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MCGUIRK: Ireland’s opposition parties should be sacked, at this rate, here is a Comment,
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“YOU’RE MAKING A HOLY SHOW OF YOURSELVES”: The Dáil descends into outright chaos over the ongoing speaking time dispute.
These people are in control of the country and yet they cant even control themselves. F**king absolute disgrace.
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The point of the opposition in a parliamentary democracy such as the one we are all (allegedly) privileged to live in is to hold the Government to account. The political system which Ireland has provides them with many tools to do this.
For example, at the most extreme end of the spectrum, it grants the Dáil the power to sack the Government via a motion of no confidence. At the more day to day end of the spectrum, it provides TDs the right to seek answers to parliamentary questions which expose the inner workings and decision making of the Government to public scrutiny. Somewhere in the middle of the road is the fact that the Dáil’s most powerful committee – the public accounts committee – is traditionally chaired by an opposition TD, and has wide investigative powers over public spending.
TDs are also – almost literally – free to say what they like without consequences. Unlike people in my line of work, for example, nothing they say in the Dáil can get them sued for defamation.
So, they have many tools to oppose and scrutinise the Government, should they choose to use them effectively.
Then on the other hand, there are the extraordinary powers of opposition, those outside the rules.
There is what we had yesterday, which is the functional ability of the opposition to make the entire parliamentary process into a farce. If somebody has a better word than “farce” for the below, I’d welcome it:
It is worth setting out the reasons for the row above in a brief summary of their excruciating detail: As part of their deal with the Government to support the Government for five years, Michael Lowry’s parliamentary group secured additional speaking time – some six minutes a week – to ask questions of the Government that they are supporting.
The opposition, with some justification, thinks this is wrong because it allows some TDs the privilege of opposition (ie looking like they are questioning the Government) while actually supporting the Government. Nevertheless, it is additional speaking time that is being created out of thin air – the opposition is not actually losing any speaking time.
Further, and this is not an un-important point, these rule changes are supported by a clear majority of TDs in the Dáil. If they were as unpopular as the opposition believes, they could simply be voted down.
On this point, for whatever reason, the opposition refuses to accept majority rule. That is their prerogative.
Yet it is also the prerogative of the rest of us to judge them for it. Just look at that video above. Savour it, and then consider the stakes.
These people – almost the entire political opposition – have decided to go all out in opposition to the Government over the fact that some other TDs are to be given six minutes per week to talk. That is it. That is what has driven them to this.
Not the story of the Carribean man who came here with multiple sex crime convictions in another jurisdiction and committed a rape inside three weeks.
Not the children’s hospital, now decades late and billions over budget.
Not the price of diesel, which is crippling commuter families as a result of a direct government policy.
Not repeated examples of wasteful spending.
Not the situation in many schools, where there are insufficient teachers. Not the hours spent by some of our most vulnerable people on hospital trollies. Not cultural and social matters like freedom of speech, or the government’s latest fake problem requiring a solution, toxic masculinity. Not even the war in Gaza, with which they are otherwise obsessed.
No, they’re bringing the house down over speaking time.
When people show you what they care about, you should believe them. And Irish politicians, Government and Opposition alike, are showing you what they care about: They care about the literal sound of their own voices, above all else.
People can form their own views on this, but since I am in the offering views business, let me give you mine: I am mystified.
I am mystified that the opposition thinks that the public cares about any of this, or that creating a farce like the above over six extra minutes of speaking time is the issue that is going to convince the public that the Government, and not the opposition, are cranks.
I am mystified that Mary Lou McDonald, once touted as a great politician, appears to have devolved into somebody with the political instincts of a tomato plant. I am mystified that the opposition cannot see what we see, which is Government TDs sitting there in satisfied contentment while the opposition focuses on this row rather than the genuine incompetence of Government in many policy areas.
In a democracy, effective opposition is essential. In some ways, it becomes harder to blame the Government for incompetence when this is the standard of Irish opposition.
The Ceann Comhairle was right. They did make a holy show of themselves. And, more’s the pity, of the country as well. They should all be sacked. I’m no Conor McGregor fan, as readers know, but god knows he’d be a more effective opposition voice than any of this lot.
Who Watches the Watchers? 