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01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 1

Administration, vol. 69, no. 1 (2021), pp. 1–22 doi: 10.2478/admin-2021-0001

Political developments, 2020

David Hugh Moore Department of Political Science, Trinity College , Ireland

Covid-19 pandemic The Covid-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2), had a profound effect on Irish society, politics and the economy in 2020. The first reported case in the was on 29 February 2020. Within three weeks there were confirmed cases in all counties (see Cullen, 2020). On 11 March an elderly patient in Naas General Hospital in Co. Kildare became Ireland’s first fatality of the virus (see Thomas, 2020a). On 12 March, following a meeting with the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET)1, the government announced a series of measures designed to tackle the spread of the virus. The headline measure taken was to close all schools, colleges and childcare facilities (see Leahy et al., 2020a). On 15 March, after public outcry over videos posted on social media showing revellers at pubs not engaging in , and following discussions with the Licensed Vintners Association and the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, the government ordered all bars and public houses to shut (see Carswell & Bray, 2020). On 24 March, with the numbers of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland continuing to

1 NPHET, created on 27 January 2020 within the Department of Health, provides guidance on the development and implementation of a strategy to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. It also helps to coordinate the healthcare sector’s response to Covid-19 across Ireland (see Boland, 2020).

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rise, more restrictions were imposed, with non-essential retail ordered to close (see Murray, 2020). Three days later, the government announced a stay-at-home order, banning all non-essential travel and contact with people outside of one’s household. Further, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions were told to cocoon (see Leahy, 2020a). The lockdown measures introduced by the government led to a severe recession as well as an unprecedented rise in the unemployment rate, rising from 4.8 per cent in January to 28.2 per cent by April (see Burke-Kennedy, 2020). In response, the government introduced the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Temporary Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme. These aimed to both ease the hardship that people were facing having lost their jobs as well as stimulate economic growth (see Wall, 2020). Further to this economic hardship, the pandemic had a profound impact on society. The Junior and Leaving Certificates were cancelled, as well as cultural and sporting events throughout the year.

Figure 1: Daily reported Covid-19 cases, 2020

Source: Dong et al. (2020).

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Figure 2: Daily reported Covid-19 deaths, 2020

Source: Dong et al. (2020).

Figure 3: Total reported Covid-19 cases, 2020

Source: Dong et al. (2020). 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 4

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Figure 4: Total reported Covid-19 deaths, 2020

Source: Dong et al. (2020).

By mid April NPHET had declared that the growth curve of Covid-19 had been flattened (see Figures 1–4; Thomas, 2020b). As Figures 1 and 2 show, the rate of newly reported cases and deaths declined throughout May and June. Society and the economy gradually opened through the government’s phased reopening strategy, known as the Roadmap for Reopening Society & Business. This started incrementally on 18 May with the travel limit being slightly lifted from two to five kilometres and individuals being permitted to meet outdoors in groups of four. Over the following weeks, restrictions gradually eased (see Kelly & Cullen, 2020). By 29 June most of the retail and catering sector had reopened, albeit at limited capacity and with certain restrictions (see Gallagher, 2020). As Figure 1 demonstrates, the incidence of Covid-19 in Ireland continued to decline throughout July. In August there was a slight increase in cases. In counties Kildare, Laois and Offaly clusters in meat factories led to a significant increase in the incidence of Covid-19. On 7 August an Micheál Martin, TD, announced that the three counties were to be placed into a lockdown for two weeks, effective from midnight. On 21 August these restrictions were lifted for Laois and Offaly but extended for 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 5

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another two weeks in Kildare. However, schools in Kildare were to reopen as planned (see Carswell & Power, 2020). The restrictions in Kildare were lifted on 31 August with immediate effect (see Cullen & Horgan-Jones, 2020). On 2 September, with cases still trending upward, the government launched a new five-level framework, entitled Living with Covid. The entire country was placed in Level 2 of the framework. Due to the incidence rate in Dublin, it was placed in Level 2 but bars and public houses that did not serve food were not permitted to reopen (see McGee et al., 2020). On 18 September Dublin was placed in Level 3 (see Burns, 2020). On 5 October the government moved the entire country into Level 3 (see Dwyer, 2020). On 19 October, following a continued increase in the incidence of Covid 19, the government moved the entire country into Level 5. These restrictions would take effect on 21 October and would last six weeks until 1 December (see Leahy et al., 2020b). Following this lockdown, Ireland’s incidence rate became the lowest in the EU (see McGlynn, 2020). A third wave of Covid-19 arrived after restrictions eased on 1 December. A combination of the reopening of non-essential retail, restaurants and bars that sell food, and increased mixing between households led to a spike in cases. On 1 December Ireland reported 254 new cases of Covid-19. By Christmas Day this had risen to 1,025. On 24 December the country was placed into Level 5 restrictions with some amendments. On 31 December Ireland recorded a then-record 1,620 newly reported cases of Covid-19. That same day the country entered a full Level 5 lockdown until at least January 2021 (see Bray & Cullen, 2020). On 26 December the first shipment of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine arrived in Ireland. On 29 December the first person in Ireland was vaccinated.

Dissolution of the thirty-second Dáil and the 2020 general election The results of the 2016 general election and subsequent government formation for the thirty-second Dáil had led to a historic ‘’ agreement between , Fianna Fáil and seven Independent TDs. This left the government with a small working majority. Over the period of the thirty-second Dáil, this working majority declined with Peter Fitzgerald’s resignation from the Fine Gael parliamentary party, Frances Fitzgerald’s election to the European Parliament, and ’s resignation from the Dáil 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 6

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to join the European People’s Party (see Johnston, 2020; Moore, D. H., 2020). This meant that the working majority had become so thin that the government was no longer viable. On 14 January, with the prospect of losing a vote of no confidence, Taoiseach , TD, requested that President Michael D. Higgins dissolve the thirty- second Dáil. That same day Minister for Housing, Local Government and , TD, signed a polling order for a general election to take place on Saturday 8 February, the first general election to take place on a Saturday since 1918 (see Field, 2020). Despite the significance of the eventual result, the election campaign itself was largely uneventful. The main issues of the campaign were healthcare, the housing crisis and homelessness. To a lesser extent, the economy, climate change and also mattered to the electorate (see Leahy, 2020b). There were seven debates on national television: three on RTÉ One, three on Virgin Media One, and one on TG4. The initial debate drew controversy for two reasons. Firstly, Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald, TD, was excluded from the debate despite Sinn Féin polling in the low twenties. This drew accusations of anti-Sinn-Féin bias in the media. Indeed, in subsequent debates, Sinn Féin threatened legal action if Ms McDonald was not included. Secondly, Fine Gael senator and election candidate drew criticism after a series of derogatory remarks regarding Varadkar’s debate performance and character were recorded and reported (see Field, 2020). During the election campaign, Sinn Féin councillor Paddy Holohan was forced to apologise to Leo Varadkar after he made homophobic and racist comments regarding Mr Varadkar on his podcast. Mr Varadkar accepted the apology but stated that Ireland needed to do more to prevent people from minority backgrounds experiencing racism. A few days later Mr Holohan was suspended from the party after he claimed on his podcast that some women were engaging in consensual sex with men and subsequently blackmailing them. As Mr Holohan was not a general election candidate and had been swiftly suspended by Sinn Féin, this did not appear to have implications on the election (see Hosford, 2020). The results of the general election, shown in Figures 5 and 6, reflected the final Ipsos MRBI/Irish Times poll of the campaign, with Sinn Féin taking the largest number of first-preference votes, with 24.5 per cent. Fianna Fáil came in second with 22.2 per cent of first- preference votes. Following poor results in the local and European elections, Sinn Féin’s success in the 2020 election had been 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 7

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Figure 5: Party first-preference vote share

Source: Field (2020).

Figure 6: Seats in the thirty-third Dáil Éireann by party

Source: Field (2020). 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 8

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unforeseen. Therefore, Sinn Féin ran only a single candidate in many constituencies in which their sole candidate exceeded the quota. The lack of candidates meant that Sinn Féin won fewer seats than its vote share would indicate. Fianna Fáil won thirty-eight seats compared to Sinn Féin’s thirty-seven. Fine Gael won the third-largest vote share, with 20.9 per cent of first-preference votes. This translated into thirty- five seats. Following from its success in the European and local elections in 2019, the more than doubled its vote share and gained ten seats. Labour had another bad election, losing approximately half its vote share and losing one seat. This result led to , TD, resigning his leadership of the party, to be replaced by , TD, following an election among party members. The Social Democrats gained four seats while Solidarity– People Before Profit lost one seat. Peadar Tóibín, the former Sinn Féin TD, retained his seat for Aontú (see Field, 2020).

Government formation The election results did not immediately point to an obvious governing coalition. This led to much uncertainty as to how a government would be formed. The number of Dáil seats had been increased from 158 to 160. As the does not vote unless in the case of a tie, 80 seats were required for a majority. In the days following the election, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael confirmed that they would not enter into government with Sinn Féin. This effectively eliminated Sinn Féin from being a partner in any coalition government as a coalition with all the left-wing parties in the Dáil would only amount to a maximum of sixty-six seats (see Hillard, 2020). A confidence and supply deal, as seen in the wake of the 2016 election, was also not possible. If Fine Gael were to abstain, the working majority in the Dáil would be sixty-two. The gap of twenty-six between Fianna Fáil’s thirty-seven seats (thirty-eight seats less the Ceann Comhairle, who is a Fianna Fáil TD) and the required sixty- three was too large to be a viable option. Despite the reluctance of all three parties, it emerged that the only viable option for government was a coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. That would amount to eighty-four seats (see Murphy, 2020). The idea of going into power with each other was not universally liked in Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil (see Logue et al., 2020). However, both the parliamentary arithmetic and Covid-19 pressured the parties into forming a government. In April an initial agreement outlining pledges on areas such as health, housing and childcare was agreed (see 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 9

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Bray, 2020). Attention turned to the Green Party, whose seats were required to form a government. After prolonged negotiations between the parties, a program for government was published in June, 128 days after the general election (see Carroll, 2020a). It was a historic moment in Irish politics, with Ireland’s two traditionally largest parties, whose differences stretched back to the Civil War, joining each other in government. The programme for government was passed comfortably by both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, with 80 and 74 per cent voting in favour, respectively. Passing the programme for government was more difficult for the Green Party, who required a two-thirds supermajority of ordinary members. There was a vocal opposition to the programme, with some young activists threatening to leave the party if it was passed. When speaking to The Tonight Show on Virgin Media One, Nessa Hourigan, a Green Party TD, the party’s finance spokesperson and a member of the team who negotiated the programme for government, stated that the programme for government did not go far enough on housing and deprivation and that she could not fully support it. She went on to say that she would have to reread the document before deciding if she would support it. Matters were further complicated by the fact that members of the branch, who were largely opposed to the programme for government of the Green Party, were also eligible to vote. On 26 June, 2,000 of the 2,500 eligible members of the Green Party cast their votes. The party backed the deal by a margin of 76 per cent to 24 per cent (see McGee, 2020a). On 27 June, 138 days after the election, the thirty-third Dáil, sitting in the Convention Centre due to social distancing requirements, elected Micheál Martin the state’s fifteenth Taoiseach by 93 votes to 63 (see O’Halloran et al., 2020).

The Seanad election An Bunreacht na hÉireann provides that a Seanad election must take place within ninety days of the dissolution of Dáil Éireann. The Dáil was dissolved on 14 January. Therefore, the latest date that the election could take place was 13 April. On 21 January Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government Eoghan Murphy signed the order for the Seanad election. All ballots cast would be postal and 30 March was set for the deadline for ballots for the vocational panels and 31 March as the deadline for the university constituencies. The Seanad is comprised of sixty seats. Forty-three seats come from the vocational panels, namely the Cultural and Educational Panel, the 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 10

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Agricultural Panel, the , the Industrial and Commercial Panel, and the . Six seats come from the university constituencies, with the National University of Ireland and the University of Dublin () providing three seats each. The Taoiseach nominates the final eleven seats. As Figure 7 outlines, the results of the election gave the three government parties a comfortable majority with forty of the sixty seats.

Figure 7: Seats in the twenty-sixth Seanad Éireann

Source: Houses of the Service (2020).

The twenty-sixth Seanad Éireann made history for several reasons. A total of 40 per cent of senators are women. This is the highest-ever female membership of the Seanad. Eileen Flynn, one of Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s nominations, became the first member of the Traveller Community to serve in the Oireachtas. of the Green Party became the first minister since 1981 to have been appointed from the Seanad (see Houses of the Oireachtas Service, 2020).

Green Party leadership contest The constitution of the Green Party mandates there must be a leadership contest within six months of a general election. Candidates must receive at least fifty nominations from party members. Both 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 11

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incumbent Leader , TD, and Catherine Martin, TD, received a sufficient number of nominations to compete in the election. During the election, Mr Ryan was seen to represent the old guard and presented himself as the experienced and dependable choice. Martin’s candidacy represented the views of younger Green Party members, who were less satisfied with the coalition government. Ms Martin focused on social justice issues during the campaign. On 23 July Eamon Ryan was declared the winner of the election with 51.24 per cent (n=994) to Martin’s 48.76 per cent (n=946) (see McGee, 2020b).

Oireachtas Golf Society scandal In late August the Oireachtas Golf Society organised a two-day golfing event in Clifden, Co. . The event, which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the society, was organised by the society’s captain, , TD (Ind.), and former Fianna Fáil senator Donnie Cassidy. The event consisted of golfing competitions held on 18 and 19 August, with a gala dinner on the second evening. The dinner was held in a single room with a dividing partition splitting the group of eighty-one attendees into groups of forty-five and thirty-six people. This dinner went against government restrictions that had been introduced on 18 August. Further, it was reported that the event had not adhered to social distancing and general public health guidelines. Amongst the attendees were many prominent current and former elected officials. Notably, European Commissioner for Trade ; Chief Justice Séamus Woulfe; Minister for Agriculture , TD; Fianna Fáil senators , and ; and Fine Gael senators , and John Cummins (see Hosford, 2020; McDermot, 2020). The scandal, that came to be known as Golfgate, caused uproar amongst the public. Dara Calleary resigned his post as Minister for Agriculture. Jerry Buttimer, Paddy Burke and John Cummins all had the Fine Gael whip removed by party leader Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. Further, Buttimer resigned from his post as Leas- of Seanad Éireann. Similarly, the three Fianna Fáil senators Niall Blaney, Paul Daly and Aidan Davitt had the party whip removed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin (see McDermot, 2020). Initially, Phil Hogan stated that he had completed a fourteen-day quarantine after returning from his base in Brussels before attending the dinner. Further, he apologised and stated that he would not have 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 12

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attended the dinner had he known it was in contravention of government restrictions. However, over the coming week, it emerged that, during his time in Ireland, Mr Hogan had visited several counties while he was supposed to be in quarantine. He later claimed that he had received a negative Covid-19 test. However, at the time the Irish government did not accept such tests in lieu of quarantine. In this time period, Mr Hogan initially stayed in his apartment in Kildare before travelling to Dublin, , and Galway. Some of these movements were in a professional capacity. Also, at least once, Mr Hogan crossed county borders in Kildare while the county was in a local lockdown. Mr Hogan’s position came under pressure from the Taoiseach and Tánaiste. On 26 August, after the intervention of President , Mr Hogan resigned his position as EU Commissioner for Trade (see McGrath, 2020). The Irish government nominated Mairead McGuinness and Andrew McDowell to replace him. Ms von der Leyen selected Ms McGuinness to become Ireland’s new European Commissioner (see O’Leary, 2020b). In the wake of the dinner, Séamus Woulfe, who had yet to hear a case as a Supreme Court Justice, apologised for attending the dinner but attributed blame to the organisers of the event. As was the case for most public officials who were in attendance, there were calls for him to resign. On 24 August the Supreme Court ordered a review into Mr Woulfe’s attendance of the dinner. Former Chief Justice was appointed to handle this review. On 1 October Denham published her report. This concluded that Woulfe should not have attended the dinner but had not broken any laws or guidelines, and that a resignation would be ‘unjust and disproportionate’. Following the publication of the report, Chief Justice sought a meeting with Mr Woulfe. This meeting was repeatedly postponed at the behest of Mr Woulfe. On the fifth time of asking, the two finally met. During this meeting, the Chief Justice was critical of Mr Woulfe. Mr Clarke stated that Mr Woulfe’s actions had caused significant and irreparable damage to the Supreme Court. He informed Woulfe that he would not list him for any cases until February 2021 and that, in his opinion, Woulfe should resign. Mr Woulfe refused to resign, which created a mini constitutional crisis. Taoiseach Micheál Martin met members of the opposition on 13 November to discuss a common approach to the matter. No such approach could be agreed and on 17 November Martin stated that the government would not pursue any further action against Woulfe (see O’Donnell, 2020). 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 13

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The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters In May 2014 the remains of almost 800 babies were found in a mass grave next to the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, Co. Galway. The home was run by the Bon Secours nuns. In 2015 the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr James Reilly, TD, announced that the government had appointed three commissioners to lead the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters to investigate all mother and baby homes in the state, including Tuam. commission was given a €21 million budget and a three-year deadline. By 2020, after several extensions to the deadline, the commission had amassed tens of thousands of records. These included personal testimony from survivors as well as documents from religious orders and local authorities that shed light on how the homes were run. At the end of October, prior to the commission submitting its final report, the government announced it needed to pass legislation that would allow for the transfer of a database of records from the commission to Tusla, the child and family agency. When questioned of the need for legislation, Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman, TD, said that earlier this year the commission told his department that it did not think it had the legal basis to transfer the database. This meant the records could potentially be destroyed. The government also maintained that it was legally bound to seal the records for thirty years after publication, citing the 2004 Commission of Investigations Act (see Ryan, N., 2020). The government’s position caused outcry across Irish society. Several legal experts disagreed with the government’s interpretation of the 2004 Act, saying it was superseded by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). A petition not to seal the records was signed by 200,000 people (see Ryan, Ó, 2020). The legislation brought forward by the government in October did not specifically deal with the records. This led to heated debate in the Dáil, with over 60 amendments tabled by opposition TDs, all of which the government rejected. The bill passed with every opposition TD, bar two members of the Rural Independent Group, voting against it (see Ní Aodha, 2020). Many survivors and campaigners said that this legislation was a missed opportunity to clarify that the records would not be sealed and was part of a wider policy of secrecy that has been adopted by successive governments (see Ryan, Ó, 2020). 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 14

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After the bill had passed the Dáil, both the Data Protection Commissioner and the Attorney General separately stated that sealing the records would contravene GDPR. The government later clarified that people would, in fact, be entitled to request access to their personal records under GDPR. However, people may still be refused access to certain information. The final report is due to be published in early 2021 (see Brennan et al., 2020).

Bobby Storey funeral Sinn Féin leadership, both north and south of the border, came under criticism after several prominent members of the party attended the funeral of former chairman of Sinn Féin Bobby Storey. In attendance were the President of Sinn Féin and Leader of the Opposition, Mary Lou McDonald, TD; Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson , TD; Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, MLA; Northern Ireland Minister of Finance Conor Murphy, MLA; and former President of Sinn Féin and ex-TD Gerry Adams. The funeral appeared to violate government coronavirus restrictions and public health guidelines. Thousands of mourners lined the streets as the funeral procession passed while several hundred gathered at the republican plot in Milltown Cemetery to hear tributes to Mr Storey. There appeared to be little social distancing amongst mourners. Further, many in the public were enraged by the attendance of prominent members of Sinn Féin given the numbers permitted to attend funerals had been severely restricted on both sides of the border. Sinn Féin denied any wrongdoing, stating that they were at all times compliant with public health guidelines. There were also questions as to whether those from south of the border were allowed to travel such a distance. Ms McDonald did acknowledge that the images from the funeral would have caused hurt to those who had lost loved ones since the introduction of coronavirus restrictions (see McDowell, 2020). On 17 December the Police Service of Northern Ireland submitted a file on the police investigation into whether regulations were breached during the funeral to the North’s Public Prosecution Service (see Moriarty, 2020a).

Leo Varadkar On 31 October Village magazine reported that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had leaked confidential documents. These documents included a draft contract between the Health Service Executive and 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 15

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GPs. This contract had been agreed but was still subject to acceptance by GPs. At the time, this document was not available to members of the Oireachtas. The Village article included screenshots of WhatsApp messages between Mr Varadkar and Maitiú O’Tuathail, President of the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP), an organisation outside of the contract negotiations. These included a cover of the leaked document with ‘confidential not for circulation’ marked on the front cover. The article claimed that Mr Varadkar’s leaks might be unlawful. Mr Varadkar denied these accusations, stating that the article was ‘inaccurate and grossly defamatory’. On 3 November Mr Varadkar addressed the Dáil. In this address, Varadkar acknowledged that he sent the draft agreement of a new GP contract to the NAGP. He stated that this was an error of judgement but also stated that any suggestion that he had anything to gain personally from leaking the document was false, without foundation and deeply offensive. Mr Varadkar went on to say that he had wished to use the influence of the office of the Taoiseach to secure a new contract for GPs. Mr Varadkar stated that this was the only occasion where he had leaked official government documents. Leader of the Opposition Mary Lou McDonald stated that it was clear Mr Varadkar had abused his position as Taoiseach. Several other members of the opposition parties expressed similar sentiments. However, no motion of confidence in the Tánaiste was tabled (see Leahy, 2020c).

Ireland and international relations On 18 June Ireland was elected to the UN Security Council, having beaten both Canada and Norway in a three-horse race. Ireland takes a seat on the fifteen-member body in 2021 and 2022 (see Department of Foreign Affairs, 2020). On 9 July Minister for Finance , TD, was elected President of the of Finance Ministers, succeeding Portugal’s Mario Centeno. His term commenced on 13 July and runs for two and a half years. The Eurogroup is the body through which the finance ministers of the nineteen euro area member states make decisions on policies relating to the management of the euro (see Department of Finance, 2020). The UK officially left the EU at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. However, there was a transition period until 31 December 2020 to allow a trade deal to be negotiated, as well as various regulatory issues to be sorted. As the transition period neared its end there was still no 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 16

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deal between the UK and the EU. The main issues preventing a deal were ensuring a level playing field between the two countries in order to avoid unfair competition, fisheries and a mechanism to settle trade disputes between the UK and the EU. On Christmas Eve the two parties concluded the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This provided an orderly Brexit, with both sides making concessions on the salient issues. Importantly, there was no hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The agreement was ratified by both sides in late December and came into effect on 1 January 2020. For a more in-depth account of the , please see the article by Malone in this issue. The US presidential election took place on Tuesday 3 November. The results took longer to come in than usual given the increase in absentee, early and mail-in voting due to the Covid-19 pandemic. By the end of the week, it had become clear that Joe Biden had won the election. In Ireland this was viewed positively for two reasons. Firstly, incumbent President had been an enigmatic presence on the world stage, with people viewing Mr Biden as likely to be more traditional and therefore easier to work with. Secondly, President- Elect Biden has close Irish roots with great-grandfathers from Co. Mayo and Co. Louth. Biden has been vocal on his pride for his Irish roots in the past. Further, Mr Biden is also a strong supporter of the Good Friday Agreement. Therefore, the election of Mr Biden as the forty-sixth president of the US was seen as positive for both Irish– American relations and the future of Northern Ireland as Brexit evolves (see McClements & O’Halloran, 2020).

Political developments in Northern Ireland Since the Northern Ireland Assembly election in 2016, the major parties in Northern Ireland had not been able to come to an agreement on a legislative programme that would restore the country’s power-sharing agreement. Both then-Tánaiste , TD, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Julian Smith, MP, facilitated negotiations for the restoration of power-sharing. In late 2019 Mr Smith set a deadline of 13 January for an agreement to be reached. If no agreement had been reached by this date a new assembly election would be called (see Moore, D. H., 2020). On 13 January, after three years with no government, the two parties backed a deal to restore the power-sharing assembly in Stormont (see Carroll, 2020b). 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 17

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On 8 October Northern Ireland recorded more than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 in the preceding 24 hours. Given its small population, this meant that Northern Ireland had one of the worst infection rates of Covid-19 in the world. Throughout the pandemic, First Minister and Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Arlene Foster had been reluctant to impose lockdowns, with accusations that she wanted to keep Northern Ireland in sync with the rest of the UK. On 14 October Northern Ireland went into a partial 4- week lockdown, with commentators stating that this was both too little and too late. A series of easing and tightening of restrictions followed, with the DUP far more reluctant to introduce restrictions than Sinn Féin, the Social Democratic and , Alliance and the Ulster Unionist Party. Throughout this time there was a lack of cross-border cooperation. This greatly worried the government in Dublin as border counties such as Donegal and Monaghan were experiencing high levels of Covid-19 infections (see ‘ view’, 2020). At year end, Northern Ireland had 72,834 reported cases of Covid-19 with 1,322 deaths resulting from the disease (see Halpin, 2020). In January the former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, and a founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Séamus Mallon, passed away at the age of 83. Mr Mallon had been instrumental in ending and bringing peace to Northern Ireland (see Dillion, 2020). In August Nobel Peace Prize winner, founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and former member of the European, Westminster and Northern Ireland parliaments, John Hume, passed away aged 83. Mr Hume, who was committed to peaceful nationalism, is considered one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement, which led to the end of the Troubles and to peace in Northern Ireland (see Moriarty, 2020b).

Economic growth and Budget 2021 The Irish economy had entered 2020 in a strong position. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused Ireland to experience a severe recession. The economy rebounded somewhat in the third quarter, growing by nearly 11.1 per cent. The Economic and Social Research Institute forecast GDP growth at 3.4 per cent despite record unemployment. In order to tackle the pandemic, the budget announced by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe included a record government expenditure of €17.75 billion. The budget 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 18

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included measures to assist the sectors worst affected by the pandemic, with measures such as VAT rate cuts for hospitality and tourism (see Power, 2020).

Other significant political events In February the Citizen’s Assembly on gender equality began its formal hearings. Over the past half a decade, Ireland has been undergoing a process of liberalising its Constitution and the Citizen’s Assembly met to continue this process (see Moore, 2019). Amongst many topics discussed was Article 41.2 of an Bunreacht na hÉireann, which references women’s ‘life in the home’. The assembly called for this to be removed from the Constitution (see McGreevy, 2020). In April, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court held its first-ever hearing through video technology (see O’Loughlin, 2020). In June Supreme Court Judge Ms Mary Irvive became the first female President of the (see Duffy, 2020). In July the European General Court annulled the decision taken by the European Commission regarding Ireland’s €13.1 billion tax ruling. The court found that the Commission had failed to show that Apple had received a selective economic advantage through their tax treatment by the Irish Revenue Commission (see O’Connell, 2020). In December the free-trade agreement between the EU and Canada, known as the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), was due to be ratified by the Dáil. The Green Party had been against the deal when it was negotiated as there were concerns that the deal would have implications for Ireland and the EU’s ability to tackle climate change. The vote to ratify CETA was postponed until 2021 to allow Green Party leader Eamon Ryan time to whip his party’s votes (see Moore, A., 2020). In December the UN ranked Ireland as the second-best country in the world for quality of life, coming in second only to Norway in the ranking of 189 counties (see O’Leary, 2020a). At year end the Irish Polling Indicator had support for the political parties at 31 per cent for Fine Gael, 29.5 per cent for Sinn Féin, and 18 per cent for Fianna Fáil. Independent candidates enjoyed a 9.5 per cent share, while Labour and the Greens had 4.5 and 3.5 per cent support, respectively. The Social Democrats were estimated at 2.5 per cent, while Solidarity–People Before Profit was estimated at 2 per cent (Louwerse & Müller, 2020). 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 19

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McGee, H. (2020a, 26 June). Government formation: Green Party backs coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The Irish Times. McGee, H. (2020b, 22 July). Green Party leadership contest: Eamon Ryan wins by narrow margin. The Irish Times. McGee, H., Clarke, V., & Cullen, P. (2020, 15 September). New six-month coronavirus plan imposes limits on home visits and Dublin pub reopening. The Irish Times. McGlynn, M. (2020, 7 December). Covid-19: No further deaths and 242 confirmed cases. The Irish Examiner. McGrath, D. (2020, 27 August). From a trickle to a torrent: How days of revelations made Phil Hogan’s position untenable. Retrieved from https://www.thejournal.ie/phil-hogan-resignation-eu-micheal-martin- kildare-golf-5187471-Aug2020/ [10 January 2021]. McGreevy, R. (2020, 16 February). Assembly backs call for ‘women in the home’ clause to go. The Irish Times. Moore, A. (2020, 14 December). Dáil vote on EU-Canada trade deal delayed as Greens and opposition raise concerns. The Irish Examiner. Moore, D. H. (2019). The blasphemy referendum 2018. Irish Political Studies, 34 (2), 315–25. Moore, D. H. (2020). Political developments, 2019. Administration, 68 (1), 1–13. Moriarty, G. (2020a, 17 December). File on Bobby Storey funeral inquiry to be sent to public prosecutor. The Irish Times. Moriarty, G. (2020b, 3 August). John Hume, architect of peace process, dies aged 83. The Irish Times. Murphy, G. (2020, 12 February). The four plausible coalition options ranked by stability and effectiveness. The Irish Times. Murray, S. (2020, 24 March). Taoiseach announces all non-essential shops to close, restrictions on gatherings of more than four people. Retrieved from https://www.thejournal.ie/coronavirus-new-measures-5055686-Mar2020/ [10 January 2021]. Ní Aodha, G. (2020, 22 October). Dáil passes the government’s Mother and Baby Homes Bill. Retrieved from https://www.thejournal.ie/roderic- ogorman-amendments-5241697-Oct2020/ [10 January 2021]. O’Connell, H. (2020, 15 July). Apple tax court ruling a vindication for Ireland – Paschal Donohoe. Irish Independent. O’Donnell, O. (2020, 15 November). Séamus Woulfe controversy ‘judiciary’s version of Saipan’. Retrieved from https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and- comment/2020/1115/1178242-seamus-woulfe-controversy-saipan/ [10 January 2021]. O’Halloran, M., Kelly, F., & Leahy, P. (2020, 27 June). Micheál Martin elected Taoiseach as head of coalition. The Irish Times. O’Leary, N. (2020a, 17 December). Ireland ranked second in the world for quality of life, beating Sweden, Germany and UK. The Irish Times. 01 Moore article.qxp_Admin 69-1 22/02/2021 14:59 Page 22

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O’Leary, N. (2020b, 8 September). Mairead McGuinness named as Ireland’s European commissioner, given ‘important financial portfolio’. The Irish Times. O’Loughlin, A. (2020, 20 April). Supreme Court conducts first ever hearing via remote video technology. The Irish Examiner. Power, J. (2020, 13 October). Budget 2021: Recovery, health and businesses at centre of ‘unprecedented’ €17.75 bn package. The Irish Times. Ryan, N. (2020, 5 November). The explainer: What exactly happened with the mother and baby home legislation? Retrieved from https://www.the journal.ie/explained-mother-and-baby-home-legislation-5255006- Nov2020/ [10 January 2021]. Ryan, Ó. (2020, 29 October). Concerns raised for survivors ‘torn apart’ by ‘omnishambles’ of mother and baby home legislation. Retrieved from https://www.thejournal.ie/mother-and-baby-homes-reocords-mental- health-support-5247050-Oct2020/ [10 January 2021]. The Irish Times view on Covid-19 in Northern Ireland: A health crisis and a political one. (2020, 17 December). The Irish Times. Thomas, C. (2020a, 11 March). Coronavirus: Nine more cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Republic of Ireland. Retrieved from https://www.thejournal.ie/ coronavirus-latest-figures-3-5042003-Mar2020/ [10 January 2021]. Thomas, C. (2020b, 18 April). Dr Tony Holohan: ‘We think we’ve flattened that curve so much that there is no peak’. Retrieved from https://www.the journal.ie/dr-tony-holohan-we-think-weve-flattened-that-curve-so-much- that-there-is-no-peak-5077707-Apr2020/ [10 January 2021]. Wall, M. (2020, 24 March). Weekly Covid-19 payment has risen to €350 – who will get it? The Irish Times.