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Ireland’s parliament, the Dáil, descended into chaos on Wednesday, postponing what was supposed to be a routine vote to confirm the new prime minister.
The Dáil was due to elect Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin as Taoiseach shortly after midday Brussels time. But opposition lawmakers disrupted proceedings over a plan to allow pro-government independents to speak from the opposition benches, during the opposition’s speaking time.
Opposition deputies shouted over the speaker, Verona Murphy, forcing her to suspend the Dáil three times, in the hope that different factions could strike a backroom deal.
No solid deal had materialised by early Wednesday evening. The legislature is due to resume at 10am Brussels time on Thursday.
Fianna Fáil and its old rival Fine Gael – centre-right parties whose ideological differences are minor – struck a coalition agreement with a small group of largely conservative independent lawmakers on 14 January.
The agreement followed a general election on 29 November, which extended Fianna Fáil’s lead in the Dáil. Fine Gael came third, behind the left-wing and nationalist Sinn Féin, the largest opposition party.
Opposition kicks up a fuss, Von der Leyen jumps the gun
Besides the speaking time arrangement, the opposition also objected to a plan to adjourn the Dáil for two weeks after it ratified the new government – which was supposed to happen on Wednesday.
In a mistimed post on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen prematurely congratulated Martin, whom the Dáil had not yet elected due to the delays. “Together we will make Europe more competitive in these turbulent times,” she told him. The post was deleted a short time later.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in government together since 2020. Last year’s election all but wiped their third partner, the Green Party, while still leaving Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael together a few seats short of a majority in the Dáil.
That forced them to seek a new coalition partner, which they eventually found in the loose formation of seven independent deputies who were at the heart of Wednesday’s speaking time drama. Four of them are due to become ministers.
Irish parliamentary rules allow five or more deputies of different political stripes to form a ‘technical group’, which strengthens their right to question ministers.
However, members of technical groups must remain in opposition. That forced the group to formally split between ministers-to-be and the rest, which caused the dispute over the remaining members’ speaking time.
More of the same
The coalition deal stipulates that Martin will resign on 16 November 2027 and pass the reins to the Fine Gael leader, currently Simon Harris, the outgoing Taoiseach.
Before the two parties entered into a formal coalition after the 2020 election, Fianna Fáil propped up a minority Fine Gael government during 2016-2020 in a “confidence and supply” deal.
The ideological differences between the two parties are fairly small. Both are socially liberal by European standards, but Fine Gael more so than Fianna Fáil. However, Fine Gael is also the more fiscally conservative of the pair.
Nevertheless, they were the main rivals of Irish politics for most of the last century, having grown from the opposing sides in the 1922-1923 Irish Civil War.
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