Micheál Martin and Simon Harris may not exactly be relishing the prospects of two byelections in May, but they’re in a better position than poor Keir Starmer, who faces a potentially fatally damaging contest in Gordon and Denton, a constituency in Greater Manchester, today.
If Labour falls behind Reform and the Greens, you can be sure the vultures will start to circle. They might have to wait until after the local elections, but a crushing defeat today could well spell the beginning of the end.
Mark Paul spoke to voters in the constituency in recent days.
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Centrepiece of Dáil business on Wednesday was a State apology to the victims of institutional abuse in industrial and reformatory schools. In the fourth such state apology since 1999 to survivors of abuse in religious institutions, Martin told four survivors who were sitting in the Dáil chamber that he was “very sorry for what was done to you”.
“I apologise on behalf of the State for the abuse and neglect that you suffered. What happened to you was wrong, shocking and should never have happened,” he said.
The apology was the direct result of a campaign by four survivors who undertook a 51-day hunger strike outside Leinster House last year. Mary Donovan, Mary Dunlevy Greene, Miriam Moriarty Owens and Maurice Patton O’Connell, all survivors of industrial schools, raised concerns about the adequacy of State supports for survivors of abuse which were announced in 2023. The four campaigners ended their hunger strike in November after the Government agreed to broaden support available to them and other survivors. Ellen Coyne looks at what comes next in her analysis piece.
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And late last night, news of another apology on the way. A commitment to a State apology was given to representatives of the Irish Thalidomide Association following a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris on Wednesday night.
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Upgrading Ireland’s military capacity and co-operation has been one of the themes of a week which saw the fourth anniversary of the all-out Russian invasion of Ukraine. This morning Conor Gallagher reports on a “joint framework agreement” between the French and Irish Governments on high level security, defence collaboration and intelligence sharing. France, which reminds us it is Ireland’s closest EU neighbour, is also becoming Ireland’s chief military ally in the new world order of Putin, Trump, et al.
There were feisty exchanges in the Dáil. Paul Murphy was critical of the marine defence strategy launched on Wednesday but the Taoiseach was having none of it.
“If anything happened to cables or the gas connectors with Britain, we would not have an economy in 10 days,” he told Murphy.
“Is the Deputy saying we should not co-operate with Britain to protect the gas interconnectors with the United Kingdom and we should just ignore it? Is he saying we should ignore all of our European partners in protecting critical undersea infrastructure such as subsea cables and the interconnector with France, which will be completed in the next year or two and will guarantee energy security for our people?”
Indeed, that is exactly what Murphy was saying.
“The Taoiseach is scaremongering to justify giving €1 billion to the French arms industry ... Yes, we think the Government should not have military co-operation with big, western imperialist powers. We should not have military co-operation with Nato, Britain or France. Of course not. We should be neutral.”
The showdown over the triple lock, when it comes, is going to be epic.
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Sinn Féin on Wednesday night selected Janice Boylan to contest the forthcoming Dublin Central byelection over Gillian Sherratt (mother of the late Harvey Morrison Sherratt) after what Mary Lou McDonald described as a “very, very lively debate”. Sherratt was identified by the party leadership as a potential candidate but they knew that ultimately the decision was one for the local organisation – who went with the local woman.
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More Mammy and Ammi Burke action, if that’s your thing.
But this time, Miriam Lord was there.
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There were mixed signals on the public funding for FAI astroturf pitches, put on hold on Monday by Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan after damage caused by Drogheda fans to the new Dundalk pitch. Junior minister Charlie McConalogue said he didn’t want to see “collective punishment” on blameless clubs who had done nothing wrong. Then the Taoiseach added that he expected to see funding restored after a meeting between O’Donovan and the football authorities on Wednesday. Oh no, O’Donovan’s spokesperson said. That was not even discussed yet. A decision on funding remains one for the Minister. Right so. Mind you, the Taoiseach normally gets his way in such matters. Report here.
Meanwhile, the FAI has said it will play the game against Israel in Dublin in October. There was an expectation in some parts of Government that the game would be played at a neutral venue over security concerns – ie, fears of large protests – but the FAI blazers have decided to plough ahead.
Wonder if the President will go to the match? She was celebrating the 50th birthday of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties last night, praising inter alia its current work on “the Artificial Intelligence Bill, rights for trans and non-binary people, and the right to peaceful protest.” No doubt we’ll be hearing more about peaceful protests come October.
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We interviewed Maria Steen on the Inside Politics podcast yesterday.
Best reads
This morning’s print lead by Freya McClements: how the PSNI and MI5 were tapping a journalist’s phone.
Useful explainer on the EU presidency from Jack Power.
Finn McRedmond: on Bono.
Playbook
A few hours of oral PQs in the morning – on social protection and then transport – before the Fine Gael slot on Leaders’ Questions for Simon Harris at noon. There are statements on homelessness in the afternoon.
In the Seanad, it’s a quiet day. There’s a motion on online safety for a couple of hours, before adjournment for the week at the civilised hour of 1.45pm. Perhaps a late lunch is called for.
There are a few meaty sessions at the committees. The committee on children has the Minister, Norma Foley, in to talk about childcare – supposedly one of the Government’s great priorities – at 8.30am, while Helen McEntee is in to talk about defence matters – after a busy week on that front – at the committee on defence and national security.
The Public Accounts Committee is meeting and the committee on drug use will hear from health officials and gardaí. And the Taoiseach himself is in at the committee which shadows his department (and a few others) to take questions. We’ll keep you up to date on all the above at irishtimes.com and the full Oireachtas schedule is available here.
