Story of the Week
It is a week on from Storm Éowyn. The red warning severe weather event battered the whole country, causing one death and leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity and water. Our Environment and Science Editor Kevin O’Sullivan described it as “probably Ireland’s worst ever storm”, in a piece on how the country will cope with future extreme weather.
By late Thursday evening some 86,000 homes, businesses and farms remained without power and 2,800 still had no water. There has been some political fallout. The Government came under huge Opposition pressure to recall the Dáil a week earlier than planned so that TDs could raise the concerns of constituents in their areas. The Government rejected this.
Questions were also raised about a lack of visibility of senior politicians in storm-hit areas, though Ministers insisted they were responding to the emergency over the weekend and throughout the week. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris were abroad on official Government business at the start of the week – at the Auschwitz commemoration in Poland and EU meetings respectively. Mr Martin did do a series of visits to storm-hit parts of the country on Tuesday.
Aid came from other European countries in the form of electricity crews and generators. The new Minister for Housing and Local Government James Browne had something of a baptism of fire in his role heading up the key department in the response to severe weather. The response to Storm Éowyn and preparedness for future storms was the main item on the agenda for Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, where sources said there was a “robust discussion”.
The political turbulence in the Dáil that saw Mr Martin’s election as Taoiseach delayed due to the dispute over speaking rights was overshadowed - and perhaps put into perspective - by the real world storm that hit last Friday.
Bust Up
The aforementioned massive row over speaking rights in the Dáil shows no sign of abating despite a marathon meeting designed to break the deadlock on Thursday. One source at the meeting described the talks to Jennifer Bray as a “sh**show”, saying it “went in circles”.
At the heart of the dispute is a bid by Independent TD Michael Lowry and other Regional Independent Deputies supporting the Government to be part of a technical group that would maximise their Dáil speaking time – from the Opposition benches.
The Opposition called foul, saying Mr Lowry played a central role in the formation of the Government and has committed to supporting it, meaning he cannot be considered a member of the Opposition and set up a technical group for the purpose of securing Opposition speaking time. A Government proposal to resolve the row did not meet the approval of the Opposition parties on Thursday.
The Dáil reform committee was due to have an informal meeting on Friday morning as efforts continue to break the deadlock.
Banana Skin
There was a backlash over the number of women appointed to senior Cabinet roles last week – just three out of 15 Ministers. The Government faced a fresh wave of criticism over the number of women appointed to Minister of State jobs this week – just six out of 23 roles.
Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins said the Government had already established a “shameful record when it comes to giving women a seat at the top table”, while Labour’s Ged Nash said it seemed to be more concerned about geography rather than gender. Aldagh McDonogh, chair of Women for Election, said: “It is very disappointing again to see that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have not prioritised a gender balance.”
Mr Martin and Mr Harris are perhaps in a bit of a bind given the low number of women returned for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in the general election. Just seven out of 48 TDs for Fianna Fáil are women, and 10 out of 38 for Fine Gael. However, the lack of gender balance in the ministerial ranks is still not a good look. One Fianna Fáil source said it was “embarrassing” to see the photograph of new Ministers of State lined up side-by-side, and that there was “disappointment” that party leader Micheál Martin had not appointed more women.
There are limited opportunities remaining to appoint more women to senior roles. There are still Oireachtas committee chairperson jobs to fill. Mr Martin will also have an opportunity to appoint 11 senators. It is clear that there is some way to go before what our writer Miriam Lord described as the “sausage-fest” at the top level of Irish politics is addressed.
Winners and Losers
The ongoing Seanad election count is providing some drama for the political nerds among us. Firmly in the winner category are Michael McDowell, Rónán Mullen, Alice-Mary Higgins, Tom Clonan and Lynn Ruane in the university constituencies. Meanwhile, former Sinn Féin TD for Cavan-Monaghan Pauline Tully has been elected to the Cultural and Educational Panel.
Those who have lost out, however, include former Fianna Fáil TD Joe Flaherty and his party colleague Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, as well as former Independent minister Katherine Zappone in the University of Dublin constituency.
Marie O’Halloran is following the counts as they happen.
The Big Read
With Russia’s war on Ukraine still raging and question marks over US support for Nato under the new Trump administration, defence and security will be top of the agenda at a meeting of European leaders next week. Amid these developments, Political Editor Pat Leahy took a look at EU defence policy and the future of Ireland’s neutrality.
Heather Humphreys’s announcement that she would not run in the general election came as a surprise last year. As one of Fine Gael’s most senior politicians she would have been expected to be handily re-elected and to play a big role in any government involving her party. Harry McGee has an interview with her to be published this weekend.
Hear Here
Are super-junior ministers allowed under the terms of the Constitution?
Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly this week launched a legal challenge against their use, just days after former taoiseach Leo Varadkar wrote a frank newspaper column about the necessity of the appointments.
On the latest edition of the Inside Politics podcast, Hugh Linehan is joined by Fintan O’Toole, Jennifer Bray and Jack Horgan-Jones to discuss this issue. The panelists also examine Sinn Féin’s recent minor frontbench reshuffle and the party’s strategic shift towards a more aggressive form of opposition.
Are 'super-juniors' unconstitutional? With Fintan O'Toole
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