Story of the week
It is the long-running dispute that is testing the patience of even the most keen followers of a good political tussle but the interminable speaking rights row was once more top of the agenda in the Dáil this week.
There were chaotic - and to those present deafening - scenes in the chamber on Tuesday as the Government pushed through changes to the Dáil rules.
The changes will see Independent TDs that support the Government, including controversial Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry, being able to avail of new eight-minute slots to pose questions to the Taoiseach or Tánaiste.
Backbenchers from Government parties will also benefit.
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The Opposition have been vehemently opposed to the rule changes and all hell broke lose as the Dáil voted them through on Tuesday.
Miriam Lord offered an excellent account of the mayhem.
The Opposition criticised Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy’s handling of the proceedings and have now tabled a motion of no confidence in her.
She has defended herself and had made it clear she will not bow to the pressure from the Opposition.
It will all come to a head next week when the Dáil votes on an expected Government counter-motion of confidence in Ms Murphy.
Meanwhile, the Dáil is not legislating to any great degree and none of the important Oireachtas Committees that scrutinise new laws or public spending have been set up.
And all this against a backdrop of a feared trade war with the United States and the ongoing housing crisis.
The row has been going on for more than two months now.
With any luck it will not feature as story of the week again.
Bust up
Amid the hullabaloo in the Dáil was a moment captured on video by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy. Needless to say the image of Michael Lowry giving a two-fingered salute to Murphy went viral. Lowry later said he “made an errant gesture under provocation”. He also said it was “not intended to be offensive or to cause offence, and I regret that it may have been seen in such a way.” Whatever the intent it is set to become the defining image of the speaking rights row.
Banana skin
US president Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on all foreign-made cars with great fanfare in the Oval Office on Wednesday. However, it is his accompanying comments on the pharmaceutical sector which is hugely important to Ireland that is causing major jitters in Government Buildings here.
“We are going to be doing tariffs on pharmaceuticals in order to bring our pharmaceutical industry back,” Trump told reporters. He added: “We don’t make anything here in terms of drugs, medical drugs, medicines. It’s in other countries – largely made in China, a lot of it made in Ireland. Ireland was very smart. We love Ireland. But we are going to have that.”
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has been to the fore in setting out the risks posed to Ireland by the potential looming trade war. Trump has dubbed next Wednesday – when he is expected to outline a raft of new tariffs – as ‘liberation day’. It may well bring some serious ramifications for Ireland.
Winners and Losers
It might stick in the craw for some but it is hard not to see Michael Lowry as a winner this week as he secured the Dail speaking rights he had wanted regardless of the row it caused.
Losers this week are the senior Trump administration figures in the United States at the centre of the debacle over the security breach that saw a journalist included in a Signal messaging app chat about an attack being planned against targets in Yemen. National security adviser Mike Waltz – who unwittingly invited the Atlantic magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg into the group – and defence secretary Pete Hegseth who shared plans for the bombardment in the chat – have particular reason to be embarrassed, though Hegseth has responded by attacking the journalist.
The Big Read
Harry McGee has taken a look at the Dáil wars that brought proceedings to a standstill and asks what happens next?
We also take a look at how Ireland would be affected by a EU-US trade war.
Hear here
During Wednesday’s Inside Politics podcast we examined the speaking rights row, the chaos in Leinster House this week and why the involvement of Lowry in the deal that created the Government is proving a much bigger problem than Michéal Martin anticipated.
