Good morning.
“A farce”. “A sham”. “A shameless political stroke that would even make Bertie blush”.
Those were the words used in the Dáil yesterday as the Government pushed through its changes to amend standing orders to give time to Michael Lowry and other Government-supporting Independents to ask questions of the Taoiseach or Tánaiste.
The speaking rights row continues to rumble on after more unprecedented and chaotic scenes in the chamber on Tuesday.
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It dominates this morning’s political coverage with the image of Mr Lowry giving two fingers to People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy featured on some of those. (Mr Lowry has said he was merely “beckoning” the Dublin South-West TD “to sit down”).
After much heckling, disruption and a brief suspension, the Government’s proposals were passed by a margin of 94 to 74 votes, though Opposition tellers refused to sign the paper confirming the vote. Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy declared it carried and tried to move onto Taoiseach’s questions.
There was overwhelming noise from the Opposition benches and Ms Murphy adjourned proceedings for the day at around 3.45pm with shouts of “shame, shame, shame” as Government TDs exited the chamber.
In a joint media conference on the plinth afterwards, the six Opposition leaders accused the Coalition of giving “two fingers” to democracy by ramming through the changes. Much of their focus was on the role played by Ms Murphy during the proceedings with the leaders accusing her of working with the Government in an orchestrated fashion to push the vote through.
Ms Murphy told Opposition TDs they were “making a holy show of yourselves” during the continued interruptions.
As Harry McGee and Pat Leahy report this morning, Opposition leaders stopped short of tabling a motion of no confidence in the Ceann Comhairle.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the scenes in the Dáil “marked a new low in the behaviour of the Opposition”. He said the events were “nothing less” than an attempt to “bully and intimidate the Ceann Comhairle”. Fianna Fáil parliamentary party members have also accused the Opposition of bullying Ms Murphy and treating Oireachtas staff unacceptably.
So what happens now? The Dáil is due to resume at 9am while the Opposition leaders will meet this morning. All eyes will be on what they decide to do next and how the Ceann Comhairle will respond.
Follow irishtimes.com for updates throughout the day.
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Elsewhere, US president Donald Trump has moved to downplay the gravity of a security breach after a journalist said national security adviser Michael Waltz inadvertently included him in a discussion of highly sensitive war plans on the messaging app Signal.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, said in a report on Monday that Mr Waltz unexpectedly added him to an encrypted chat group on the app, coordinating US action against the Yemen rebel group over its attacks on Red Sea shipping.
In the group, called Houthi PC small group, Mr Waltz tasked his deputy Alex Wong with setting up a “tiger team” to coordinate US action against the Houthis.
Mr Trump has described the breach as “the only glitch in two months and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
In a telephone interview with NBC, Mr Trump defended Mr Waltz and said he had learned a lesson and was “a good man”. He later stated that his official should not apologise.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterised Mr Goldberg, who was widely praised for his restrained reporting of the unfettered access to which he was privy for four consecutive days, as a journalist “well known for his sensational spin”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a US-brokered halt to hostilities in the Black Sea. The warring neighbours warned that Washington must play a key role to ensure the deal does not collapse.
The White House said on Tuesday that three days of talks in Saudi Arabia had yielded commitments from Ukraine and Russia “to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea”.
Best Reads
Miriam Lord has a great piece on yesterday’s Dáil sitting and notes how Michael Lowry goaded and gesticulated from his seat at the back of the chamber.
Analysis from Pat Leahy on why the scenes in the Dáil were more raucous, more bitter and likely more repellant to many people watching than the first instalment of the speaking rights row.
Martin Wall looks at how there has been a steady stream of former politicians becoming involved in lobbying, public relations and consultancy over recent years.
Mark Hilliard has a roundup of the latest from the Web Summit trial with a direct appeal from the trial judge to pursue a mediated settlement.
Róisín Ingle has a powerful column on how she is not as afraid of cancer content she comes across online. Daffodil Day, which is the biggest fundraising day for cancer societies, is this Friday.
Playbook
The Oireachtas schedule, which could be subject to some change given yesterday’s events, lists topical issues for 9.12am.
The Social Democrats have a Private Members’ motion on the triple lock mechanism and Irish neutrality. The party is calling for a plebiscite or public vote on the Government’s changes to the arrangements under which members of the Defence Forces may be deployed for service outside of the State.
Leaders’ Questions are up next at noon, followed by questions on policy or legislation and then statements on the recent European Council meeting. There is a raft of legislation up for debate across the afternoon and evening, including the Statute Law Revision Bill 2024, the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension) Bill 2025 and Údarás na Gaeltachta (Amendment) Bill 2024.
Deferred divisions are listed for 9.30pm with the Dáil due to adjourn at 10pm.
In the Seanad, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023, which aims to strengthen protections for financial consumers in Ireland, is at second stage. There is also a Private Members’ motion on the provision of special education.
The full Oireachtas schedule can be found here.
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