High noon in the House in Joan Burton-Mary Lou McDonald showdown

High noon in the House and it was time for another Dáil confrontation between Labour Tánaiste Joan Burton and Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald. The noon showdown, at Opposition Leaders’ Questions, is never a tame affair. Both are formidable parliamentarians; both parties will be seeking the same Dáil seats at the next general election.

The exchanges are always charged. They were so explosive this time the Dáil was adjourned three times by the Ceann Comhairle. The row centred on a claim by Sinn Féin TDs that the Tánaiste had linked their party to alleged paedophile Dómhnall Ó Lubhlaí, a prominent Irish language activist who died last year. McDonald had raised claims being made by one of his victims that he was not getting justice.

Burton said McDonald should raise the issue with the relevant agencies and suggested she also join with others in the House to condemn sexual abuse, adding that the Dáil had recently discussed the Maíria Cahill case. “If I recall, her response regarding that case left much to be desired.”

A political incendiary device was about to be thrown at the Sinn Féin benches. Burton noted they had heard in detail Sinn Féin describe “the cover-up of sexual abuse that happened on its watch in communities in the North of Ireland and with supporters in the Republic”.

The Tánaiste said McDonald “and people in Sinn Féin would be very well aware of the fact that Mr Ó Lubhlaí was identified for a long period of time, very closely, as a very significant and important republican figure”.

There was fury on the Sinn Féin benches. As the row developed, McDonald passed the political baton to colleague Aengus Ó Snodaigh. It was clear she did not want the kind of stand-off of two weeks ago when she spent more than four hours in the Dáil chamber, sustained by a packet of mints, after it had been adjourned by the Ceann Comhairle amid a blazing row between Burton and herself over water charges.

Ó Snodaigh led a chorus of demands from furious Sinn Féin TDs that the Tánaiste retract her remarks. He insisted they were “defamatory in the extreme” and refused to resume his seat.

The Tánaiste sat impassively on the Government benches. Seán Barrett adjourned the House. When Barrett returned, he said the record showed the remarks were made about the “republican movement” and not Sinn Féin. The row resumed. Ó Snodaigh repeated his demand for a retraction.

There was a second adjournment. The row took off again when the Dáil returned and there was a third adjournment. Would Ó Snodaigh end up sitting it out in the chamber, chewing mints? When the House returned a third time, he defused the row, saying the matter would be referred to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. He did not want to waste Dáil time, he said.

High noon in the House resumes next week.