It’s 10 days out from the general election and today the conversation will be dominated by Monday night’s leader’s debate and Sinn Féin’s and the Social Democrats’ manifestos.
What do we know that we didn’t before the debate? Jennifer Bray has summed it up in five key moments.
Sinn Féin has pledged to restore the retirement age to 65, abolish property tax and hold a referendum on a united Ireland.
The Social Democrats meanwhile has said they would introduce a temporary three-year rent freeze, introduce a lower 9 per cent VAT rate for struggling food and beverage businesses and create a new public childcare model.
Fianna Fáil has pledged in its education policies to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio at primary school classes and keep third level student registration fees at €2,000, among other promises.
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Cap off Tuesday’s live coverage with our Inside Politics Election Daily podcast.
Harry McGee and Jennifer Bray join Hugh Linehan to talk about all of the latest developments from the campaign trail.
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Sinn Féin’s manifesto signals a change in its attitude to the war in Ukraine.
While the party condemned the Russian invasion and called for peace talks to bring it to an end, it also states that “all sides must cease the current unlimited supply of weapons into Ukraine which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives”.
The Ukrainian government has repeatedly stated that without Western military aid, it will not be able to continue its fight against Russia.
The Sinn Féin manifesto has been released on the same day as the war entered its 1,000 days.
Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher said Sinn Féin was now “slouching back towards the pro-Putin stance they took prior to 2022″ and he called its stance “deeply repugnant.
“Sinn Féin’s call for Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the EU to play a role in bringing this conflict to an end seems to imply a moral equivalence between the Russian aggressor and the Ukrainian victim.
“This illegal war is Russia’s responsibility. They are the guilty party. This is a simple fact. Peace can be achieved overnight in Ukraine if the Russian aggressor leaves.”
The redoubtable Maynooth University academic Adrian Kavanagh has compiled a list of all 686 candidates for the general election, the highest number ever in an election. The list is here.
The Green Party has challenged Simon Harris and Micheál Martin to explain in “very clear terms” why they are scared to even discuss the prospect of a four-day week.
A proposal to convene a Citizens’ Assembly that would examine the impact of switching to a four-day week is part of the Green Party’s general election manifesto.
The party believes that such a move could have a transformative impact on people’s quality of life, particularly for parents who are trying to juggle work and family life.
The Sinn Féin manifesto calls for the national children’s hospital to be named after Irish revolutionary Kathleen Lynn.
Lynn was the medical officer for the Irish Citizen Army during Easter Week 1916. She was involved in the War of Independence and opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
In 1919 she founded St Ultan’s Children’s Hospital with her life partner Madeleine ffrench-Mullen.
The manifesto also suggest the State should continue the tradition of “honouring Ireland’s heroes when naming new housing developments and infrastructure”.
There have been 1,428 notices of termination issued in Galway since March 2023, Galway West candidate and Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell has revealed.
The figures following the lifting of the ban on no-fault evictions and come from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
She added: “The level of the housing crisis in Galway is unimaginable, until it happens to you. We see that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have no appetite to deliver the housing that Galway desperately needs.
“They are making promises now before an election, but look at their record: year after year of targets being set too low and then failing to meet their own measly targets.”
Sinn Féin’s manifesto contains a commitment that amounts to political interfere in the independence and editorial process of our public service broadcaster, Fine Gael’s Senator Jerry Buttimer has said.
He was commenting on the inclusion in the Sinn Féin manifesto of a commitment to commission an “independent human rights and journalistic expert review into the objectivity of coverage by RTÉ of the Israeli genocide in Gaza and other international conflicts.”
He also called attention to the absence of any reform of the defamation laws. The Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 did not pass through the Oireachtas in time before the dissolving of the Dáil.
Senator Buttimer said his party was committed to make the Defamation Bill into an act within the first 100 days of Government.
He added: “Not content with only suing the media, Sinn Féin are now proposing to interfere in RTÉ's editorial process. Sinn Féin’s latest attack on the media comes in the form of a review into ‘coverage by RTÉ’ – a clear breach of political independence from our national broadcaster.
“Sinn Féin have repeatedly used SLAPP suits to gag the media, and their manifesto exposes their complete lack of interest in protecting free and open journalism. As their track record shows, they’re far more interested in bullying and intimidating members of our media.
“Now, when they’re not suing or threatening journalists, they want to go into RTÉ's control booths and decide editorial content.
“A free and fair media environment, independent of political interference, is a cornerstone of our democracy. It allows public interest reporting and ensures those in positions of power are held to account.”
Fine Gael’s European group targets Sinn Féin – as do Greens
The European People’s Party, the EU-level political grouping which Fine Gael belongs to, has criticised Sinn Féin’s manifesto commitments over Ukraine:
Meanwhile, the Greens have targeted Sinn Féin over climate measures, with backbench rebel Neasa Hourigan (and constituency rival to Mary Lou McDonald) appearing next to Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman. On O’Gorman’s other side is Patrick Costello, who has also had his time outside the Greens parliamentary party having voted against the location of the national maternity hospital.
Fine Gael accuse Sinn Féin of media interference plan
Interesting one, this. At her party’s manifesto launch, Mary Lou McDonald signalled Sinn Féin would commission a review into RTÉ's objectivity in its coverage of Gaza and other conflicts. This immediately prompted questions about whether there was a risk of media interference.
In a statement lashed out by the FG press office, Cork South Central candidate Jerry Buttimer says: “Now, when they’re not suing or threatening journalists, they want to go into RTÉ's control booths and decide editorial content.”
Fianna Fáil is launching its education policy today
Education Editor Carl O’Brien is at the launch. He reports:
Fianna Fáil has pledged to introduce the smallest ever class sizes at primary school if returned to government.
The party released details of its education manifesto in Dublin on Tuesday, which include increasing capitation funding in schools by 40 per cent and trialing new administrative supports to reduce principals’ workloads.
On the issue of teacher shortages, which is affecting schools in the greater Dublin area in particular, the party said it will increase bursaries to attract student teachers and build more “cost rental” units.
Among its other education pledges include:
- Keeping third level student registration fees at €2,000 and increasing core funding for universities
- Reducing the pupil-teacher ratio at primary level to 19:1 and working to to “eliminate large classes”
- Expanding school transport to provide 100,000 more places by 2030
- Roll out a national therapy service to support students with special educational needs
- A €1 billion fund to build PE halls in schools
“We are very much so a party of education and we have led every single expansion of education in Ireland,” Ms Foley said. “If returned to government, it is our intention to build on this very significant legacy.”
Social Democrats take the wraps off their manifesto
Marie O’Halloran reports on the main points from the launch:
- Deliver 50,000 affordable purchase homes, 25,000 affordable rental homes and 70,000 social homes over the lifetime of the next government
- End “no-fault evictions” to protect renters and introduce a temporary three-year rent freeze
- Replace rent pressure zones with a “reference rent” system
- Provide for salaried GPs and increase the mental health budget to 10 per cent of the overall health budget
- Increase funding for disability services by an additional €1.1 billion a year, to include a €30 per week cost of disability payment
- Abolish the means test for carers and introduce a statutory right to homecare
- A new public model of childcare; paid parental leave extended to the first year of a child’s life; and maternity, paternity and parent’s benefit increased to €350 per week
- Install solar panels on 500,000 homes during the lifetime of the next government and make solar panels free for low-income households
- Double the size of our natural parks and ensure they feature highly protected areas within them, where nature can be restored
- A €5 billion climate transformation fund for investment in State-owned renewable energy and a €1.5 billion fair transition fund for farmers
- Make education genuinely free; establish a new Déis+ scheme for schools in areas of extreme disadvantage; and work to remove faith formation from the school days
- Establish directly elected mayors in all of our major cities
- Introduce a €150 Sports and Cultural Activity voucher for all children aged 6 to 18 and free public transport for all children aged under 18
- Introduce a lower 9 per cent VAT rate for struggling food and beverage businesses in hospitality
- Pursue a health-led approach to drug use and decriminalise the possession of small quantities of drugs for personal consumption
Marie adds that O’Callaghan has said the Taoiseach should withdraw support for Fine Gael’s Louth candidate John McGahon.
“Simon Harris is the Taoiseach of this country and what he does in terms of the message he sends out, in terms of utterly unacceptable behaviour, violent behaviour is very important. If it was anybody else this would not be tolerated and he would be making a massive issue out of it. You cannot have one rule for Fine Gael election candidates and a different rule being applied to everybody else.”
Jennifer Bray reports from the Sinn Féin manifesto launch:
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald launches her party’s general election manifesto in Temple Bar. The top issue the party promises to prioritise is, unsurprisingly, housing.
But there was a tetchy exchange, Jen reports, between McDonald and a journalist:
“There was a head to head at the Sinn Féin manifesto press conference between Mary Lou McDonald and the Irish Daily Mail’s John Lee. Lee asked if McDonald would stand down if she does not manage to lead her party into government, to which she simply said: no. He then put it to her that she was dodging media scrutiny and not revealing locations of party canvasses. She rejected this, and accused him of being “sore” because she wouldn’t do his podcast. “If you think I am obligated to do your podcast, you are mistaken,” she said.”
Jennifer is tweeting from the launch:
Justice debate: Do people feel safe?
Justice is the topic of debate, with policing and law and order issues on Claire Byrne’s RTÉ show this morning.
Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy says Dublin is an under policed city, people don’t feel safe in their communities around the country.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee says there is more aggression in society post Covid, there is a need for more gardaí, but there is a need to focus on more than just garda numbers. Everybody is accountable here.
Labour’s Marie Sherlock says there no funding behind civic partnership. She reports huge frustration in public, saying they don’t feel safe. She says there are fewer gardaí now in Dublin than in 2018. Morale is low among gardaí. She says there is a need to reopen garda training college in Phoenix Park. Communities do not feel any impact from the measures taken to date, she says.
Peadar Tóibín – “I feel like I’m on Fr Ted with calls for another taskforce. There is a fall every year in the number of gardaí. More (Irish) were recruited for the Australian police force than gardaí.
Fianna Fáil’s James Browne defended his time as a Minister of State in Justice, saying he pushed funding for youth diversion projects. He foregrounds Fianna Fáil’s manifesto pledge to to split the Department of Justice. He says prisons overcrowded, there is record immigration, and the Department is not able to handle the responsibilities it has
McEntee says that introduction of body cams means that arrests would happen sooner now.
Matt Carthy says more gardaí is critical, saying the large parties of Government have decimated garda numbers. Need to retain the number we have so people do not resign, with record levels of people leaving the force.
James Browne says the way that gardaí are recruited needs to be changed – new pathways, and that there should be a graduate mechanism
It’s a little bit of a slow start this morning, with the political system still digesting last night’s debate
But there’s a full programme of election outings across the day, and The Irish Times will have dispatches from around the country. Here’s what the political parties have planned for the day:
The big event of the day is Sinn Féin’s manifesto launch, with Mary Lou McDonald taking centre stage at Smock Alley Theatre alongside Pearse Doherty, Eoin Ó Broin, David Cullinane, and Claire Kerrane. That’s at 11am.
The Social Democrats will also launch their election manifesto at the Royal Institute of Architects on Merrion Square, that’s at 11am too.
The Royal Irish Academy is playing host to climate hustings at 9.30am
The Greens are launching their warmer homes policy at a briefing in a retrofitted home in Walkinstown at 10.30am. Roderic O’Gorman, Patrick Costello and Cllr Ray Cunningham will be in the house.
Fine Gael is to outline its healthcare and disability plans in Dublin 2 at 11am.
Norma Foley is setting out Fianna Fáil’s plans for the education sector at Harcourt Terrace Educate Together national school. That’s at 11.15am.
Labour is launching its climate action and just transition policy – Ivana Bacik alongside election candidates Sadhbh O’Neill (Waterford) and Shane Folan (Dublin Bay North). That’s at midday.
At 12.50pm, Richard Boyd Barrett and Dublin North West candidate for PBP Conor Reddy will visit teachers protesting against leaving cert reform plans at St Kevin’s College in Dublin 11.
Well, the debate has come and gone. Read our snap analysis, colour and real time reporting
Harry McGee manned yesterday’s live story into the night to keep on top of things as they developed. Read more here
Jennifer Bray was in Montrose for the debate to see sparks fly. Read her on-the-whistle analysis here:
Miriam Lord on the usual hams and Michael Collins’ chest hair. Read, if you dare, here:
Our morning digest, majoring on what we learned from the debate, is here:
Sinn Féin’s manifesto launch is the big engagement of the day. Political editor Pat Leahy has the heads up on a few key points:
- A €7 billion war chest for retrofitting, with 75 per cent put aside for low and modest income households, with a special fund to replace solid fuel heating systems
- €2.5 billion for a renewable energy investment fund
- Restoring the retirement age to 65
- A second Garda training college allowing for an annual intake of 500 extra recruits and a goal of growing numbers in the force to 16,000; a special focus on garda retention with a dedicated taskforce and focus on garda numbers in rural areas
- Seeking a united Ireland referendum by the end of the decade
- A referendum on votes for citizens in Northern Ireland and the diaspora in presidential elections
- Right to speak in the Oireachtas for Northern MPs
Social Democrats manifesto – sneak peek
Our parliamentary correspondent Marie O’Halloran writes in with a few baubles from the Social Democrats manifesto launch, which is scheduled for 11am.
- Free public transport for under 18s
- 145,000 social and affordable homes, including 50,000 affordable purchase homes, 25,000 affordable rental units and 70,000 social homes
- An end to no-fault evictions and a three-year rent freeze
- A “reference rent” system pegging the rent to nearby local dwellings of a similar quality – while getting rid of Rent Pressure Zones
