It hasn’t been an easy few days for the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition in Dublin, particularly on the Fianna Fáil component and maybe particularly on the Taoiseach. The aftermath of the fuel protests, which saw the Irish Government deploy both the Gardaí and the Defence Forces to clear blockades, has seen turmoil on the floor of the Dáil, inside the coalition and within Fianna Fáil itself. Following the Dáil’s return after Easter, Sinn Féin tabled a motion of no confidence in the government. As the BBC report recounts…
…the Irish government subsequently tabled a motion of confidence in itself, which has the power to override a motion from the opposition. However, the Irish government is damaged as a result of the vote, losing two TDs (Irish members of parliament) – including a junior minister, who voted against the government.
Those two TDs were the Healy-Rae brothers one of whom, Michael Healy-Rae, was a junior minister in the coalition. The BBC report goes on to say that when he was…
Speaking outside the parliament, he said the taoiseach’s speech during the debate was “condescending” and said the government had “lost the people”. He said he could not “be true to the people of Kerry” and vote confidence in the government.
The debate itself was animated with Martin defending his government’s actions…
…Martin told the Dáil that since 2022, government measures have “shielded consumers” from the highest fuel prices. He hit out at “false claims” by the opposition, including Sinn Féin’s assertion that Ireland is the “biggest profiteer” from higher fuel prices, saying it is “flat out untrue”.
He was criticised by Sinn Féin leader and leader of the opposition Mary-Lou McDonald…
McDonald said the government “refused and refuses to listen” and had acted to “inflame an already desperate situation…Your time is up. All of this didn’t start last week. The seeds were sown in your Budget last October,’ she said.
Ultimately, the coalition won the motion of confidence 92 votes to 78, but any hopes they could start to pick themselves up afterwards were dashed on Wednesday when the three youngest Fianna Fáil TDs released a joint statement criticising their own party. As RTÉ reports…
James O’Connor, Ryan O’Meara and Albert Dolan said it is not the role they want and would not accept it any longer. Instead, they urged party colleagues to listen more closely, speak more honestly and to act more decisively. They said that the social contract is “strained to breaking point” and that “it should not require protests and deep community frustration to get a government to listen and act”…
“We are deeply worried that the lesson that many of our age will take from recent events is that our politics is not working.”…The three TDs said Fianna Fáil must get back to bringing the concerns of the community to the Government and finding solutions.”
RTÉ also quotes Fianna Fáil TD Wille O’Dea as saying that “it appears that Fianna Fáil has been badly damaged by this recent debacle”.
RTÉ’s political correspondent Mícheál Lehane seems to agree…
“Fianna Fáil TDs are worried and want things to change.Dáil seats are in jeopardy, and TDs fear that without radical change they will remain the focus for the ferocious public anger unleashed during the fuel protests. That could signal major trouble for the party leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin…a group of young and older TDs have grown tired of waiting for someone to challenge Micheál Martin’s leadership. They now want to force a confidence vote in the party leader, which requires the signatures of 12 of the party’s 48 TDs.”
Our mod team uses this account to share news and posts. Content here should not be interpreted as Slugger’s editorial position. Slugger welcomes all views and does not take editorial positions on issues.
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
