The Dail wasn't sitting this week so there was a ceasefire in the war among the technicals. These are the deputies from small parties and no parties who group together to argue their position, avail of privileges, allocate speaking time, divide trips and so forth. There are seven Independents - Mildred Fox, Jackie Healy Rae, Harry Blaney, Tom Gildea, Tony Gregory, Michael Lowry and Joe Higgins, four DLs, two Greens, and one Sinn Fein, totalling 14. There have been rows almost from day one. Firstly, Fox, Healy Rae and Blaney support the Government and have, with the encouragement of chief whip Seamus Brennan, dropped out of the technicals and been given their own minder. That leaves 11 but an argument has prevailed that the group should really only be eight. That means SF's Caoimhghin O Caolain, ex- FG-er Lowry and the MMDS deputy Gildea will be outside the DLformed group and DL would be outside the Gregory-formed group.
The problem arises because, through strength of numbers, seniority and experience, DL rules the roost and its whip, Pat Rabbitte, attends the whips' meetings to the intense annoyance of the others, especially the Greens. Then, although they even inhabit the next room, DL won't associate at all with the SF deputy. It wants him excluded and this annoys Gregory and Higgins. John Gormley of the Greens says: "We do not like exclusivity but we want to get on with business. We want to go to the whips' meetings to negotiate speaking time; we have two TDs and two MEPs so we are as big as DL." If the issue is not satisfactorily resolved, legal advice will be sought.
In the stalemate, Seamus Brennan has been reduced to pulling names out of a hat to fill the places for Independents on the Oireachtas committees. But that created more rows. Gildea drew the high profile and highly important Committee on Public Accounts and Rabbitte got a place too. It appears FG gave him one of its places under the old pals act. Some are not pleased.