Archive for the ‘Fianna Fáil’ Category
“Eamon Ryan’s sleep-in 💤 wasn’t a mortal sin” – Gene Kerrigan returns us to the Dublin Government’s real world – First on the agenda : gut low-paid workers
Reviewing a week in the so-far short life of the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael/Green/Gombeen (FFFGGG) government readers may have missed some interesting details. Twenty mini-ministers are behaving worse than piglets at a trough. RTÉ News did not notice a connection between human events at the Dáil (Leinster House and the Convention Centre) – and piglet events at a midlands farm.
The village of Moyne in Co Longford is celebrating the arrival of 20 piglets to a first-time mother. The bumper delivery is believed to be one of the highest ever recorded in the area. https://www.rte.ie/news/leinster/2020/0718/1154128-piglets-longford/
Only 16 of the Longford piglets out of 20 can feed from the mother. Special arrangements are needed for the remaining four.
In Leinster House three piglet mini-ministers out of 20 are demanding improved feeding facilities – even though they slurp from the same source as their colleagues.
One of the Government’s immediate priorities will be to rush through legislation to ensure that each of the super-juniors will be entitled to an extra €16,288 a year on top of the junior rate. This is not a joke.
– Gene Kerrigan
Eamon Ryan’s sleep-in 💤 wasn’t a mortal sin. In another life, I spent many an hour crouched on the Dáil press gallery. It can be difficult to listen to that stuff and stay awake. Ryan was one of at least two TDs seen sleeping during Thursday’s proceedings. – Gene Kerrigan
Gene Kerrigan’s complete article, July 20 2020 :
Read the rest of this entry »Barry Cowen Sacked from FFFGGG Cabinet – Paul Murphy TD says Taoiseach Martin “knew about Garda report” saying Cowen attempted to “evade a Garda checkpoint”
A very unstable start to the FFFGGG coalition – statement by Paul Murphy TD, RISE.
Barry Cowen has been sacked as Minister for Agriculture by Michéal Martin after he refused to answer questions in the Dáil. It was the socialist left who led the calls for accountability for Ministers.
However, this should not be the end of the matter. Michéal Martin knew about the Garda report referring to Cowen attempting to evade a Garda checkpoint. He knew about it before Cowen made a statement which didn’t make reference to it. He clearly agreed with Cowen that he would not include this very important information. It also part of the reason they voted against having any questions.
Martin has emphasised the fact that he only “saw” the report today. But that is a distraction. Whether he had actually seen the report or not, he knew about its contents more than a week ago.
I have no sympathy with Cowen – he should have simply agreed to answer questions in the Dáil.
But the sacking is an attempt by Martin to avoid blame spreading to him. He knew about this very important information, and colluded in not informing the Dáil or his coalition partners, about it.
€14.6 billion tax income, courtesy of Apple mega-corporation, could be used for Green New Deal – Green Party finance spokesperson Neasa Hourigan TD dithers
Exactly Right – from Paul Murphy TD :
“The verdict in the Apple Tax case is due tomorrow. The Irish government has already spent millions trying to NOT get this money from Apple. They shouldn’t waste any more money fighting for the billionaire’s right to dodge taxes. Green TDs shouldn’t just ‘query’ this – they should draw a line in the sand. This is €14.6bn that could be used on a Green New Deal to rebuild the economy with socialist policies.”
It should be noted that Catherine Martin TD, seeking the leadership of the Green Party, is on the record saying that female Green Party Oireachtas members (TD’s and Senators) should have got more slurps from the ministerial piggies’ trough. This works out as a nod and a wink to Ms Hourigan that promotion is possible. Careerist feminism in action. https://tomasoflatharta.wordpress.com/2020/07/08/most-fffggg-ministers-are-male-would-extra-green-party-females-at-the-top-table-improve-things/
Gene Kerrigan Reports : FFFGGG coalition turns into a laughing stock – ministerial piglets swarm around stinking trough
Gene Kerrigan remains a pillar of good journalism in a very low quality newspaper, the Sunday Independent.
IT took months for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens to cobble together a Government. It took days for them to turn it into a laughing stock.
When they haven’t been mugging one another, the politicians have been adding little extras to the goodies that these days go along with the job.
Hardly had the current Taoiseach appointed his Cabinet when the in-fighting began, and the backstabbing.
This went beyond the usual laments about which county, townland, village or street didn’t get its own minister.
It’s hard to believe that adults are involved — with some of them whinging openly about how the position they were given was not the one they wanted.
I’m almost convinced that these creeps see the jobs not as positions of public service but opportunities for career advancement.
Fianna Fáil seems to have entered one of its vicious periods, in which factions queue up to knife one another.
Since they have to share the goodies with Fine Gael and the Greens, there are fewer goodies for each party.
Saoirse McHugh is leaving the Irish Green Party
The Irish Times reports (July 11 2020) :
Meanwhile unsuccessful Green Party European Parliament candidate Saoirse McHugh has said she will vote in this month’s leadership election but she will quit afterwards, regardless of the outcome.Many of the 76 per cent who voted in favour of the “waffle fest” for government deal were pressurized into accepting by the fear of an unclear alternative.
Predicting the Greens’ membership will fall, McHugh said she does not believe people who share her views are now particularly welcome in the party.
https://tomasoflatharta.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/open-letter-to-left-greens-what-next/
The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born – call the midwife – Ireland needs a new left party
This is an excellent post from the Cedar Lounge Revolution Blog.
The author is a former member of the Socialist Party, who highlights the need for an organisation which is internally democratic and is not ultimately controlled by privileged components which make all the decisive decisions – in other words a significant departure from the SWN controlled PBP and the SP controlled Solidarity.
Here is the introduction :
Thanks to Shane Faherty for allowing this to be reposted. Much appreciated. Originally posted on
Modern Distortions Culture, society and history, at the beginning of the month.
In keeping with the spirit of our times, on Tuesday I watched an online ‘meeting’ with Paul Murphy TD of RISE (formerly of the Socialist Party/ Solidarity) and Brid Smith TD of People Before Profit. It was a virtual version of the public meeting that most of us on the left know, but may not necessarily love.
I wanted to know whether the new party being mooted was a runner and what form it would take. Paul’s organisation RISE have been making overtures to members of the Green Party who may be disillusioned with their party entering government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. He argues that they should leave the party and, along with other groups on the left, launch a new party. Similarly, People Before Profit released a statement proposing the formation of a new left party. Another small group called Independent Left, many of whom are former PBP members, released a statement welcoming the move. The elephant in the room in all of this is that Rise and People Before Profit are part of a parliamentary grouping called Solidarity – People Before Profit. Solidarity have said nothing on all of this. Solidarity and People Before Profit operate a marriage of convenience for electoral and parliamentary purposes. Until last year, they were evenly matched electorally, with 3 TDS and just under 30 councillors each, based on significant gains made at the previous local and general elections. The local elections of 2019 reduced the numbers of councillors for each party. There were gains for Sinn Fein and the Greens, and this was an indication of things to come.
This analysis hits the nail on the head Read the rest of this entry »
Border Poll: It’s Just Democracy – People Before Profit
New Fianna Fáil taoiseach Mícheál Martin rejects a border poll about the partition of Ireland – People Before Profit has issued a good political statement on the issue.
The welcome statement highlights a number of issues the radical left needs to address, urgently. The looming threat of Brexit – a right-wing British Exit from the European Union – should be a wake-up call.
He has only been a week in office but already Micheál Martin has ruled out a border poll, saying that it would be ‘divisive’.
Under the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, the British government has the power to call a border poll. But with the Irish government saying they do not want one, they have got cover to refuse.
This is a disgraceful rejection of democracy.
People have every right to aspire to a United Ireland and they should be able to put their case before the people of the North – and the South. Read the rest of this entry »
Stormont Crackdown on Black Lives Matter Rallies in Derry and Belfast – Dáil greenIights Special Criminal Court
In Dublin Sinn Féin is the largest Dáil opposition party up against the new right-wing FFFGGG Coalition. In Belfast the same party is part of a coalition headed by the far-right Democratic Unionist Party at Stormont.
The Northern Ireland State is almost a world-leader for practicising racism, bigotry, and discrimination. The “Protestant State for a Protestant People” spent decades discriminating against a nationalist minority. That still happens, but has been scaled down. Rebellions helped – and mass struggle caused progressive legal change – for example the lifting of legal bans on abortion and gay rights. But, in 2020, this state discriminates vigorously against other minorities, especially immigrants.
Derry People Before Profit highlights Sinn Féin moving in the wrong direction on these issues :
Despite Sinn Féin’s claim to be a party interested in fundamental change – they are headed in the opposite direction.
In the North, Sinn Féin support the PSNI crackdown on Black Lives Matter rallies in Derry and Belfast. In the Stormont Assembly Sinn Féin MLAs voted with the DUP and others for Amendment 5 of the Health Regulations to approve the PSNI’s political policing of the Black Lives Matter rally including prosecution threats and fines. By backing Amendment 5 Sinn Féin voted to give the PSNI more enforcement powers even though no other incidents or events – including mass rallies of loyalists and racists to ‘protect statues’ – have been targeted by the PSNI.
Read the rest of this entry »In the South, by abstaining on the vote Sinn Féin gave the greenlight to legislation empowering the Special Criminal Court. Throughout its history Sinn Féin has voted against and called for the non-jury Special Criminal Court to be abolished. They’ve now turned their back on this position.
Open letter to left Greens: What next?
Open letter to left Greens: What next?
— Read on www.letusrise.ie/featured-articles/open-letter-what-next
Greens on FFFGGG
Yes 1435 No 457
for political suicide 76%
against political suicide 24%
Dear left activists in the Green Party,
Over the last week, Green Party members who opposed the Programme for Government waged an impressive fight against entering a right-wing coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Unfortunately, with the assistance of an immense campaign by the media, and enormous pressure from the pro-coalition TDs, the Yes side has won. Tomorrow, Green TDs will become Ministers and begin to implement a neoliberal Programme for Government.
We appreciate that as we are not members of the Green Party, we don’t have the detailed understanding of the internal dynamics that you have. However, the decisions you make in the coming days can have a significant impact on the development of the left that we need. We therefore offer some ideas here, which hopefully you will find helpful while you discuss your next steps. Read the rest of this entry »
President Higgins ‘will not allow’ Dáil to disband if programme for government fails – A SFFFSDLP Government lurches across the Phoenix Park horizon in Dublin
Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael is doing well in current opinion polls, and is threatening a fresh Irish General Election if Green Party members reject coalition with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and several right-wing gombeens.
The President Michael D Higgins is entering stage left, and is refusing to play Varadkar’s game.
President Higgins says to lame-duck Taoiseach “Good riddance Leo, at last you’re sacked”
This means Fianna Fáil, which is doing badly in opinion polls, may act in its own interest and form a coalition with Sinn Féin, trying to also attract the Social Democrats, Labour and the Greens.
We can call this the SDLP option.
FF might need to replace its leader Mícheál Martin to complete this manoeuvre.
The opinion poll data is very persuasive in a situation like this :
Paddy Healy notes :
“Irish Mail on Sunday Poll June 21
FF At Less Than Half Sinn Féin Vote!!!
FG34 SF27 FF13 GRN8 LAB4 SD3 SOL/PBP2 IND10
In Comparison with poll in Irish Mail on Sunday in May
Independents up 4%, GP up 2%, no change for SF and FG and FF slightly down. All others as it was.
In Comparison with General Election 2020
FG +13, SF +2, FF -9, Gn +1 Lab NC, SD NC, Sol/PBP-1, Ind -2” Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 