You can’t beat Irish politics for a sense of perspective. On Thursday evening, Donald Trump – with Elon Musk hovering menacingly nearby – told his first Cabinet meeting that he had decided to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the European Union. In Dublin the big issue was the row between the Government and Opposition over whether Independent TDs who support the Government should get a few minutes’ speaking time in the Dáil.
The Government said it had a “solution” to the dispute, which has occupied so much political time and attention since it erupted in January. And what was that solution? To railroad its disputed plan through the Dáil Reform Committee by using its inbuilt majority. A stroke of genius, all right.
“Outrageous,” said the Social Democrats. “Disgraceful,” said Labour. “Dangerous and unprecedented,” said Sinn Féin. Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins, channelling the rebel resolve of his namesake, said: “We’re not having it. No way.”
Why does the Government bend over backwards for Michael Lowry? The answer, I think, is because Lowry was central to the formation of the Government in the first place, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael trust him to stick to his side of the deal, and therefore they will stick to their side. And that deal clearly involves – along with the various constituency wheezes that we are told don’t exist, but assuredly do – carving out some high-profile speaking time slots for the Lowry lads.
Government’s speaking-rights stroke is hardly an existential threat to democracy
Micheál Martin is still the adult in the room, but now with added barbs and an air of impatience
So the North still says no. But for how much longer?
It normally takes a government a bit longer than this to look so out of touch
You can make up your own mind whether Lowry’s past misdeeds should permanently exclude him from polite political society, but Micheál Martin and Simon Harris have clearly decided that they do not. There may be a political price for that in the future. But that is the road they have chosen to go down.
[ The Irish Times view on the Dáil speaking time row: time to get back to workOpens in new window ]
The attempt to designate Lowry and his fellow Government-supporting, non-ministerial backbenchers as Opposition TDs was always an outrageous try-on. The current proposal is a modification of it, and is on somewhat firmer ground. Though that wouldn’t be hard.
True, the Government has a majority on the committee and in the Dáil because it got more votes in the general election, so there’s that. And it’s hardly sustainable to insist that current standing orders remain set in stone forever – standing orders change all the time. But parliament can’t function without some measure of co-operation from the Opposition, so one way or another this row – and it is an exceptionally bitter one – will have to be resolved.
There’s a pair of them in it. The Opposition is acting like the Government is proposing to shut down its capacity to ask questions entirely. That’s bogus. It’s a bit of a stroke, all right, but hardly an existential threat to democracy. Dáil debates normally take place in a near-empty chamber.
And in any event, there are, it’s fair to say, rather more important things going on right now. It looks very like the time for tomfoolery is coming to an end, and some very stark choices will have to be made by the Government on behalf of the country. Couldn’t we talk about that?
For one thing, like their counterparts in all member states, the Government will have only limited input into the EU’s response to the Trump tariffs, as trade – and the conduct of a trade war, if it comes to that – is an exclusive competence of the European Commission. The decisions, in other words, will be made in Brussels, even though Ireland is likely to be more exposed than any other EU state to US tariffs. The commission will take Ireland’s interests into account, but it is just one of 27 states.
So you might think the Opposition would like to put the Government on the spot in the Dáil about what it knows about the EU’s planned responses and its evaluation of what those responses will mean for Ireland’s economy.
Meanwhile, next week EU leaders will commit to further military and financial assistance for Ukraine, as US support dwindles. Keir Starmer this week unveiled a plan for vastly increased military spending, raiding the UK’s foreign aid budget to pay for it. The incoming German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said it was “five minutes to midnight”, and that Europe must prepare to defend itself without US support. Emmanuel Macron is pushing for joint EU debt to fund new defence spending. Higher military investment, he acknowledged, would come at a cost to other areas of public spending. As Politico put it: more guns, less butter.
Well yes, sigh the nations of central and eastern Europe, looking nervously at Ukraine and wondering who might be next; we told you this three years ago. Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you desire peace, prepare for war.
All this will cost EU countries many billions, and Ireland – most likely – hundreds of millions of euro. Where is the money coming from? What is our exact role? Europe is re-arming and Ireland – whose proud boast has been that it is at the centre of Europe – cannot simply ignore all this.
The world is a changed place and Ireland must figure out how to deal with those changes. Would it not be an idea to have some debate about this in the national parliament?
Remember, the Government has to tell the truth – or at least not be caught lying – in the Dáil. Deliberately misleading the Dáil is still grounds for ministerial resignations – or at least serious political heat. So the Dáil is the place to ask these questions. But to do that the Dáil has to be functioning. Get on with it.
