that was then reneged upon.

Asked why Mr Lowry cannot resolve the row by using government speaking time, he said “I cannot do that”, suggesting that this was due to the regulations of the Dáil without specifying what they are.

“I’ve never seen such disrespect to any Ceann Comhairle in the history of the Dáil and I’m here 40 years,” he told RTE’s Six One programme.

At around 4.25pm, Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton told the chamber there was an agreement and the nomination process for a new taoiseach should proceed.

Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan took to his feet to begin nominating his party leader as taoiseach.

But of Sinn Féin – including Ms McDonald, Pearse Doherty and Chief Whip Padraig Mac Lochlainn – continued to interrupt the sitting and said there was no agreement.

Mr Doherty described the Ceann Comhairle’s attempts to proceed as a “disgrace”, while Mr Mac Lochlainn said it was “outrageous”.

Speaking to the media after proceedings, Mr Mac Lochlainn said that during negotiations chaired by clerk of the Dail Peter Finnegan to try to resolve the row, they asked government to acknowledge that Mr Lowry is a government TD.

“We repeatedly asked them to agree to that, they refused to do so,” he said. “So we made it clear that when we returned to the doll, that we were going to oppose the order of business for all the reasons that we had done so, we did not reach agreement.”

Ms McDonald, Labour leader Ivana Bacik, Social Democrats Cian O’Callaghan, Independent Ireland’s Michael Collins and People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett all said that there had been no agreement during that meeting.

Ms Bacik said that while the opposition parties had their differences, they could not accept a situation where TDs that agreed a programme for government were treated as part of the opposition.

“We simply cannot stand over a situation where those TDs who are actively engaged in ing and constructing a programme for government can somehow also be designated as opposition TDs. It’s simply not tenable. It’s a chaotic situation.”

“The very word democracy is at question here,” Mr Collins said, while Mr Boyd Barrett said it was “absolutely remarkable” that Mr Harris and Mr Martin were “allowing Michael Lowry and the Healy-Raes to sabotage the democratic process”.

“It doesn’t only undermine the opposition, it makes a mockery of the government themselves,” he said.

The Dail is due to reconvene again at 9am on Thursday where it is expected further attempts will be made to nominate and vote on a future taoiseach.