{"id":11172,"date":"2025-01-19T12:09:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T12:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=11172"},"modified":"2025-01-19T12:17:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T12:17:01","slug":"ff-and-fg-leaders-must-clarify-if-they-are-happy-to-highjack-opposition-dail-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/ff-and-fg-leaders-must-clarify-if-they-are-happy-to-highjack-opposition-dail-time\/","title":{"rendered":"FF and FG leaders must clarify if they are happy to hijack Opposition D\u00e1il time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>It is an indictment of the way this government intends to operate that a political stroke is its very first act\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Miche\u00e1l Martin and Simon Harris must clarify if they are happy for Regional Independent TDs to hijack D\u00e1il speaking time set aside to allow the Opposition hold government to account, according to Social Democrats acting leader Cian O\u2019Callaghan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn an interview with his local paper this week, Michael Lowry \u2013 the kingmaker who put this government together \u2013 noted that Regional Independents had secured a \u201cfantastic result\u201d in government formation talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr Lowry noted the group had secured \u201ca Ceann Comhairle, two Super Junior Ministers, and two Junior Ministers\u201d and that \u201call of them have very important roles and functions within a wide variety of departments\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe then stated: \u201cIt gives us a comfortable majority in the D\u00e1il, and allows us to get on with the work now of governing, and to give a stable and steady Government and to make the decisions that are needed in the public interest&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeanwhile, Mr Lowry and other Regional Independent TDs &#8211; who entered a deal to form the incoming government \u2013 are attempting to maintain the fiction that they remain unaligned Independent TDs entitled to Opposition speaking time in the D\u00e1il. Who are they trying to kid?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not just an attempt to have their cake and eat it, it is an attempt to undermine the Opposition by hijacking limited D\u00e1il speaking time which is set aside for the Opposition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA strong Opposition, which holds the government to account, is an integral part of a strong democracy. This farce, in which Schrodinger\u2019s Independents claim to be both in and out of government, is an attempt to weaken the Opposition and amounts to an attack on our democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Regional Independents used their eight D\u00e1il votes to do a deal and form a new government. They must now live with the consequences of that deal \u2013 an obvious one being they are no longer members of the Opposition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an indictment of the way this government intends to operate that a political stroke is its very first act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe leaders of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Miche\u00e1l Martin and Simon Harris, must now clarify if they are happy to stand over this fiasco. They need to show some leadership. The credibility of our democratic processes must be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>19 January, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is an indictment of the way this government intends to operate that a political stroke is its very first act\u00a0 Miche\u00e1l Martin and Simon Harris must clarify if they are happy for Regional Independent TDs to hijack D\u00e1il speaking time set aside to allow the Opposition hold government to account, according to Social Democrats [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[278,1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cian-ocallaghan","category-news","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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