Turkey and ham, a fond farewell to a journalist, and the small matter of a Dáil vote on fuel excise duties 

All-in-all it was an extraordinary day in Dáil Éireann, writes Paul Hosford

The Opposition called for a Dáil vote in the first five minutes of the emergency sitting over the length of the debate to ensure excise increases do not go ahead on petrol and diesel from Monday.

On the first day of a Dáil term, there is always a buzz, a sense of excitement.

In many cases, it feels like the first day of a school term, with friends coming together for the first time in months, comparing holiday experiences.

A truncated sitting on Friday was not that. It was more like having to go back to school for an hour during the summer because a teacher forgot to give a test at some point during the previous school year.

It was not that TDs resented an interruption to time off — most were working in their constituencies, though some grumbled the journey from home would take as long as the time sitting in the chamber. 

Around the campus, there was a strange sensation being in Leinster House on a Friday for a sitting, for the first time for many TDs.

As members began to fill their offices, there were all the accoutrements of a big day at Leinster House. A full slate of opposition spokespersons on the plinth ready to give the Government's strategy both barrels, a press gallery full of hacks who had grown to miss the building's buzz during the break and, of course, turkey and ham in the canteen. 

A full Christmas dinner in the same week the kids go back to school proved too much for some, the dependable lasagne preferred.

Absent that buzz, there was work to do — a financial resolution to be debated and passed in an hour's work. The Government had recalled the Dáil to pass a resolution to delay a roll back of excise duty cuts due to take place next week, the timing of which was always going to need such a move. 

From its point of view, the September 1 date had been picked in hope US war with Iran would be over, and the exchequer take could be buttressed ahead of the budget. At the time, the average cost of petrol and diesel had dropped, but a rise while the Dáil was in recess would have been politically contentious, and a decision was made to push it into September, which meant Friday's sitting was needed.

And, so, from across Ireland they came, going around groups of American tourists in town to take in the TCU v North Carolina American football game who milled around the footpaths led by walking tour guides, or on specially prepared sightseeing buses. 

Inside Leinster House, the debate lasted just as long as a half of college football will at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, but was no less intense, the opposition lighting into the Government. 

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government had “not gotten the message”, arguing it was not stopping fuel tax increases but merely rescheduling them. 

“It’s kicking the can down the road. It is postponing the pain, not removing it,” Ms McDonald said, confirming Sinn Féin would vote against the Government proposals.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said the Government was “permanently stuck in reaction mode”.

“A crisis happens. Pressure builds. People protest and eventually the Government scrambles to put together an emergency response,” Ms Cairns said.

“This is not a cost-of-living strategy. It is a desperate approach from a government with no vision and no ambition.”

The Government defended its decisions, finance minister Simon Harris saying his Government "has recalibrated our approach, and we will remain nimble to respond into the future".

Mr Harris also took time to pay tribute to one of the Dáil press gallery's most enduring and popular members. Senan Molony, the political correspondent for the Irish Independent, retires this week and the tributes that flowed from politicians who have been on the sharp end of his wit were warm and heartfelt.

But even those moments of levity could not escape the fact that this was an extraordinary sitting — for many reasons.