Former government ministers opt for quiet life in Dáil

Some former high-profile Cabinet ministers have remained virtually silent in the Dáil since leaving prominent government positions.

According to Dáil speaking records, ex-tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has not spoken during question times or contributed to any Oireachtas discussions since stepping down as minister for foreign affairs last July.

Similarly, Labour colleague and former minister for education Ruairí Quinn made just one short verbal interjection during Dáil proceedings over the past five months of 2014, following his resignation from the front bench earlier that year.

Mr Gilmore, a Dún Laoghaire TD, resigned as Labour Party leader in May 2014 after the disastrous results suffered by the junior Coalition party in that month’s local and European elections.

Reacting to the analysis, which is based on information available on the KildareStreet.com website, Mr Gilmore said he has "consciously refrained from public commentary" since the election of Joan Burton to the Labour leadership. He said he decided to focus fully on his local constituency, and would continue to do so throughout this year.

Mr Quinn, a Dublin SouthEast TD, also said his main focus was on “consolidating the Labour Party vote in the constituency”. He added that any comments or speeches he made would be “open to scrutiny” by anyone trying to identify political differences between him and the new party regime.