THE GOVERNMENT has denied before the High Court there has been any unreasonable delay in holding a byelection in Donegal South-West.
It also reiterated yesterday the statement made last month by Government Chief Whip and Minister for State at the Department of the Taoiseach, John Curran, it intends moving the writ for the byelection in the first quarter of next year.
The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, yesterday began hearing the challenge by Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty to the failure of the Government to move the writ for the byelection caused by the election of Pat “the Cope” Gallagher to the European parliament in June last year.
Mr Doherty is seeking a declaration that there has been an inordinate delay in moving the writ. The delay in holding a byelection is the longest in the history of the State, the court was told.
In opposing the proceedings, the Government and Attorney General say Mr Doherty’s claims of delay and constitutional breaches are fundamentally misconceived and deny any breach of the Electoral Act 1992.
The Government has also urged the court not to grant the declaration sought by Mr Doherty having regard to Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution concerning the separation of the powers of the executive and the judiciary.
The Constitution does not impose any timeframe within which vacancies must be filled and that is a matter exclusively for the Dáil to determine, the Government argues.
Mr Doherty claims there are constitutional requirements affirming a “democratic State” whereby there should not be less than one TD for every 30,000 of population.
On account of existing Dáil arithmetic, the only realistic prospect of getting the Donegal South-West vacancy filled is for the Government to “at least” not oppose a motion to move the writ, he said.
Mr Doherty says members of his party had tried from time to time to have the writ moved but these attempts were resisted by the Government. There appeared “no realistic prospect” of the Government ceasing to resist such motions for the foreseeable future, he said.
Richard Humphreys SC, with Dr Michael Forde SC, for Mr Doherty, told the court Mr Curran had sworn an affidavit outlining a statement he made to the Dáil on September 29th last about the Government’s intention to hold three byelections, including Donegal South-West, in the first quarter of next year.
This could not happen any sooner because of the financial situation facing the country, he said. Unless that was addressed there would be damage to the economy, he added. In submissions to the court, Mr Humphreys said he was not now asking the court to order that the writ be moved but instead to grant a declaration that the delay in holding the byelection is unreasonable.
Mr Humphreys said the court had to decide whether the issue was moot following Mr Curran’s statement to the Dáil. It also had to address whether there was an obligation to fill the vacancy within a reasonable period and if there was any such obligation, was that a matter for the Dáil and the Government and therefore non-justiciable due to the separation of powers.
That obligation arose from Article 5 of the Constitution regarding the democratic nature of the State, from Article 16.2.1 relating to the rights of equality of representation in all constituencies and from the State’s statutory obligations under the Electoral Amendment Act 2005 requiring there to be 166 members of the Dáil, he said.
The case continues today.
High court: Donegal byelection
A BYELECTION for the vacant Dáil seat in Donegal South West could be held before Christmas, Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty said, if he is successful in his judicial review application to the High Court.
Mr Doherty was speaking outside the Four Courts in Dublin with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, before the case which began yesterday afternoon.
Today is the 500th day since Pat “the Cope” Gallagher vacated the seat.
The Government was wasting tax payers’ money defending the case, Mr Doherty said and it was being “arrogant and dismissive” in its attitude to the constituents of Donegal South West.
“We’re hopeful that with a positive outcome from this court case that we will see an election in Donegal South West before Christmas.”
The Government was only defending the case because Fianna Fáil had no hope of winning the seat he added. OLIVIA KELLY