Good morning.
So, it’s on. Last night in the Dáil the writs were moved for the byelections in Dublin Central and Galway West, and this morning the Minister for Housing and Local Government, James Browne (under whose purview all this falls), will sign the order to nominate Friday May 22nd as polling day in both Dublin Central and Galway West. Here’s our report.
So, a four-week campaign, starting (officially) today. But in reality, campaigns have been going on the ground for some time now. That didn’t prevent a flurry of “we’re hitting the ground running!” statements. Lots to look forward to.
The Government is already in heavy “Governments-don’t-win-byelections!” mode, managing expectations for all they’re worth. Fine Gael has a chance in Galway West with Seán Kyne, but their Government partners concede there isn’t much prospect in either constituency. There’s pressure on Sinn Féin to win at least one – not doing so would be a blow – while Independent Ireland is eyeing a breakthrough in Galway.
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Anyway, to recap, the dates are: May 22nd for the voting; May 23rd for the count; May 24th for more threats of a heave in Fianna Fáil.
A very strange thing to put in a statement
President Catherine Connolly signed the International Protection Bill into law yesterday, deciding not, after all, to refer the controversial Bill to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality.
However, in the statement from the Áras announcing the move yesterday afternoon, she made clear she hopes someone else will challenge it.
“The concerns that led to the President calling a meeting of the Council of State remain,” the statement said.
She noted that if the court had given the Bill the go-ahead in an article 26 referral, it would have been immune from further challenge. Now that she has signed it into law, it remains open for future challenges.
“In this context,” the Áras said, “the capacity of a putative litigant to take a case on the basis of facts rather than abstract grounds has to be taken into account. The President’s decision to sign this legislation thus does not close off any actions sought by any person to challenge the provisions of the Bill in the future.”
This is true, but it is a very strange thing to put in a statement from the President who has just signed the Bill into law.
Iran war latest
News from the Gulf continues to change by the hour. Yesterday Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, tightening its grip on the strategic waterway. But there were also reports that peace talks could begin on Friday. Our overnight report from Mark Weiss is here.
A view from Cyprus
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is in Athens today, where he will meet with Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, before heading on to Cyprus for an informal meeting of EU leaders. The leaders will discuss responses to the fuel crisis and the war in the Gulf, after the European Commission yesterday announced some state-aid rules would be relaxed to enable members states to intervene in energy markets. Our man in Brussels, Jack Power, has packed his sun cream.
Dirty Dancing
An important cultural event in Dublin last night when our colleague Ellen Coyne launched her book Dirty Dancing, the Inside Story of the Irish Dancing Cheating Scandal. All the usual windbags were in attendance, with chief windbag Hugh Linehan, of Inside Politics fame, delivering a lengthy, though occasionally witty, speech.
RTÉ’s tune changes
Still with cultural matters: why in the name of God did RTÉ feel the need to change its signature tunes? Needless to say, our letter writers are all over this scandal.
Best reads
Newton Emerson on the misgovernment of Northern Ireland
Gloves off in the Dáil for Earth Day debate
Extreme right-wing and left-wing terrorism are also now real concerns for Ireland, according to the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, former judge George Birmingham
More entirely normal stuff from the stable geniuses running the US
Playbook
There’s a bucket of oral questions to Ministers in today – first on education, then children, then, higher education. Tánaiste Simon Harris takes Leaders’ Questions at noon.
A very quiet day in the Seanad, even by the standards of the Upper House – commencement matters, the Order of Business, a break, discussion on a motion on “participation in a council decision to resume vehicle registration data exchange with the United Kingdom for the prevention and investigation of criminal offences” – and then an adjournment at 12.45pm. A decent lunch is warranted, surely.
Busier at the committees, where the weekly meeting of the public accounts committee will examine the budgets of Tallaght and St Vincent’s hospitals. Also hearings at the Higher Education Committee, the Children’s Committee (safety and wellbeing of children online), the Artificial Intelligence Committee and the Health Committee.
