Miriam Lord: Leo makes touching plea for TDs to behave themselves

Standards are slipping. Dignity is out the window.

Some deputies think decorum describes the minimum number of TDs required in the chamber for business to proceed. And now members must be reminded about the importance of practising safe and respectful discourse.

Of course, such behaviour would never have happened in the olden days of 2007, when young Leo Varadkar was a first-time Fine Gael TD and mixing with national politicians who were models of grace, civility and sobriety. He watches the descent with a heavy heart.

“We should all resolve to conduct our business in a more parliamentary manner, in the way that we used to in the past,” sighed Fine Gael’s grizzled old-timer (44) on Tuesday.

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The Taoiseach was right when he made his touching plea to fellow practitioners in Leinster House. They knew how to conduct themselves back then.

Leo would have been two years in the Dáil when Paul Gogarty of the Greens said to Labour’s Emmet Stagg: “With all due respect, in the most unparliamentary language, f**k you, Deputy Stagg! F**k you!”

Then Deputy Gogarty immediately turned to the Chair to express his contrition. “I apologise now for my use of unparliamentary language.”

Exquisite manners.

And, of course, the genteel conduct of political dialogue endures in Ivana Bacik’s constituency of Dublin Bay South, where incumbents are traditionally reared by hand and coarseness just won’t cut it with the electorate.

Accordingly, the Labour Party leader was left shaken following two rather ungallant performances in the House from representatives of the Rural Independents. They got embroiled in a row with a junior Minister for Agriculture when one of their number became enraged when she called him “an organic farmer”.

Pippa Hackett, a Green, came to this understandable conclusion having heard Michael Collins out himself as one more than once during Dáil debates. “Proud” to be organic, he said back then.

But that was a couple of years ago and the TD for Cork South West has since handed over the farm to his son.

Having completed his transfer, Deputy Collins was deeply upset when Senator Hackett (a member of the Upper House who holds ministerial office) said he was a member of the organic community, angrily claiming she mislabelled him when he now wishes to be recognised by his preferred label which is former farmer formerly known as Organic.

Or something like that.

He later explained he was worried because the Standards in Public Office police might come after him in the mistaken belief – fuelled by the Senator’s outrageous statement – that he was not declaring an income from farming with or without insecticides.

So it seems Michael’s spreading days are over but he couldn’t say the same for Pippa Hackett who was going out of her way to “spread mistruths inside in this Dáil”.

The former farmer formerly known as Organic still managed to kick up an almighty stink in the chamber, supported by colleagues Danny and Michael Healy-Rae who also took grave exception to the exchanges between the Minister of State and their mislabelled compadre.

How dare she? Sure the woman wasn’t even elected to Dáil Éireann, pointed out Danny. How was she even in the chamber? How did that happen?

“You might want to read the Constitution,” retorted the Offaly-based Senator.

“She came in the back door,” Danny ungraciously grumbled.

The Ceann Comhairle put him right. “The Minister is more than entitled to be here. As she said, it is in total compliance with the Constitution.”

The row could have escalated last week were it not for the welcome intervention of the June bank holiday recess. By the time the Dáil returned on Tuesday afternoon, the dust appeared to have settled. But not so. Ivana Bacik hadn’t forgotten.

She asked the Ceann Comhairle to remind TDs of their “obligation to show leadership in promoting civil and respectful discourse in this House and in political debate generally”. She spoke of the need for public representatives to temper their behaviour and conduct themselves in a dignified and civil manner during exchanges.

“Unfortunately, in recent weeks, we have seen some really awful examples in this chamber and on social media of public representatives really pushing the boundaries of respectful political discourse,” she told the House, which “even questioned the right of a Minister of State to be in the House”.

Michael Collins, until then absorbed in this mobile phone, looked up instantly.

“That sort of behaviour is not conducive to encouraging safe and respectful and dignified debate in these Houses,” said the Labour leader.

Michael quietly chuckled while Mattie McGrath, leader of the Roaring Independents, exploded.

He had intended raising a very important issue but couldn’t allow “that attack” from Ivana on the group’s independence and right to be in the Chamber representing their people and their views.

“And we didn’t wait for Deputy Bacik – elected at a byelection recently – to come in and tell us how to run our business and how to be respectful and how to be mannerly.”

Mattie was highly affronted. “As far as I can see, and if you have a contrarian voice or opinion, you aren’t allowed talk at all, whether it be on rural Ireland, whether it be on immigration, whether it be on many other issues that affect us...”

Ivana pushed back. “That’s not what I said.”

No matter. Deputy McGrath was ploughing the rich seam opened last week by Michael Collins and enjoying it. “And I’ll take no lecture from Deputy Bacik. She’ll be gone like the last leader, quicker than, than it even gets dark.”

But that’s Labour for you, mused the Independent TD for Tipperary. Once “a proud party” representing rural Ireland but now “languishing in the doldrums”. So no. He won’t be taking any lectures from that quarter.

The former farmer formerly known as Organic waited his turn to speak. He rose to his feet, chamber awaiting his blistering response to Ivana’s broadside.

But unlike his bizarre overreaction to being called an organic farmer, Deputy Collins made a worthy contribution about a continuing sewage crisis in a small seaside community near the village of Clonakilty in west Cork.

A serious environmental issue. But he still hasn’t endeared himself to the Greens.

“More sh**e talk from Michael,” one of them told us.

The Taoiseach agreed with Ivana’s Bacik’s remarks.

“Those of us in politics often complain about the quality of discourse and abuse and social media abuse and all of those things. But sometimes we are our own worst enemies. We set the standard in the way that we behave and none of us are angels in that regard.

“We should all resolve to conduct our business in a more parliamentary manner, in the way that we used to in the past. I think it has deteriorated considerably in the 20, or almost 20 years that I’ve been here.”

Although they were no angels back then either.