Opposition get opportunity to reply

FIANNA FÁIL, Sinn Féin and the technical group will all get their chance to respond on RTÉ television tonight to Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s state-of-the-nation address.

But whereas Micheál Martin, as Fianna Fáil leader, and Gerry Adams, as Sinn Féin president, were the automatic choices to deliver their parties’ respective responses, the technical group had to decide its speaker by plucking a name from a hat.

Thomas Pringle (Ind), who represents Donegal South West, was selected to address the nation on behalf of the group.

“Thomas will be putting forward an alternative to the Taoiseach’s strategy, based on issues like equality, fairness and justice,” group chairman and Independent TD Finian McMcGrath said last night.

“This means not penalising children, people with disabilities or the unemployed for the actions of politicians, regulators, bankers and crazy developers.”

The Opposition is getting its chance to respond because the Government requested, rather than directed, RTÉ to broadcast Mr Kenny’s address last night.

The Broadcasting Act allows for the Communications Minister, in the event of a national emergency, to “direct a corporation to allocate broadcasting time for announcements for and on behalf of any minister of the Government”.

Had the Government used those powers to direct RTÉ to broadcast Mr Kenny’s address, the national broadcaster would not have been obligated to provide the Opposition time to respond.

As a result, RTÉ viewed the address as a political broadcast and, for balance, is giving the opposition an equal amount of time to respond.

“RTÉ was not directed to broadcast the address under article 122 of the Broadcasting Act,” an RTÉ spokesman said last night. “Absent such a directive, RTÉ proposes to balance this broadcast as we would any other political broadcast.”

The Opposition addresses are set to be broadcast in three separate slots tonight before or after the six and nine o’clock news programmes on RTÉ 1.

The combined length of the three slots will be equal to that of Mr Kenny’s. Mr Martin and Mr Adams will be familiar faces for most viewers, but Mr Pringle, who was newly elected in February, is not widely known.

The technical group comprises 16 Independent and United Left Alliance TDs who pooled together to get enhanced speaking rights in the Dáil.

But given the different political leanings within the group, it does not have an official leader.

Hence, group chairman Mr McGrath and assistant whip Maureen O’Sullivan oversaw a process yesterday whereby the names of those interested in delivering the address were thrown into a hat. Seven TDs signalled their interest, and Mr Pringle was the one whose name was drawn.