Dáil Day One: Lots of toing and froing on the Dáil dance floor as parties play hard to get
As the clerk of the Dáil read out the opening prayer, Richard Boyd Barrett stood at the back of the chamber looking down on the assembly of newly washed and well-worn TDs.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he continued to peer down with a baffled expression at a giddy collection of first-time TDs and an even giddier Micheál Martin.
Boyd Barrett was late for the first day of the 32nd Dáil and now someone had stolen his seat.
Spotting fellow members of the motley Anti Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit (AAA-PBP) grouping, he made a dart for a seat among Fianna Fáil’s swelled ranks.
Like a bold child at Mass, he was the main diversion for a good two minutes as new Fianna Fáil TD Anne Rabbitte — clearly eager to make friends on her first day in the big house — offered up the seat beside her.
That was quickly ruled out of line by the more seasoned Seán Fleming. First lesson learned by Rabbitte.
Boyd Barrett, who later failed in his bid to be named taoiseach, was then forced to leave comrades Ruth Coppinger and Paul Murphy behind to find a pew among the Independents.
Day one of the Dáil and there had already been a split in the alliance.
The problem arose when Independent Mattie McGrath, a returning Dáil representative and creature of habit refused to budge.
He had sat in the same seat for the last five years and no increase in Fianna Fáil’s representation would make him move.
He had arrived in the chamber early to lay claim to his Dáil throne, despite it being allocated to members of his former party, Fianna Fáil. The newly formed Healy-Rae party — who came up to Dublin with two train carriages of supporters and a piper in tow — backed him up and got comfortable beside him.
“I asked last night and they told me it would be fine to sit in my seat,” McGrath later said, but nobody had told the tardy Boyd Barrett, who was forced to shuffle across the chamber.
The musical chairs continued after lunch as the Dáil resumed to vote not to elect a taoiseach, and Boyd Barrett stepped back to the left.
A reunited AAA-PBP found its allocated seats by giving a number of Fianna Fáil TDs the boot.
Once a ducal palace, the chamber was used as a grand ballroom. It is likely to bear witness to a number of shimmies and sidesteps in the coming weeks as Martin and Enda Kenny make moves.
Three long weeks were spent in Dublin learning to dance for ‘Lanigan’s Ball’ and yesterday all involved believed that it would be a drawn-out affair in getting Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ready to partner up.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan couldn’t fathom the side-stepping that’s been going on in the past two weeks — if his grandparents could do a deal anyone could.
“One of those was as dyed-in-the-wool Fianna Fáil Sliabh Luachra as possible and one was a staunch Michael Collins West Cork Fine Gael supporter,” he told the Dáil.
“They hated each other’s politics but they got into bed together for 50-odd years and it seemed to work as a relationship despite their dramatic differences.”
Danny Healy-Rae claimed ignorance of the Civil War; it was “long before my time”, the bearded Kerryman claimed, though admitting there had been “a lot of talk about it”.
He urged the “bigger parties” to set aside the much talked about historical difficulty he knew nothing about because time is slipping by and a solution is needed.
“There is talk about four weeks. That is too long. Two weeks is too long. The parties will have to get together,” said one half of the Healy-Rae party.
But like his former party colleague McGrath, Micheál Martin was not for budging and hinted that he would be in no hurry to step out with Fine Gael. “In 1992 the formation of a new government took nearly two months,” he pointed out.
“In fact Ireland is relatively unusual in how fast it normally carries out the business of government formation. This may well be one of the reasons why so often the focus is placed on who holds power rather than what they do with it.”
As the Dáil broke up and Kenny later made his way to the Áras it was back to dance class for them all.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
