Independents told to suit up as Dáil dress code ‘goes to pot’
After a number of complaints from deputies from both the Government and opposition benches, Chief Whip Paul Kehoe has decided to get tough on the TDs who don’t follow the conventional dress code.
At a meeting with the whips of all parties last Wednesday, including the Dáil technical group which represents most independents, Mr Kehoe is believed to have complained that the Dáil dress code had “gone to pot”.
He told them to go back to their respective members, convey to them concerns that standards have dropped and tell them that more “decorum and respect” must be afforded to the House.
But some independent TDs immediately shot down the idea of giving-in to his demands and conforming to a dress code when the issue came up in their weekly meeting on Tuesday.
They sent a message back to the Chief Whip that people in suits got the country into the mess its in and forcing TDs to dress like them was a ridiculous notion.
Richard Boyd Barrett, who chooses not to wear a tie or suit said: “It’s a complete irrelevance to what is going on in the country. I would just hope that the whip has more important things to worry about.
“I think it would be as ridiculous for them to say that I should dress like them as it would be for me to say that they should dress like me.”
Mr Boyd Barrett said: “Nobody took it seriously, there was a general feeling that it was a silly issue.”
Among those who chose to break from the dark suit and white shirt dress code, are Wexford TD, Mick Wallace, who swapped his usual pink shirt for an eye-catching azure blue shade yesterday. He has described the dress code as “archaic”.
The whip has no powers to enforce a dress code which does not exist beyond a Dáil memorandum that “members should dress in a manner that reflects the dignity of the House”.
Left powerless on the issue, the Chief Whip wants the Committee on Privileges and Procedures to examine what can be done to bring an end to the more individual style choices in the national parliament.
