In one week’s time, the country will take to the polls, and people will cast their votes on who they’d like to see make up the 34th Dáil.
The main story for The Irish Times today is our interview with Taoiseach Simon Harris who has poured cold water on any talks of a left-wing alliance.
The suggestion was put forward by Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, though the Green Party’s Roderic O’Gorman has also made a similar suggestion in the past.
In our lead story today Mr Harris rejects the idea saying: “I don’t think anyone wants to see a coalition with four, five or six parties in it”.
Key Election Reads and Podcasts
- Simon Harris Q&A: ‘Why is it that now I feel the poorest I have ever felt?’
- Anti-immigration candidates: Do any of them have a chance of winning a seat in the 34th Dáil?
- Forget politicians’ pre-election promises – here’s my 10-point manifesto
- Who should you vote for in the 2024 general election? Use this tool to see which candidate matches your views
Simon Harris says no to a 'four or five' party coalition - and answers your questions
Independent Ireland’s Kerry candidate Tom McEllistrim’s request for number twos not number ones must be a first for any candidate.
The ad for the former Fianna Fáil TD appeared in the Kenmare News this week.
What’s behind it?
The presence of the Healy-Rae brothers, Danny and Michael, might have something to do with it.
They famously placed advertisements in the local press in 2020 delineating what areas were to vote for Michael and which areas were to vote for Danny.
They urged their supporters to give their number twos to the other brother.
Mr McEllistrim’s advertisement may only be an acknowledgement of the reality on the ground that the Healy-Rae vote machine is going to hoover up most of the number ones.
Therefore, he’s looking for number twos instead from those who voted for one of the brothers but not the other one.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has insisted that when people in her party fail to behave well they experience “real consequences” whilst accusing some other party leaders of not demanding similar “accountability”, writes Olivia Kelleher.
In an interview with the Opinion Line, on Cork’s 96FM, Ms McDonald was asked if voters should should question the suitability of Sinn Féin for Government given recent scandals which have rocked the party.
However, Ms McDonald insisted that there was no way to “legislate for human behaviour.”
“Issues arise in any organisation. The question is the response when issues arise. And in each case, and there were difficult cases, I demanded accountability and where there was bad behaviour where behaviour fell below standards there was real consequences for people.
The way I have handled matters contrasts very dramatically with the way in which other political leaders have failed in my view to seek accountability from their members who haven’t behaved well.”
Sinn Féin has outlined its plans for a referendum on Irish unity.
If elected to government, it would produce a green party within the first 100 days setting out a vision for a united Ireland.
It would establish a reunification unit and have a Minister of State for reunification.
The party also envisages giving the North’s MPs speaking rights in the Oireachtas, a measure which could have constitutional implications.
Labour has rounded on Fine Gael leader Simon Harris over his suggestion that a centre left bloc of parties would not be a good element of the next government.
Speaking in Dublin today, the party’s finance spokesman Ged Nash said Mr Harris’ comments were “arrogant in the extreme” and “the height of arrogance”.
Mr Nash accused Mr Harris of publishing uncosted spending plans in advance of the election.
“We hear a lot about Simon Harris’ new energy - with those reckless fiscal proposals he is at risk of electrocuting the country and electrocuting the public finances,” he said at the launch of Labour’s proposals for workplace reform.
“We’ve been here before, when unfunded tax cutting promises have been made at the same time as pledges to develop public services and that did not end well. The Irish people of the next government should include adults in the room and we believe the Labour Party are those adults,” he said.
“He is framing the argument in a way that is dismissive of the views of the Irish people, it is up to the people to decide next Friday.
“I’d like to remind Simon Harris that he was a minister in a government that relied not just on the support of a rag-tag bunch of incoherent independents like Shane Ross and others, but on support from outside, from Fianna Fáil as well.”
“I’ve a message for Simon Harris - and for Micheál Martin - the election is taking place next Friday. And it is arrogant in the extreme for him to simply predict and anticipate the outcome of an election before the people have spoken.”
Mr Harris made the suggestion in an interview with the Inside Politics programme.
Fianna Fáil launched its agriculture policy in Co Roscommon today, saying it believed Ireland’s family farms and the agrifood sector were “our most important indigenous industries”.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and The Marine, Charlie McConalogue, said: “Our commitment to fishers and farmers is as strong today as it has ever been”.
“If returned to Government we will ensure that Irish farming families are not scapegoated by climate action, we will continue to fight hard to retain the Nitrates Derogation as a national priority and we will increase direct supports to farmers’ incomes,” he said.
“Fianna Fáil believes in the future of Irish agriculture and rural Ireland, believes we can achieve our environmental objectives while growing the agrifood sector and is committed to making sure that farming remains a vital part of Ireland’s society and economy”.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has said it is the “height of arrogance” for Taoiseach Simon Harris to dismiss her party, after the Fine Gael leader ruled out a Coalition with a multiparty left wing alliance.
Speaking on Friday morning alongside Cllr Aidan Farrelly, who is running to take Ms Murphy’s seat in Kildare North as she is due to retire from politics, Murphy said: “In relation to Simon Harris, I’d like to invite him to read our manifesto, because, in actual fact, there is tax index-linking in our manifesto. And I think it’s the height of arrogance to be dismissing people before one vote has been cast. I can send him a copy of it, if he hasn’t got it, but he should read it.”
“We’re not going to be a soft touch. We have a very well thought out manifesto.”
The issue of a vote for the Irish diaspora has been raised by a number of listeners to The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast as a question for Fine Gael leader Simon Harris.
Ireland is one of the few countries that does not allow its diaspora a vote in general elections.
Mr Harris admitted Ireland is an “outlier” in this respect.
Political parties have shied away from it because historically the huge Irish diaspora might have a disproportionate impact on an Irish general election and would be most likely to vote against government parties.
There is an electoral commission he said looking at this issue and “I welcome any guidance from them”.
“I do think there is a logic of looking at that,” he adding.
He made the distinction between Irish people who do not live in Ireland and those who are out of the country for a short period of time.
He didn’t address how long that short period of time might be.
You can listen to to the podcast here.
Fine Gael has recommitted itself to the Dublin City Taskforce.
The taskforce, which was commissioned after last year’s riots, has called for 1,000 new gardaí on the streets of Dublin, a tourism tax and the conversion of derelict sites into high-density residential units among other measures.
Revitalising O’Connell Street and redeveloping the GPO have also been proposed.
Fine Gael minister and Dublin Central candidate Paschal Donohoe said: “This time last year our city hit an all-time low, with scenes of an unspeakable nature witnessed on our main thoroughfare.
“One of the last acts of the outgoing Government was to appoint a dedicated Dublin City Taskforce to provide a holistic plan to further rejuvenate our much loved city centre.
“The focus of this is on coordinating efforts between national and local government and businesses, as well as civic and cultural organisations to maximise everything we have to offer.”
There were very testy exchanges between RTÉ presenter Claire Byrne and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald about the party’s manifesto proposal to review RTÉ's coverage of the war in Gaza.
Ms McDonald was asked repeatedly to provide examples of where RTÉ's coverage was unfair and unbalanced.
She responded by stating Sinn Féin is not citing any particular broadcast.
“Can I suggest to you that you are not telling us the particular (broadcast) is the problem,” Ms Byrne stated.
When Ms McDonald was unable to give any examples, Byrne said it was “outrageously unfair” to point the finger at RTÉ's journalists for their coverage of Gaza without being able to give examples of where they got it wrong.
“Are you suggesting that there are people in this place who are producing reports about the conflict in Gaza that are not balanced, that are not fair?
“You know this is a challenging and polarizing war and you are putting journalists in here in a very difficult position about pointing the finger at them in this way.”
Ms Byrne went on to ask the Sinn Féin president to name those who do not have confidence in RTÉ's coverage of the Gaza conflict.
“You have not been able to cite one report that was unbalanced that points to the need for an independent review?”
Ms McDonald said public confidence in RTÉ as a broadcaster is important. She envisaged that any report into RTÉ's coverage would be independent and peer-reviewed.
Mary Lou McDonald has just been asked on RTÉ's Claire Byrne programme if she should level with people and say that Sinn Féin will not be able to solve every problem.
She responds by stating that the issues that are raised with her are “basic asks. I have never said to people that we have overnight solutions. That is not what people are looking for.
“They want a government that priorities investment and makes the right calls.”
Byrne suggested to her that if you narrow the tax base, people will have to work longer.
“Our taxation proposals are balanced and fair. The proposal to take the first €45,000 out of USC is a necessary and very fair relief for middle-income and lower-income workers,” the Sinn Féin leader said.
A job guarantee for medical graduates will help Irish people to stay at home ... and we offer young people a chance to live and work in Ireland.”
She says that the Sinn Féin proposals are based on a “balance of risk” and its proposals are based on figures from the Department of Finance.
“The most prudent thing, when you reference risk from the new Trump presidency is to invest in infrastructure. The best thing to derisk is to build more houses,” Ms McDonald said.
In his interview with The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast Taoiseach Simon Harris had a pop at the Social Democrats for ruling out tax cuts, saying: “That’s the equivalent of saying there will be tax rises.”
They’ve had a pop back saying: “Simon Harris is clutching at straws and is clearly struggling to explain how Fine Gael can propose large tax cuts and massive spending increases during this election campaign.
“This is an especially difficult circle to square when the Taoiseach is also issuing stark warnings about future risks to the economy from international events, like the re-election of Donald Trump.
“In those circumstances, it is bizarre that he is attacking one of the only parties that is being straight with the electorate and simply stating the truth – that large tax cuts, and simultaneous spending increases, are incompatible.”
Listen to the podcast with Mr Harris or read about it here.
The last Coalition Government deal included the unprecedented arrangement of a rotating taoiseach given that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had roughly the same number of seats in the Dáil.
Both parties would dearly love to take a significant lead over their old rivals to negate the need for such a deal should they end up in Coalition again after the election.
However, the polls indicated they will be close enough in terms of seat numbers again and should they go back into Coalition the only question might be who becomes taoiseach first.
Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Simon Harris, was asked on RTÉ radio if he would be happy to serve as tánaiste under Micheál Martin if his own party returns fewer TDs.
He replied: “I don’t answer any hypotheticals because not one vote has been cast. My party is contesting this election to try and be the lead party in the next government.
“The Coalition Government’s worked well, but I’m asking people to go out and vote for Fine Gael candidates across the country.”
Pressed on the question he said: “I’d be happy to be elected to the Dáil and I’d be happy to maximise my seats and I believe Fine Gael has an opportunity to be the largest party, and I’m asking people to give me an opportunity to continue as their taoiseach.”
Ireland’s political parties are more or less on the same page when it comes to the war in Gaza.
Taoiseach Simon Harris this morning confirmed Ireland would “absolutely” arrest Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu should come to this country for whatever reason in the wake of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing a warrant for his arrest.
He was asked about the issue during an interview with RTÉ radio and added: “We support international courts and we apply their warrants.”
It is a hypothetical given that Mr Netanyahu is unlikely to be visiting any time soon, but Harris joins other world leaders, such as Justin Trudeau of Canada, in taking this position.
It is not universal though. The United States, Israel and others are not members of the ICC and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has said he would invite Mr Netanyahu to his country and guarantee that the ICC arrest warrant would not be observed.
On Thursday judges at the ICC issued arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The move comes after the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced on May 20th that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the October 7th, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the Israeli military response in Gaza.
The ICC said Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required.
Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of The Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza. Israel has said it killed Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an air strike, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.
With a week to go until polling day there will be a flurry of activity as the main parties, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, seek to persuade voters they are the ones that should lead the next government. The smaller parties and many Independents will also be hoping for seats at the table of power.
Here’s a brief run down of what’s on today.
- New party Independent Ireland will launch its manifesto.
- Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald will outline her plan for Irish unity.
- Fianna Fáil will focus on agriculture and rural Ireland, Fine Gael will be out on Ireland’s towns and cities.
- The Greens will unveil their plan for a basic income for carers. Labour will outline how it would help workers, the Social Democrats are unveiling their “youth manifesto” and People Before Profit will set out their proposal to ban LNG (liquefied natural gas).
