12 Saturday, October 5, 2019 News Johnson On the front line vows not to Hard Border fears in the Tidy ask for delay Town on the despite legal Brexit frontier requirement up local bridges at prevent IRA activity along the Border. Fionnán It meant a far longer round :: Speculation PM has ‘loophole’ trip but relationships and cul- Sheahan tural ties survived. Peace came dropping slowly. The crossing David Hughes the court to require Mr John- points remained closed well son to seek an extension to beyond the IRA ceasefire and avoid leaving the EU without in the of BRITISH Prime Minister Boris a deal. Glaslough the 1990s. Johnson insisted that he will Andrew Webster QC, rep- The bridges at Annaghroe not delay Brexit, despite his resenting the British govern- and Knockaginny, which span lawyers saying he will com- ment, said the documents it glossy coffee the Blackwater River outside ply with a law calling for the had submitted to the court table pho- Glaslough, were replaced only October 31 exit date to be post- were a “clear statement” as tobook con- nine years ago – historically, poned if there is no deal. to what the prime minister tained the they were the last Border Mr Johnson accepted he would do. latest effort crossing points to be restored. must send a letter requesting He argued there was no to wipe this This week, Glaslough was a delay to Brexit beyond the need for an order to be made A charming firmly on the map again as it Halloween deadline if no deal forcing a letter requesting an part of the country off the was awarded the title of Ire- is agreed with Parliament by Article 50 extension to be sent map. land’s tidiest town. It was also October 19, Scotland’s highest under the terms of the Benn Published 18 months ago, confirmed as the country’s civil court heard. Act, because the court had it an illustration in ‘Ireland’s tidiest village for the second But Mr Johnson later said on record it will be sent. Ancient East’, identified year in a row. the options facing the country Judge Lord Pentland is to Monaghan as “Armagh”. It’s the biggest event to hap- were his proposed new Brexit announce his decision on North Monaghan is known pen here since Paul McCart- deal or leaving without an Monday. colloquially as the ‘bump in ney chose St Salvator’s Church agreement, “but no delay”. Mr Maugham told the PA the border’ as it is surrounded as the location for his ill-fated However, the chances of his news agency Mr Johnson’s by Fermanagh, Tyrone and marriage to Heather Mills in new proposals succeeding submission said “he would Armagh. Border villages like 2002 with a celebrity-packed were dealt a heavy blow by send the letter mandated by Glaslough have grown resil- guest list. biodiversity, sustainability and Brussels, as EU member states the Benn Act” and would not ient from efforts to isolate it. Although the village pre- spreading green awareness agreed they “do not provide a “frustrate” attempts to get an Partition in 1921 saw the viously took the accolade in across the community. basis for concluding an agree- extension. picturesque village detached 1978, Tidy Towns co-ordinator This past year, the village ment”. He added: “We want to see from its hinterland of local Louise Duffy feels there’s far Don’t miss moved towards planting per- A European Commission estate villages of Caledon in more involved in winning now Watch the ennial species consistent with spokesman said discussions Co Tyrone and Tynan in Co as it moves with the times to video on those in the adjoining Castle between the two sides would Law: Boris Johnson Armagh. be more in keeping with envi- Leslie estate, like lavenders, not take place this week- said he’d rather ‘die Glaslough was the first sta- ronmental awareness. independent.ie geraniums, fuchsias and roses. end but the UK will be given in a ditch’ than ask tion south of the Border on “It’s not just about flowers Hawthorn, whitethorn and “another opportunity to pres- for an extension the Great Northern Railway and tidiness now. The name blackthorn bushes have fea- ent its proposals in detail” on route between Cavan and Bel- doesn’t quite fit the competi- tured more prominently. Monday. fast until the line closed on tion,” she says. Rather than the usual golf “Michel Barnier debriefed the courts tell him that ‘unless the Republic side in the late Glaslough (pronounced course green short cuts, grass COREPER (the Permanent you send the letter, no later 1950s. Glass Lough, derived from the verges have grown longer to Representatives Committee) than October 19, unless you The severing of transport Irish translation ‘calm or green encourage wild flowers. yesterday, where member cease trying to frustrate Par- links continued in the 1970s lake’) is a model for green liv- The committee doesn’t use states agreed that the UK pro- liament’s intention, there will when the British Army blew ing. It excels in the areas of pesticides, harvests its own posals do not provide a basis be personal consequences for for concluding an agreement,” you, you could go to prison’.” the spokesman added. If Mr Johnson – who wants Mr Johnson has previously an early election – did request said “we will obey the law” a delay it could play into the Leo looks to Scandinavia for but will also leave on October hands of the Brexit Party. 31 in any circumstance, with- The party’s leader, Nigel out specifying how he would Farage, said: “Boris said we achieve the apparently contra- would leave by October 31 ‘do dictory goals – fuelling spec- or die’. EO Varadkar stood that delivering a Brexit deal ulation that he had identified “Why does he keep saying News in awe of the giant It was a was “a Herculean task” but a loophole to get around the things that are not true?” Arlene Hugh statues of Hercules further Ireland wanted to be “your Benn Act. said Foster’s and Athena outside Athena in doing so”. He has also declared he he would agree to an exten- O’Connell L jab at The events of this week have attacks the Danish prime would rather be “dead in a sion if Mr Johnson requested minister’s office on a chilly the shown Ireland to have been far ditch” than ask for a delay. it. on Irish afternoon in Copenhagen. DUP, from helpful to Mr Johnson’s Any extension to the Article “’ve always said that Brexit Government “Imagine that,” he gushed. cause as it politely dumped on 50 process – the mechanism doesn’t end with the UK leav- As he returned from an which his complex Brexit solution. risk has by which the UK leaves the ing, it’s just the next phase of dragging us enlightening bike ride around The ‘two borders, for four – would have negotiations, but if the UK the Danish capital, the symbol- gone years’ proposition is, to be agreed by all 27 other EU were to request an extension, all back to a ism was not lost on the Taoise- nuclear says, a non-runner. As the Taoi- leaders. we would consider it, most dark era ach at the end of yet another seach himself told a joint press The legal action – led by EU countries would only con- John week of Brexit drama. conference in the Danish cap- businessman Vince Dale, SNP sider it for good reason, but an Mr Varadkar, you may recall, ital, “it appears to create two MP Joanna Cherry QC and extension would be better than Downing told Boris Johnson when he borders” in the North. Jolyon Maugham QC – asked no deal,” he said. 16 came to Dublin in September Then he stuck the boot in: IRISH INDEPENDENT Saturday, October 5, 2019 13 Brexit News

Vibrant Sammy Leslie, the trustee community: of the estate, who runs the Louise Duffy hotel, spa, equestrian centre (far left), and cookery school on site, co-ordinator points out its the third win in of Glaslough a row. Tidy Towns, The Leslie family’s links to in front of the village date back 350 years. the rebuilt After buying the estate, Dr railway John Leslie of Glaslough, station signal the Protestant High Church box; and Bishop of Clogher, wrote in (left) Sammy 1666: “The land I assure is the Leslie of worst and most unprofitable in Castle Leslie; the Province of Ulster.” (below left) Following decades of decay a sculpture in the last century, under Ms made from Leslie’s guidance the estate horse shoes has returned to its former in Glaslough glory with more developments village. planned, in keeping with its PHOTOS: STEVE heritage. Twenty guest bed- HUMPHREYS rooms have been added to the lodge. It’s a far cry from when the Troubles weighed so heavily on the area. Among the atrocities, the IRA carried out three murders in the locality in the late 1970s. After the kidnapping of a mem- ber of his own staff, Sammy’s late father Desmond Leslie wrote to the Minister for Jus- tice calling for a greater Garda

‘We’ll all survive. We’ve been through worse than Brexit’

presence. He complained that the area was becoming a “crim- inal’s paradise”, claiming after the closure of the garda station “the wide boys, smugglers, cat- tle-rustlers and Provos moved in”. The absence of any formal border often prompts guests to ask if the hotel takes euros or Sterling. rainwater and creates its own ture costs about €25,000 to “You learn from everybody “We are very fearful. There’s tant populations. “We have Ms Leslie feels Brexit has compost for flower beds. run. Aside from a small grant else. It’s nice to see other peo- a lot of people who travel to gotten on so well for years brought difficulties already Every family in the area gets from Monaghan County ple’s ideas,” Ms Duffy says. and from the North. A lot of because of how we respect through currency fluctuations a ‘Greener Glaslough’ bro- Council, the rest is collected The bad news for the com- businesses will certainly be each other’s religious back- on Sterling and she says tour- chure – a guide to greener through fundraising locally. petition is Glaslough now has affected,” she says. grounds. ists always want certainty. living – to encourage them to The local committee also more plans for making the vil- Around the village with a “The community has been “A border causes confusion. join the cause. keeps an eye on what other lage even more appealing. population of just 500 people, strong and vibrant from peo- Confusion creates cautious- The rebuilding of the Tidy Towns contenders are up However, being so close there are a staggering 57 small ple willing to come together. ness,” she says. long-abandoned local railway to, visiting other high-ranking to the Border means Brexit businesses. All of the adversity made us Mixed with the worries about station signal box was done by towns and villages in Kea- threatens to drag the commu- Having grown up with the stronger,” she says. what Brexit will bring is an local volunteers using recycled due and Castlecoote in Co nity back to darker times. British army checkpoints, Ms The Tidy Towns award wasn’t optimism, however. bricks and windows. Roscommon, Terryglass in Glaslough’s Tidy Towns win Duffy feels it would be “unbe- the only silverware to come to “The Border area is one The wetlands and allotments Co Tipperary, Westport in Co coincided with the release of lievable” to return to those Glaslough this week. of the most beautiful in the add to the sense of commu- Mayo, and Ennis in Co Clare. Boris Johnson’s Border checks days of searches. Castle Leslie won the peo- country. Everyone will realise nity. There is a seamless inter- “We have people coming plans this week. Come what may, she feels ple’s choice award for best what is happening and figure action with the 1,000-acre here too. There is speculation Ms Duffy admits there are the sense of community will place to stay in Ireland at the it out. We’ll all survive. We’ve estate adjoining the village. every day wondering where concerns about Brexit and the bind together the area that has Hotel & Catering Review gold been through worse,” Ms Les- The whole Tidy Towns ven- people are from. prospect of a hard Border. a mix of Catholic and Protes- medal awards for 2019. lie says. bike rides and solidarity ahead of Herculean task

“What’s being put on the table All this Brexit misery some- period that Mr Varadkar no Donohoe described him as drizzly afternoon in Stockholm Friday Agreement must not be by Prime Minister Johnson is what overshadowed Mr doubt longs for. The pair got “well-respected and well-re- the day before. The Taoiseach, put at risk,” Mr Lofven said. not supported by businesses Varadkar’s two-day Scandi- on famously as Ms Frederik- garded” on the global stage. a privately educated medical The Irish Government looks in Northern Ireland, by civil navian sojourn which, along sen gently teased her coun- Mr Varadkar gave his usual doctor, would have found lit- to Denmark and Sweden for society, and is only supported with shoring up the solidarity terpart for avoiding kayaking stump speech as Ireland tle in common with Stefan ideas on climate change as by one political party.” on Brexit – and it was not in whilst they explored the city ramps up its post-Brexit activ- Lofven, a former air force pri- well as solidarity on Brexit It was a further jab at the short supply – was about forg- on bikes. “Maybe next time,” ity and seeks to boost its pres- vate and qualified welder, who and the next EU budget talks DUP which has gone nuclear ing stronger ties with Nordic she said. ence in the Nordics, a market was a trade unionist before where the economic boom will over the Irish Government’s countries. “When there’s no cameras,” where there was €877m-worth turning to politics. lead to demands for a greater dismissal of a ‘solution’ it had In Copenhagen he encoun- the Taoiseach responded of exports last year. Still there were warm words financial contribution. heartily endorsed. Firebrand tered Mette Frederiksen. The uncharacteristically, given his The warmth and camara- of solidarity on Brexit and In Brussels, member states MP Sammy Wilson was sent 41-year-old social democrat penchant for photo-ops. derie in Copenhagen was in the Swedish PM displayed an who work together are usually out to rebuke Mr Varadkar: is, like the Taoiseach, her Earlier Mr Varadkar was sharp contrast to the busi- acute awareness of the impor- the ones who can get things “His blundering disrespect for country’s youngest ever head love-bombed as he opened an ness-like engagement between tance of the open border in done. For decades Ireland people who support the Union of government who has only Enterprise Ireland office in Mr Varadkar and his Swedish Ireland. “We all remember looked east to the UK, but from and prejudice was put up in been in power since June Copenhagen where the agen- counterpart in a dour office the violence during the Trou- now on it will look to northern lights for all to see.” and is enjoying a honeymoon cy’s Nordics director Marina building on an overcast and bles very clearly and the Good Europe and elsewhere. 16 Saturday, October 19, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT News Brexit What now for Boris and Brexit? Which came first, the :: Read analysis by Gerard O’Regan, Martina Devlin and Jemima Lewis duckling or the egg? Cross-Border dilemma

The Week Pages 33-38 shows perils of Brexit

Businesses on both sides are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst as MPs vote today

old company is now owned by Fane Valley Foods from Moira, Fionnán Co Armagh, in Northern Ireland, following a buyout Sheahan earlier this year. So do the ducks come from the or Northern Ireland – and after Brexit, possibly in 12 days’ time, will they be from the EU or the UK? To answer that requires the pondering of a variation of the HERE’S back age-old philosophical ques- roads and tion, first posed by the Greek there’s back, writer Plutarch: which came back roads,” a first, the duckling or the egg? ‘Tlocal advises when asked for directions Passported between Ballygawley in The Silver Hill Farm egg Co Tyrone and the Bragan comes from the laying breed- Mountains in Co Monaghan. ing farm in Aughnacloy in It’s the Border country equiv- Co Tyrone, only 50 yards over alent of the helpful guidance: the River Blackwater, which ‘I wouldn’t start from here’. marks the Border. There are roadworks all The eggs are transferred over north Monaghan at the across the Border to the hatch- moment. They’ve been going ery high up in the Bragan on for 18 months. There’s an Mountains in Co Monaghan, unsubstantiated theory it’s for where they spend 24 days in the customs posts. It’s half-jok- an incubator. ing, half-serious. A day after hatching, the Brexit is coming over the hill ducklings are transferred to a and the outcome of today’s growing farm, some of which deliberations in the House of are based in Northern Ireland Commons will be felt most and some are in the Republic. acutely here. The ducks spend 42 days There’s a sense of foreboding on the farm before coming and uncertainty about what’s to Emyvale for slaughter and to come. processing. The impact is already being All the animals are pass- felt. Housing in villages and ported, indicating their point towns south of the Border is of origin, which is determined being squeezed further as by where they are grown. continental European workers, Traceability throughout the mainly from Eastern Europe, process shows where every working on either side, want duck has come from and gone to be living in the Republic to – and how many times they when Brexit happens. cross the Border. Companies are holding off Ducks grown in Northern on expanding in case there’s a Ireland and then exported hard Brexit with an accompa- make five Border crossings in nying recession, and making their path from egg to plate. sure they can source parts and While there has been much raw materials if normal sup- talk about the treatment of ply routes are hit with checks exports and imports post- or tariffs. Brexit, here’s a premium prod- You can’t get much more uct with a reputation across cross-Border than Silver the globe that is conceived Hill Farm in Emyvale, Co and produced on seamlessly Monaghan, producers of on both sides of the Border. what it probably justifiably For now. claims to be “the best duck in Changes to borders, cus- the world”. toms, regulations and taxes Producing four million ducks and red tape will be extremely a year and with a turnover of complicated for Border €33m per annum, the 57-year- businesses like this. IRISH INDEPENDENT Saturday, October 19, 2019 17 Brexit News

Brexit country: Jimmy Clerkin, of Silver Hill Farm, Co Monaghan, herding ducks over the Border at Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone. PHOTO: MARK CONDREN

Braced: post-Brexit should mean there Michael is only one rule book and help Briody, keep the Border open. managing That’s if there’s a deal, rather director of than a crash-out. Silver Hill The Government estimates Farm in Co up to 1,800 vets would be Monaghan needed in the event of no deal, to certify all the agriculture transfers North and south. Having the right customs declaration form is one thing for companies, being confident that those who are inspecting them know what is required is another. No deal will be The thought of even a cus- side, basically from accounting uncharted water for everyone. toms checkpoint slowing and transaction. That’s where When you’re dealing with a down traffic, let alone the the biggest difficulty is going live product that then has to added bureaucracy, costs and to be for us.” get to markets in numerous security concerns, is causing a Briody is on the board of continents, you’re entitled to lot of worries for businesses of Intertrade Ireland, a cross- be nervous. There’s a sense all sizes. Border body that helps small of being as ready as possible Silver Hill Farm employs 240 businesses in the Republic and mixed with trepidation. workers, 200 in the Republic Northern Ireland explore new “We have done signifi- and 40 in Northern Ireland. markets, develop new prod- cant work over the last three Michael Briody, the man- ucts, processes and services. years on knowing where we aging director, is very aware He’s impressed by the level of are going to be impacted. of the potential detrimental Brexit-ready assistance being Exactly how we are going to impact of Brexit. provided by Enterprise Ire- be impacted or the solutions “First and foremost, our land, Bord Bia and the Depart- we won’t really know until sales, 45pc of what we do goes ment of Agriculture. He feels the final details of Brexit and to the UK. If there are tariffs the preparedness hasn’t been how that crystallises. We are and customs, there is poten- replicated on the British side. confident we are very ready. tial impact on that. Luckily, Having already successfully “Will it have an impact on us? we have a premium product entered the Singapore mar- Yes, but it’s inevitable. It’s just and we don’t believe that will ket, the company is in the final how deep that impact will be,” impact on those sales or the stages of getting approval to Briody says. large majority of those sales.” supply into Malaysia – the first Today, those living in Brexit Going through the life cycle Irish agricultural food product country will see whether Boris of the product, Briody is in to do so. Further expansion Johnson’s deal is a dead duck doubt of the possibility for dis- into Asian countries is on the or if he can herd his own flock. turbance: “Where we do have horizon. An operation with a potential difficulties is our turnover in the tens of millions cross-Border movements. won’t come to a halt because of “We have a lot of Border Brexit. Independent.ie: Watch Mark crossings, a lot of accountabil- The general agreement on Condren’s video of the farm ity we have to do, from the vet- regulatory alignment with that straddles the Border erinary side, from the customs the EU on goods and agri-food 6 Saturday, December 14, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT News Election 2019 Boris’s Brexit epiphany puts a united Ireland on the agenda – whether FF and FG like it or not

UK election diary: Parties can lead or be left behind over public mood on unity

Boris Johnson’s Tory party Brexit raises questions not must now be more northern just about the component Fionnán in its outlook and be cognisant parts of the union but how of its greater levels of support they relate to their neigh- Sheahan in blue collar, working-class bours on our island and on the AT WESTMINSTER areas. continent. This will unquestionably The SNP’s sweeping victo- change his economic outlook ries in Scotland will see the as he seeks to further capital- next election to the Holy- ise upon the weakness of the rood Assembly dominated by ideologically blinded Labour demands for another inde- HE bells rang out Party. pendence referendum. from St Maryle- To solidify his gains, John- From there, the question bone Parish son now needs to create that will arise: whither Northern Church on the Midlands engine and north- Ireland? T sedate morning ern powerhouse he spoke The DUP is being discarded after the seismic night before. about to counterbalance the like a rag doll by its English It wasn’t quite clear if they services and financial pulse of cousins now its votes are not were in joyous celebration the south. needed. at the nearby resident of Beyond Brexit, he has spoken The implementation of No 10 Downing Street being of a one-nation conservatism, Brexit will see Northern Ire- returned to power or if they echoing Benjamin Disraeli’s Gains: A the EU to agree terms and ‘get land’s interaction with Britain were a lament. purpose of ensuring the priv- supporter Brexit done’. change as some form of cus- For whom did the bells toll? ileged pass on their wealth to cries on the The impact of this election toms checks will be required. There were plenty of con- benefit all classes. shoulder of a result extends beyond the The seamless north-south tenders: Johnson has the chance to dejected Alex Brexit decision. The break up Border arrangements cur- :: Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership move away from Thatcherite Easton of the of the union is now a definite rently in operation simply can- of the , even as his free-for-all and survival-of- DUP as he possibility and is being openly not continue once one side is student socialist sect endeav- the-fittest capitalism and watches as discussed by British politicians out of the single market and ours to keep the baton; move towards a more liberal rival Stephen and commentators. customs union. :: Jo Swinson and the Lib- outlook. Farry of the The results of these West- There are now six weeks eral Democrats’s chances All of this is based on the Alliance Party minster elections in Northern to find a solution that can be of becoming a third force in New Jerusalem of Brexit deliv- is elected. Ireland saw more nationalist regarded as the least-worst British politics; ering a renewal of Britain’s PHOTO: PA MPs elected than unionists for option. :: Any semblance of an argu- economic strengths. the first time. Northern Ireland is not as ment for Britain to remain in It’s a big ask in a globalised But the gains were made by loved in Britain as the union- Big win: both inside and outside the EU the EU through a second ref- market. the more centrist parties of ists like to think. Sinn Féin at once, was breath-taking. erendum. The campaigners Brexit will inevitably happen the SDLP and Alliance, who The Brexit backstop debate candidate Its intransigence was an for a second referendum are on January 31 and a trade deal had been squeezed in the sec- showed there is little under- John obstacle to Brexit by a group silenced. That debate is over. will likely be struck ahead of a tarian head-counting between standing of Northern Ireland’s Finucane which Downing Street expects Brexit has brought about a post-EU exit transition period the DUP and Sinn Féin. status. celebrates his to see but not hear. totemic shift in the political in December 2020. The outcome is a clear indi- The DUP’s failure to see victory over In a post-Brexit world, where landscape, with the Conserv- Given Johnson’s mandate cation the voters want political Northern Ireland was being DUP’s Nigel Great Britain seeks to reinvent atives taking ground held and the size of the UK market, representation to reflect their offered the best of both worlds Dodds. itself, Northern Ireland runs seemingly forever by Labour. there will be an incentive for realities. with soft Border checks, being PHOTO: GETTY the risk of being seen as a IRISH INDEPENDENT Saturday, December 14, 2019 7 Election 2019 News

Voters send clear message to main parties in North over Stormont return

Dean Gray Bangor on the east coast to restored on a credible and a Belfast to lose their seats. Derry in the north-west. sustainable basis.” The DUP also failed to land NORTHERN Ireland’s two Many NHS workers, Her party suffered a another key target seat in main parties suffered UK including nurses and reverse in the north-western North Down, making for a election setbacks as some paramedics, are due to walk constituency of Foyle, where hat-trick of defeats. voters urged them to return out in protest next week nationalist rival and SDLP Leader Arlene Foster has to devolved powersharing. and blame lack of Stormont leader Colum Eastwood rejected any suggestion her It has been almost three ministers for their relatively recorded a massive 17,000 position could be under years since the collapse of low pay levels. majority. He said: “Everyone threat and tweeted: “To government at Stormont Sinn Féin president knows what has to happen. those who felt unable to and its impact has been felt Mary Lou McDonald said: We must take responsibility. support us, we’re listening. on education and the health “Sinn Féin wants to see a Let’s get on with it.” I know you want to get NI system. successful conclusion of The DUP suffered a moving again & have an On Thursday, the two large the talks established by damaging election, with the Assembly to fix our schools parties lost electoral races the two governments and party’s deputy leader Nigel & hospitals. I will be at the they had hoped to win, from the political institutions Dodds among two MPs in talks on Monday.”

millstone around its neck. the centre-ground republican- The taxpayer in England ism of and Fianna will be forgiven for wonder- Fáil. ing what it is getting in return To succeed, the 32-county for the net payment of £8.8bn Ireland concept will have to (€10.5bn) per annum to fund be drawn from a wide consen- Northern Ireland, based on sus involving nationalists and HM Treasury’s figures for unionists and be inclusive of 2016. both communities. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar And even if Catholic, Prot- and Tánaiste estant and dissenter alike in both played down the notion Northern Ireland buys into it, that the the election results there is no guarantee voters in are a stepping stone towards a the Republic are ready to take united Ireland. on the economic cost of unity. Varadkar pointed to the Times have changed and the emergence of a middle ground Republic’s 26 counties is now and no majority either among more advanced economically, nationalists and unionists. socially and culturally, than “The future in Northern the six counties in the North. Ireland is reconciliation, it’s Hard conversations about powersharing, it’s co-oper- bridging those gaps will have ation between North and to be conducted. south in Ireland, and co-oper- In the forthcoming general ation between Ireland and the election, Varadkar and Micheál ,” he said. Martin are obliged to set out their respective perspectives Consensus on a united Ireland. Sinn Féin will continue to What is their timeline for a demand a Border poll. path to unity? But the outcome of Brexit How do they envisage paying shows just what happens the bill? when a referendum is held Where do they see the without thinking through the cultural differences being consequences and having a reconciled? proper plan in place. A failure to do so will see Besides, if the origin of a ref- the debate being driven from erendum on a united Ireland elsewhere. is viewed as an extension of Just as the political establish- Sinn Féin’s agenda, it won’t be ment was behind the curve on accepted by either moderates the public mood in favour of or unionists. same-sex marriage and abor- The vision for a united Ire- tion, it risks being isolated land will have to be led from again on a united Ireland. IRISH INDEPENDENT Monday, December 9, 2019 9 Politics News

UK ELECTION DIARY New online Brexit winds whip in on the national list to replace north-east to test long-held local voting seats in Labour heartlands registers

The constituency is a long way Labour Party offices were a Fionnán Sheahan south from County Durham hive of activity yesterday. and the north-east coast. Nestled in a warren of A NEW central voting list Absentee landlord MPs are streets, the office has seen is being planned by the Fionnán commonplace in the UK. better days. Government. Sheahan The seat has figured on the Hill’s footsoldiers were tak- The nationally compiled IN HARTLEPOOL national agenda previously. ing a break at lunchtime, tuck- electoral register will allow The ‘Prince of Darkness’ him- ing into some Greggs’ pasties, voters to change online the self, former Labour spin doctor before heading back out for constituency where they vote ET’S just debunk and minister Peter Mandelson, another door-to-door canvas. when they move address. the myth about a was an MP here at the height “We’re getting a good recep- It will also replace the Christmas-time of his political career. tion on the doorstep, but much-maligned voting regis- election being a Tice argues the people of having said that, in line with ters managed by local councils L clever idea. Hartlepool have been utterly national trends, there’s an across the country. It isn’t. It’s bloody freezing in forgotten and let down by Cor- awful lot of undecideds,” Hill Linked to their PPS number, Hartlepool as the wind whips byn’s Labour Party. Hartlepool says as he takes a break from a voter will be able to update in off the North Sea. lost its A&E under its watch his sausage roll. their details by logging on. Those who venture out are with a Labour MP and Labour “Brexit is hardly a topic of The plan is part of a new going about their normal council. conversation on doorsteps. body being set up to run elec- business of shopping. He attacks Labour’s record The conversations we’re hav- tions, known as the Electoral The maritime town is attract- of “voting to frustrate Brexit”, ing are all about issues that Commission. ing a lot of attention due to despite seven in 10 voters in relate to people’s lives – crime, authority Brexit. It had one of the high- Hartlepool voting to leave the the NHS, state of the roads, the will be responsible for admin- est votes to leave the European EU in 2016. He says the Brexit public services.” istering elections and referen- Union. The local council is Party locally is already build- The Labour MP accepts his dums. The proposed new laws controlled by the Brexit Party. ing new social housing for the party leader is coming up a will be approved by Govern- And that party is targeting first time in decades. lot. He says the voters’ views ment before Christmas. a gain here by running its Pitching his track record in of both Boris Johnson and Jer- Housing Minister Eoghan chairman Richard Tice. business, he says he will “get emy Corbyn is a “Marmite sit- Murphy is finally getting Not that the millionaire prop- things done” for the people of uation” – they either love them around to the long-promised erty developer has been seen Hartlepool as their MP. or hate them. moves to reform the electoral much on the ground here. The simplicity of the ‘get “Both have been mentioned process. He didn’t even turn up for the whatever done’ sound-bite on the doorstep – Jeremy more At the moment, the electoral candidate hustings last week. seems to be a trend running frequently than in 2017. The registers are administered by The Brexit Party is the through British politics. press profile of both is playing the 31 county and city councils spin-off from Nigel Farage’s The big local vote for Brexit a bit part in this election. across the country. Ukip, which campaigned for was driven by a perception “We’ve had mixed opinions The 40 Dáil constituencies Brexit. that EU fisheries policy played on Jeremy. We’ve had those often cut across county and Proving successful in Euro- a role in the downfall of local who don’t like him but others city boundaries. pean elections and some fishing and related industries. who have seen the Labour council areas is one thing, but Standing in the way of the Party manifesto and gone for Ukip couldn’t make the break- Brexit Party pulling off a dra- that,” he says. Long-promised through in a Westminster elec- matic win is sitting Labour MP Labour’s final week leaf- reform: Housing tion. Again there are doubts Mike Hill. let targeted his Brexit Party Minister Eoghan over whether it will elect MPs. Hill won 53pc of the vote opponent, carrying photos of Murphy The party is not contesting in the 2017 general election, Tice, Donald Trump and Boris Tory seats. It stood down can- beating his Conservative Johnson. The headline ‘Tice is didates in the 317 Conserva- rival by 7,650 votes. It would a Tory’ drew attention to his Government sources say tive-held constituencies. take a substantial swing former membership of the it is accepted the electoral Instead, it is focusing on against Labour for him to be Conservative Party. registers are not adequately Leave supporting areas with dethroned. Strategic voting is vital at kept up to date. The amount MPs from parties who want to Hartlepool has been a this stage and Labour is also of resources councils put into remain in the EU. Labour constituency since its discouraging people from managing the registers varies Although it’s debatable creation 45 years ago, although wasting their vote on the Lib- dramatically. whether that counts Labour, its predecessor did have Tory eral Democrats. To change where they vote Jeremy Corbyn’s party, as its MPs both in the early 1960s A lack of strategic think- at the moment, a person has primary target. and in the 1940s. ing among his opponents is to get a form, have it stamped That’s where Hartlepool Hill has had his own travails likely to be a saving grace. The at their local Garda station and comes into the equation as in the run-up to the general Tories are running a candi- return it to the local council. one of the top bakers’ dozen of election. He had the Labour date, rather than giving Tice a But this doesn’t always mean Leave constituencies. whip restored after an alle- clear run, which will split the their name is then removed in Tice has no connection at all gation of sexual harassment vote. the previous constituency. to the town or the region. He against him was dropped. However, a Brexit Party win “This will be a verified online represents the East of England On an otherwise quiet Sun- would prove this election system. It will make it easier in the . day around the town, the local really is only about one issue. to update your details just by putting in your PPS number. It will get rid of the draft reg- ister and the supplementary o seek longer extension of Article 50 process ‘to allow for second referendum’ register. You’ll just have a per- manent register and changes are easier. “The Electoral Commission only way to break the dead- attended a People’s Vote remain EU citizens, the right will be responsible, but coun- lock was “a confirmatory vote march in London and “there is to confirm their views on our cils will still have a role to by the public with an option growing momentum for a final future relationship with the Business play,” a source said. for Britain to remain in the EU say by the British public on EU.” Six to eight months was Investor Issues around data sharing on the ballot paper. With this Brexit”. They said that the cur- the time-period put forward and data protection will have in mind, we are writing to you rent January 31 Brexit deadline as necessary to have the vote. Urgent confidence to be addressed before the new to request that European lead- did not allow enough time for The Department of the Tao- request: grows register is set up. ers please consider allowing such a vote to be organised. iseach did not respond to a Taoiseach amid ‘sigh “This is just your PPS num- a longer, flexible extension of “We, therefore, urgently query on whether Mr Varadkar Leo Varadkar of relief’ ber, which everyone has got the Article 50 process”. request the EU and govern- replied to the October 28 letter was written already. This is not about the They say between one and ments throughout Europe to or pressed for a longer Brexit to on over Brexit Public Services Card at all,” the two million demonstrators allow UK citizens, who still extension with EU leaders. October 28 25 source said. N 8 Saturday, February 15, 2020 IRISH INDEPENDENT News A cultural revolutionary: how Ó Broin and Sinn Féin won class war in housing

All wrapped supporting Rory Gallagher up: Right, Eoin at a small festival. There was Fionnán Ó Broin tries on little sign in late 1980s and a Harry Potter early 1990s that the boy with Sheahan scarf much to blond, shoulder-length dread- the amusement locks would go on to become a of his partner cultural revolutionary, bring- . ing the middle classes to the Left, Republican socialism cause. with his son The political bug hit when he Oisin (11) after attended the left-leaning Uni- his by-election versity of East London, where Ashbourne: September 16 victory. PHOTOS: he studied cultural studies. FRANK MCGRATH; Working in restaurants, he IT’S a rotten night, the rain is GARETH CHANEY became involved with the bucketing down and the roads union, and also gravitated to out of Dublin are blocked up. the Irish Centre. He also got Inside the function room of involved with Sinn Féin. the Ashbourne House Hotel in Now deeply politicised, he the commuter town, there’s a he argues for a new style of the party’s fortunes – and a returned to Dublin in the mid- small enough gathering of just public housing, covering local harbinger of what’s to come. 1990s, working on Sinn Féin’s 44 people scattered across the authority houses, cost-rental And it’s come about because propaganda newspaper, ‘An 100-odd seats laid out to hear where the rent is set at a low Ó Broin and Sinn Féin have Phoblacht’. Heading to Bel- the annual Thomas Ashe Com- rate that just seeks to pay back gone back to basics. In a set fast, he studied an MA in pol- memorative Lecture on ‘Build- the cost of the building, and of four by-elections, marked itics at Queen’s University and ing sustainable communities affordable housing that is in by profound disinterest on the became a Sinn Féin councillor in a housing crisis’. reach of ordinary people. He part of voters, Sinn Féin made in north Belfast, where his Ashe was a Republican who cites Nye Bevan, the reforming sure its voters turned out. interest in housing grew. led the Volunteers in the suc- Labour minister from post-war The constituency covers the He worked as Sinn Féin’s cessful Battle of Ashbourne Britain, as an inspiration. sprawling suburbs, beyond the director of European affairs during the 1916 Easter Rising The small attendance at the M50 of and Lucan. when future party leader and and died on hunger strike a lecture is probably reflective The scars of bad planning in fellow privately educated party year later. The meeting is held of the party’s standing. The the past, particularly in the colleague McDonald was an and chaired by Darren O’Ro- cost and scarcity of housing 1980s, are in evidence. This MEP. urke, the local Sinn Féin coun- is a pre-occupation of many was the Wild West of planning Returning to Dublin, he ran cillor who scraped across the people, affecting lives up and in Dublin. for Sinn Féin in his native Dún line in the local elections. down the country, but it isn’t ‘Twas far from the sprawling Laoghaire in the 2007 general The star attraction hasn’t catching on as a protest issue housing estates of west Dub- election, coming last. He then exactly drawn a crowd. Eoin like water charges. lin Eoin Ruairí Ó Broin was spent three years as policy Ó Broin is dressed casually Ó Broin is a ready-made cam- reared. He grew up in the rar- adviser for Focus Ireland, the in jeans, a green check shirt, paign in search of a following. efied surrounds of housing charity. He tried in brown belt and brown shoes. Afterwards, as he signs cop- in south Co Dublin. the 2009 local elections. Again, His hair is cut neat and ies of his book, he predicts his His father, Seán, was a bank he came last. short, with a fringe, and he candidate in the by-election official with the old Hibernian Dún Laoghaire is not fertile has a short beard. Combining Bank and then Bank of Ire- ground for Sinn Féin, but even become central to the 2020 24,500, which was up substan- his old-fashioned round spec- land, and was seemingly apo- still there were dismissive General Election. tially, but also shows how the tacles with a sack jacket, the There was little sign litical. However, he was reared murmurings within the party Central to his policy is the industry is stretched. How- image is deliberately hipster the boy with blond in working-class Dolphin’s at the time that Ó Broin was building of 100,000 social and ever, a market observer says it crossed with Soviet-era prole- Barn and educated at Coláiste too academic and bookish for affordable homes, a rent freeze is radical in its simplicity. tariat worker. dreadlocks would be a Mhuire, where his love for the elected politics. He has pub- and tax refund for renters. Yet Sinn Féin also wants to The lecture is more of a chat cultural revolutionary blossomed. lished two books on Basque The rent freeze is deemed abolish property tax, which about the state of housing, the Although it was rarely ref- nationalism and Sinn Féin’s to be unconstitutional by the is a direct funding source for lack of supply, the rise of rents. erenced, his father, Eoin’s left republicanism. outgoing government as it local authorities, albeit the “Rents are up 37pc since in his constituency of Dublin grandfather, was active in Ó Broin was on a group interferes with property rights. party says it will fund councils 2016. That’s €4,000 a year. Has Mid-West, Mark Ward, is in Clann na Poblachta, with finding candidates to run in And when it was introduced from central funds. The over- anybody here had a pay rise of with a real shot of winning. Seán MacBride and Maud certain constituencies. In in Berlin, it resulted in inves- all €22bn package of spending €4,000?” he asks rhetorically. Five months later, Darren Gonne MacBride, and later the absence of anyone else, tors leaving the market and a and tax cuts from Sinn Féin is The solutions proffered are O’Rourke would take out Fine supported the Workers’ Party he was chosen. He relocated severe fall in construction. highly questionable too. around government policy in Gael minister and Democratic Left, canvass- to Clondalkin and ran in the The 100,000 homes figure Building 100,000 social and the 1930s and 1940s, with the – the biggest Sinn Féin scalp ing for Eric Byrne, who would 2011 election. Co-opted on to would involve a huge ramp- affordable homes is aspira- State building large numbers as the ‘Sinn Féin Storm’ hit the ultimately go on to become a the council in October 2013, ing-up of the construction tional, leading to questions of houses and offering finance country in the election. Labour Party TD. His mother he topped the poll in the 2014 sector and a massive increase about how it will be done. to homeowners to buy. Catherine, maiden name locals. When the 2016 general in public investment, well Moreover, the housing policy He marks 1987 as the turning Adamstown: November 30 Corcoran, was from Tipper- election came along, Ó Broin beyond the amount allowed appears to be a paean to the point when the State pulled ary town and her family were topped the poll. for in current spending limits. home-building drives by the back and the banks stepped Mary Lou McDonald is grin- rural Labour supporters. She He joined the Sinn Féin Although local authorities 1930s Fianna Fáil governments in, and brings the audience up ning like the cat that got the was an admirer of local Labour frontbench as housing would deliver the housing, of Éamon de Valera – another to the modern-day problems of cream. In the count centre in TD , the health spokesman. Unlike Pearse private sector builders would past pupil of Blackrock College shortage of supply. Adamstown Community Cen- minister in the 1980s. Doherty, and McDonald her- construct the homes. It with its Spiritan ethos of “fear- The address is gently littered tre, she walks up to Taoiseach Ó Broin went to that bastion self at times, he is not shouty. envisages developers switch- less and bold”. with statistics, quotes from Leo Varadkar, who congratu- of southside privilege, the elite Ó Broin is more deliberative in ing from commercial office experts and references to lates her. Her candidate, Mark fee-paying Blackrock College. his debating style. building to houses and apart- Clondalkin: February 8 European models of housing. Ward, is about to be declared Music, not politics, was his The 47-year-old is regarded ments. The style is engaging without as the victor in the by-elec- passion as a teenager. He was as the new face of Sinn Féin Experts in the sector say it As the wind and the rain of being too dense. tion, taking the seat vacated by in the brass band in school and yet he’s been around for 25 is overly ambitious, given the Storm Ciara whip in around The speech is based on Ó ex-Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald. and went on to play guitar in years and is a member of the availability of workers. Dublin on election day, Eoin Ó Broin’s book, ‘Home: Why pub- It’s a sweet victory. The rock and folk bands, including party’s strategy team. The number of new builds Broin is knocking on doors in lic housing is the answer’. In Dublin Mid-West win is an a group called The Foremen, He drafted the party’s policy and old stock refitted that Lealand Drive, an estate in the the book, published last year, important turning point in whose claim to fame was once on the issue that went on to became available last year was Bawnogue area of Clondalkin. N IRISH INDEPENDENT Saturday, February 15, 2020 9 News

The party sets up a base in a supporter’s house for the day. TD says she’ll pay €12,000 in rent arrears to charity In the beautiful hardwood and tiled kitchen of her house in Lealand Avenue, Rita Doyle churns out tea, homemade Cormac McQuinn house in Kilrush, Co Clare, on paying back the RRI isn’t pos- a result and we also had a sick scones and sandwiches to the family health issues. sible, I will instead pay the child too. canvassers who come in cold, CONTROVERSIAL Sinn Féin RRI has closed down, but money back to a charity such “We were travelling back and wet and with muddy shoes, TD Violet-Anne Wynne has its founder Jim Connolly sug- as a mental health charity forth to every day stock up on leaflets, check said she is “more than willing” gested Ms Wynne could make as those services are under- with him to the hospital. where to next and go again. to pay €12,000 in rent arrears a donation to a homeless funded in the region.” “It was a very difficult time Driving around polling sta- she racked up to a charity. charity. Ms Wynne said that “obvi- for us, but thankfully our cir- tions to check the turnout The Clare TD came under Last night, Ms Wynne issued ously” her circumstances had cumstances have changed.” at teatime, Ó Broin explains pressure to make a donation a statement saying she was now changed. She said that Since her election, Ms if the turnout is particularly of the arrears she owed Rural “more than willing to pay back “at the time of the arrears, Wynne has backtracked on low in an area, they will send Resettlement Ireland (RRI) as the arrears”. my partner was very ill with remarks she made criticising in a team to knock on doors. she assumed her job as a TD, She said: “Doing so is made hemiplegic migraine, which the HPV vaccine. She said her He points to estates once which comes with a salary more complicated as Rural leads to symptoms like those 2017 Facebook comments did strongholds for Fianna Fáil of €96,000. She blamed the Resettlement Ireland is no suffered by people having a not reflect her “current views or the Labour Party. Not any non-payment of rent at the longer in existence. But if stroke. He was out of work as or Sinn Féin policy”. more. The surge has brought what Sinn Féin has always wanted: to break out of its working- class base into the squeezed middle coping classes. The approach of McDonald on families, Doherty on insur- ance costs, Louise O’Reilly on A&E overcrowding, and Ó Broin on housing have helped bridge that gap. These are the people who were Fianna Fáil voters up to the crash, then went to Labour, but got angry at water charges and property tax. Among the canvassers are Ó Broin’s partner, Lynn Boy- lan, the former Dublin MEP. Although viewed as a diligent member of the European Parliament, she got caught in the Sinn Féin purge last summer. From Kilnamanagh in Tal- laght, the 43-year-old ecologist was a park ranger in when she ran for Sinn Féin before coming back to Dub- lin. The couple are together for 10 years this month. They live with their dog, Cooper, in Clondalkin village. Their rented cut-stone cottage in the heart of the village, built by the adjacent Anglican Church in 1979, is just a stone’s throw from the Happy Pear restau- rant in the Round Tower cen- tre. The couple share a love of cooking intricate recipes from organic food. They frequently travel to Despite the massive swing the Basque country, where Ó towards Sinn Féin in the pre- Broin is godfather to the child vious fortnight, the party is of one of his best friends. They still implementing the ‘Tor- also dispatch themselves to rent Strategy’ – the systematic Bóthar Buí, on the Beara Pen- approach to electioneering insula in west , where named after the local elec- he researches his books and tion in the Torrent ward in Co writing. The slightly bohemian Tyrone in 1990. lifestyle would be more akin to No matter where the party typical activists. is canvassing on the island, Beneath his middle-class the same method applies. The background, Ó Broin though party canvasses neighbour- is a true ideologue who sub- hoods with the electoral reg- scribes to a united Ireland and ister, chalks up houses where classic left-wing philosophy support is expressed. That is of mobilising the masses to then loaded into a database. In subvert the elite. He just says the final 24 hours and on poll- it more politely. ing day, the ‘get the vote out’ After converting the mid- phase kicks in as party activ- dle classes to his thinking on ists go back to those houses to housing, the longer-term pro- remind people to vote. ject remains on track. As of Only the houses where now, it looks like Ó Broin won’t support was expressed are become the housing minister. canvassed at that point. And Instead, he’ll be opposing the you only do it in local author- minister. ity estates. People in private Housing is now what water estates tend not to like it. charges were four years ago. Party units in Northern Ire- Unlike water charges, housing land pair off with those in the is not an easy fix. Republic to work on each oth- Although Sinn Féin won’t er’s campaigns. On this occa- be in power, the new govern- sion, West Belfast activists ment’s housing targets will have come down for the last have to live up to the expecta- few days to help out. tions the party has set. N 8 Friday, February 7, 2020 IRISH INDEPENDENT News Mary Lou for Taoiseach? How Sinn Féin could form our next government if poll support holds

about election counts was won’t be able to convert votes Central, for example, is likely ANALYSIS when a party was on the up, it into TDs – and those seats to have close to enough votes benefited both from number present a path to power. to win two seats, but has no one votes and transfers. At the last general election, running mate. The same sce- “When you’re popular on the Sinn Féin won 23 seats off the nario will play out in strong- first count, you don’t suddenly back of 14pc of the votes. The holds like Dublin South-West, Fionnán become unpopular on the sec- party won one more of the 158 Dublin South-Central and, Sheahan ond. And when you’re unpop- seats than their share implied, potentially, Dublin North- IRELAND EDITOR ular, you stay unpopular,” he known as a seat bonus. West. Sinn Féin will lose out would say. In this election, Sinn Féin’s on extra seats as a result. ‘Brennan’s Law’ dictates that The party will probably pick HE wisdom of the a party benefits from transfers up extra seats though in Don- late Séamus Bren- when they are already up on Sinn Féin has a habit egal and Cavan-Monaghan, nan holds the key the first count. of over-performing in with two candidates, and hold to Sinn Féin max- Our political system isn’t its doubles in Louth and Dub- T imising its poten- perfect. The PR-STV, mul- opinion polls and lin Mid-West. tial in this election. ti-seat constituency model dropping support Across the rest of the coun- Brennan was one of the is awkward. But it does give try, you also have to expect country’s most accomplished smaller parties an opportu- they will hold existing seats on psephologists, analysing elec- nity to achieve parliamentary support is registering around the back of the Shinner surge. tions and voting statistics. representation. The system the 25pc mark in opinion polls. From there, you start to look He was no soldier without can throw up strange results Roughly, for every five voters at where it can make more practice to match the prattle. on an individual constituency the party had in the last gen- gains. Look at it this way, Sinn As Fianna Fáil general secre- level, but tends to even itself eral election, it now has nine. Féin will have 80pc more votes tary in 1977, he studied the US out across the board. Getting a quarter of the votes than the last general election. presidential election, mod- Sinn Féin is not running as should imply the party wins a The starting point is where bounce of the ball in , that’s it, end of story, the sup- ernised campaigning here many candidates as it should quarter of the seats – 40 of the there is a base from the last Mayo and Meath East. Then posed ‘Shinner Summit’ is and helped deliver the largest be to capitalise on the sudden 160 TDs. But Sinn Féin will general election. the longer shots like Dublin about 30 seats tops. majority ever gained by one spurt in its support. have a disproportionately high Dublin West and Bay South, Meath West and Here’s where ‘Brennan’s Law’ party, under . However, that doesn’t mean vote in some constituencies. West fall easily as large urban Kildare South. kicks in. Sinn Féin candidates One of Brennan’s maxims Mary Lou McDonald’s party McDonald herself in Dublin centres. Next comes the The prevailing wisdom is will be more transfer-friendly N IRISH INDEPENDENT Friday, February 7, 2020 9 News

Canvass: Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald chats with Kenneth Keenan and Grace Byrne Keenan (4) from Artane on Moore Street, Dublin. PHOTO: GARETH CHANEY/COLLINS

than in the past. The rule of mon, there will be a Sinn Féin thumb is you need to be on candidate in the shake out. about 60pc of a quota on the In all these cases, the Sinn first count to win a seat. Féin candidates will have to Independent minister Kath- outperform even their national erine Zappone performed a swing to win a seat. minor miracle last time by win- Let’s be clear, the party won’t ning off just 40pc of a quota. win all these seats, but their Although much is made of number of TDs can be in the the role of transfers, they rarely high 30s, tipping over 35 seats. enough help candidates leap- That’s assuming the party frog the field from way down. can hold its support. Sinn Féin New academic research has a bad habit of over-per- shows if you’re not in conten- forming in polls. At the last tion on the first count, you general election, they dropped don’t tend to win the seat. six points in the last nine days ‘The Transfers Game’, by of the campaign. Stephen Quinlan and Hannah Even if it only retains half Schwarz, studies elections for its newfound support, it’s still the Maltese parliament, Scot- heading for 30 TDs. tish Assembly, Northern Ire- The next assumption of the land Assembly and the Dáil. ‘Shinner Summit’ is it can’t “We find that on average lead a government. Why not? On the back of a mandate for change, it will be duty- ‘Brennan’s Law’: bound to seek to put a coali- Séamus Brennan tion together. Add Sinn Féin, said transfers can the Green Party, the Labour hold the key Party and Social Democrats and you’ll be heading for 55 to 60 TDs. That’s more TDs than transfers are pivotal in the made up ’s coali- election in one of 10 election tion four years ago. candidates,” the academics say. The Greens, Labour and Soc Sinn Féin candidates will be Dems won’t want to be seen to getting a raft of votes they have rule out the Sinn Féin option, never seen before as the party in favour of Fianna Fáil, after brand kicks in dramatically. the voters demanded “change”. No-hopers are suddenly After that, it will be up to believers. Independents and other par- Assuming the candidates can ties to decide which way to go. do enough in the first count to It’s a long way to get to the get into contention, transfers 80 TDs needed for a majority, can help. but the realignment of politics Now the longer-shot seats after the crash is creating all come into play, particularly if sorts of new scenarios. there is a vulnerable opponent. It’s certainly an unstable Cork South-West certainly arrangement, but so too are matches that description. many coalitions. Confidence On Dublin’s leafy southside, and Supply wasn’t expected to Dún Laoghaire and Dublin last six months. Rathdown, the Sinn Féin can- But the voters won’t thank didate will be in the mix. the politicians for going back Likewise in the Lough Derg for a second general election if Triangle of Clare, Tipperary there are options. and Galway East. And finally, Mary Lou for Taoiseach: don’t Limerick County and Roscom- rule it out before a vote is cast. IRISH INDEPENDENT Monday, February 3, 2020 9 News

Fine Gael fears the great sur- vivor has run ANALYSIS one election too many. Green Vincent P Martin is capturing the mood. Fianna Fáil duo Frank O’Rourke and James Lawless are trying to hold on. Fionnán Sheahan Social Democrats co-leader IRELAND EDITOR Catherine Murphy is in no danger. Sinn Féin’s Réada Cronin would show a Shinner Swell if she gets in the frame. Home to vote KILDARE SOUTH: Wall stands in Doyle’s way Fianna Fáil’s Fiona O’Loughlin sentiment ready seeks to bring in running mate Suzanne Doyle for the new seat. But Labour’s to convert into has a big chance to replace his father, Jack, with Athy support vital. Fine Gael’s Martin Hey- ‘vote for a home’ don will be confident but not complacent, especially with former Fine Gael, now Inde- pendent Fiona McLoughlin GENERAL election not to lose Healy, in the gene pool. Fianna is turning into the election Fáil Seán everyone is trying their best Ó Fearghaíl is automatically to throw away. Whoever takes elected. A power in the 33rd Dáil will take on a healthy economy, buoyant Exchequer LONGFORD-WESTMEATH: returns, low unemployment and positive job Clarke comes from left field creation prospects into the future. Sinn Féin’s is the Not since the 1997 General Election have party’s ultimate long shot. The the economic conditions been so favourable party did come close last time for an incoming government, bringing the with a different candidate, opportunity to deliver returns fast. Paul Hogan. Her presence will The pent-up demand for some chink of upset the battle for Longford, light on health and housing has boiled over. where Fianna Fáil’s Joe Fla- Saturday polling will play a role and ought herty has the beating of Fine to ensure a high turnout of young voters. Gael’s Micheál Carrigy. Again, The home to vote sentiment of the same-sex Longford could end up with marriage and repeal the Eighth campaign no TD. Independent minis- is now poised to convert into vote for a home. ter Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, Fine A failing society is overshadowing the Gael’s and Fianna successful economy, so the tide has gone out Fáil’s seem solid. on Fine Gael after nine years in office. Fianna Fáil’s failure to reflect a changed MEATH WEST: approach in personality or policy has seen it Black sheep takes on flock not rewarded either. The Shinner Surge gets per- Sinn Féin has come to embody the mood sonal as the party seeks to take for change. Before the revisionism kicks in, aligned for Labour’s Aodhán Fianna Fáil’s Lorraine Clif- Fianna Fáil falls short of three its seat back from former TD Mary Lou McDonald’s party didn’t see this Ó Ríordáin. Fine Gael minis- ford-Lee is ready for any slip seats. Fine Gael minister John Peader Tóibín, now the leader coming either. Just over two weeks ago, Sinn ter is solid, as ups by Labour or Fine Gael. Paul Phelan seems OK. Green of the fledgling Aontú. Sinn Féin was still taking candidates off tickets is Fianna Fáil’s Seán Haughey. will need a Féin’s has a dif- as it was on the defensive. Spooked by the Sinn Féin’s is LEINSTER big lift to be in contention. ficult task. Fine Gael minister arrival of Independent onto out of the danger zone. Green and Fianna the pitch and worried about losing its seat, David Healy has to fend off WEXFORD: WICKLOW: Fáil’s are com- the party nationally gave Leitrim-based TD Social Democrats Cian O’Cal- Southern exposure Donnelly flirts with danger fortable. a clear run and dropped - laghan and Independent John Watch the north-south divide. Houdini-like, Sinn Féin’s John based Chris MacManus “as the best way to Lyons. Labour’s Brady now benefits from the MEATH EAST: ensure that we continue to represent the makes it nine general elec- surge. Fine Gael minister Regina’s Royal rumble people of Sligo-Leitrim in the next Dáil”. DUBLIN NORTH-WEST: tions in a row. Fianna Fáil will Simon Harris is safe but will Fine Gael minister Regina That was January 17 – now a world away. Not so solid Rock hold two, most likely sitting be down and fellow minister Doherty is in deep danger. Candidate line-ups pared back in Dublin Fianna Fáil Lord Mayor Paul TDs James Browne and Mal- Andrew Doyle is in danger. On a bad day, the party sim- following the local and European elections McAuliffe is flying in colm Byrne, but they have to Fianna Fáil’s is fine ply won’t have the numbers to drubbings were left to the bare minimum. and Sinn Féin’s is watch running mate Michael but is in a return her and fellow minister Former MEP Lynn Boylan, who should be a back in business in Sheehan benefiting from right old melee with his for- Helen McEntee. McEntee and candidate but isn’t, would sail into a seat in after an awful local elections geography. Fine Gael will drop mer protegé, Social Democrats Fianna Fáil ministerial con- any one of a half dozen places in Dublin – and internal faction fights. one, from either ministers , Green tender Thomas Byrne should even in southside constituencies. Fine Gael’s Noel Rock would or Michael D’Arcy. and a raft of hold. Doherty is the weaker Over the weekend, strategists in all three have to take on Social Demo- Sinn Féin is not confident of Independents, including for- link as she’s hunted in the parties who spoke to the Irish Independent crats co-leader Róisín Shortall as it feels he mer TD Joe Behan, Jon Snell commuter belt by Sinn Féin’s remained pragmatic. in , so it’s a bridge is too far north. The last seat and Val Cox. Darren O’Rourke and now Allowing for traditional overstatement too far for him. Green Caroline seems destined to go down less so Fianna Fáil’s Deirdre of its vote in opinion polls, Sinn Féin still Conroy is the dark horse and south with former Fine Gael LAOIS-OFFALY: Doherty Ryan. has to be looking at being above 20pc. In would be the shock of the elec- candidate and Independent Birr brings chill for Fine Gael other words, for every two voters at the last tion in Dublin, if she figured in and former All the action is in west Offaly LOUTH: general election, it will have three this time. the final reckoning. TD backing Seán where Fine Gael’s Marcella Big bother in wee county A lack of candidates will put a lid on possible O’Shea. Aontú’s Jim Codd is a Corcoran Kennedy is fighting It’s not guaranteed but Sinn gains though. Anything above 30 seats would DUBLIN FINGAL: long shot. The smart money a losing battle in Birr. The con- Féin is in play to hold two mean candidates never heard of at all being Daly gap pivotal appears to be on Independent tenders for the seat are Inde- seats with elected on the Sinn Féin brand alone. Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly is Ger Carthy in Rosslare. pendent John Leahy, Fianna in Drogheda, and Ruairí Ó From its own private polling, Fine Gael now fine, along with Fianna Fáil’s Peter Ormond and Green Murchú in Dundalk, replacing News is convinced the Sinn Féin rise is real but Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien and CARLOW-KILKENNY: , while Inde- . Fine Gael’s Fer- Judge doesn’t believe its own fall will be as bad as Green Joe O’Brien. Labour’s Carlow shapes the field pendent former Sinn Féin TD gus O’Dowd and Fianna Fáil’s the 2002 wipeout. A really bad day would Duncan Smith is making a Sinn Féin’s Kathleen Fun- is an outside bet. Declan Breathnach should be criticises be 33 seats and, at this stage, a reasonable better play of filling the vac- chion was dead in the water Fianna Fáil’s is alright. Then there’s a right minister outcome would be anywhere near 40. uum caused by ’s but now has a fighting chance, solid in for the sec- scrap for the seat held by Inde- for trying Fianna Fáil still casts a doubt over the Sinn election as an MEP than her which changes everyone else’s ond Offaly seat and the three pendent former Fine Gael TD to advise Féin rise and believes it will still be in the putative successor, Independ- ambitions. Fianna Fáil’s John Laois seats go to Fianna Fáil’s – and the sec- hunt to pick up final seats in a win some, lose ent Dean Mulligan. Fine Gael’s McGuinness in Kilkenny city Seán Fleming, Sinn Féin’s ond Sinn Féin seat if it comes her on some scenario. Being above 53 would be a James Reilly is making a late is solid. But Bobby Aylward in Brian Stanley and Fine Gael loose – with Labour’s Ged personal great day and above 48 still acceptable. challenge on his party’s sitting the south county is vulnerable minister Charlie Flanagan. Nash and Green Mark Dearey. injury The rule is simple though: if you don’t get TD, . It’s a bit of a if Jennifer Murnane O’Connor Fianna Fáil’s James Byrne and the votes nationally, you don’t win the seats stretch and Fine Gael is still in Carlow gets the better of KILDARE NORTH: Fine Gael’s John McGahon will awards locally. Nobody is safe if their party flops and in danger of having no seat. Fine Gael’s Pat Deering and Greens gauge the mood build for another day. 20 anybody can be elected if the party soars. 12 Wednesday, January 22, 2020 IRISH INDEPENDENT News The Rows of : Hopefuls in ‘dog fight’ for Kingdom’s capital

republican traditions in something about the criminal Kerry’s county town. element. I’m thinking of Fionnán The battle to become getting a shotgun,” a man in Sheahan Tralee’s TD is playing out Hawley Park declares. IN TRALEE among the parties of varying A councillor for 20 years, shades of modern-day Foley ran unsuccessfully in republicanism in Fianna Fáil the 2007 General Election. and Sinn Féin. She handily topped the poll N MOUNTJOY And both candidates are in Tralee in last year’s local jail one Monday seeking to carry on a legacy. elections and was added to morning, Canvassing through Kevin the ticket by Fianna Fáil only High upon the Barry Villas, is a month ago. ‘Igallows tree, careful not to knock on the The party senses a Kevin Barry gave his young doors where there has been a weakness in Sinn Féin where life, recent bereavement. is retiring and For the cause of liberty...’ The Fianna Fáil candidate is not being replaced by his Although he has no tangible capable and cheery. daughter, Toiréasa, who has link to Kerry, there’s an estate The greeting for every quit politics. in Tralee named after Kevin woman she meets goes along The task of replacing the Barry, the celebrated 18-year- the lines of: “How are you iconic Sinn Féin TD falls old medical student executed doing, girl?” to , a well-spoken 100 years ago in the War of Older voters fondly recall solicitor and a well-organised Independence. her father, the late Denis councillor for the past eight It’s just down the road Foley, either for his work years. The 49-year-old is also from Austin Stack Park, the as a TD or for running the born and bred in Tralee, lives GAA ground named after ballroom in the Brandon there with his wife and three a more local hero from the Hotel. children. same period, who went on to A steady stream of housing, Ferris is out pounding the become a TD for Kerry. health and crime issues come pavements for Daly in rural The honorary titles on up on the doors. and urban county areas and the locations reflect the “You’re going to have to do feeling confident. IRISH INDEPENDENT Wednesday, January 22, 2020 13 News

Canvassing: Cllr Pa Daly, Much to the chagrin of the a Sinn Féin candidate brothers from Kilgarvan, Fine Gael TD Rock hits in the General Election, Michael and Danny Healy- talking to Eddie Cronin Rae have found a dreaded from Tralee, Co Kerry. political epithet attached out at Fianna Fáil group’s PHOTO: DOMNICK WALSH firmly to them: “Safe.” Everyone expects the pair to be returned comfortably. attack as ‘juvenile bile’ Fianna Fáil will take at Canvassing the Sinn Féin least one seat. Sitting TD stronghold of Rahoonane, a has to fend off Philip Ryan members of the group to like large council estate in Tralee competition from his running the post. near his own home, Daly mates – Foley in the north FINE Gael TD Noel Rock has Mr Rock branded the com- emphasises the importance and Norma Moriarty in the been the subject of deroga- ments about him as “nasty” of voting on the day. south. tory comments in an inter- and said he was disappointed Getting its own vote out will Fine Gael will also win a nal Fianna Fáil social media they were made by someone be vital for Sinn Féin. seat, but two looks a stretch at group. who is part of his constituency Both there and across the this point. Mr Rock was the target of rival’s team. road in the middle-class Junior Transport Minister abusive language on a Face- “This type of juvenile nas- Killeen Heights estate, he Brendan Griffin announced book group called The RT tiness reflects the sort of bile gets a string of housing- €25m for regional and local (retweet) Gang by a long-time that Fianna Fáil has been related queries, from leaky roads in the county yesterday. supporter of his Dublin North spewing on doorsteps across roofs, to the housing list to He is the favourite for the West constituency rival, the northside about me,” Mr complaints about rents and Fine Gael seat, ahead of his Fianna Fáil Lord Mayor Paul Rock said. house prices. Housing is running mate Mike Kennelly. McAuliffe. “It’s especially disappointing again the big issue. Kennelly has a few strings Screengrabs from the Fianna Daly is not to be written off. to his bow, though. He gets Fáil group show members dis- Here’s the catch in Kerry. automatic name recognition cussing comments ‘Disappointing’: Foley and Daly are the key from being a brother of the made by Mr Rock about legis- Fine Gael TD Noel battle, but it’s possible for late Tim Kennelly, a genuine lation Fine Gael enacted while Rock criticised his both to get elected – and footballing great who won in Government. opponents cause a chain reaction. five All-Irelands with the One member of The RT There are four political Kingdom’s legendary team of Gang group, who is part of Mr parties really operating in the 1970s and 1980s. McAuliffe’s campaign team, to see these comments from Kerry now: Fianna Fáil, Fine And his patch in Listowel is then used a derogatory term someone on Paul McAuliffe’s Gael, Sinn Féin and the Fine Gael’s strongest part of about Mr Rock. team. Reasonable, decent Healy-Raes. the county. News This person was employed people can see this nastiness The Labour Party, once Foley getting ahead of Public by the Fianna Fáil party until for what it is,” he added. a power in the county Brassil, who is also based outcry over recently. Mr McAuliffe said he was when the Spring name had in the north of Kerry, and Another member wrote “rock not a member of The RT Gang national significance, has no Kennelly being still in the RIC event is losing the plot”, and the orig- and “wasn’t aware of the candidate. game, will make it nervy for ‘a warning inal commenter then wrote comments”. A failure to run anyone Griffin. shot that “#RockAmach”. Last night, members of The would make it the first time As Foley notes: “Kerry is must be Another member posted RT Gang discussed closing since 1933 that Labour won’t always a dog fight. It seems to a screenshot of a comment down the group as details of be on the ballot paper in be in our DNA to fight to the heeded’ he made about Mr Rock on their conversations about a Kerry. bitter end.” 14 Twitter and then asked other candidate had been leaked. ON SATURDAY IRELAND’S BEST- SELLING NEWSPAPER Brexit Are you ready to retire? The day Our guide to better living for of truth every age 10 pages of expert With Charlie Weston analysis inside and Sinead Ryan

Saturday, October 19, 2019 €3.00 (£1.80 in Northern Ireland) C Absent TD voted INSIDE six times in Dáil IRELAND’S Exclusive: Dooley Mum’s EYESON cannot explain the the word: THEPRIZE voting anomaly Caitríona Cormac McQuinn ready for PLUS and Fionnán Sheahan TV return A SENIOR Fianna Fáil TD ‘voted’ in the Dáil six times in one day despite not being present in the chamber. is recorded as having taken part in a string of votes on Thursday – but video recordings show he was not in his Dáil seat at the time. Mr Dooley, Fianna Fáil’s spokesman on communications, initially told the Irish Independent he did not know anything about it. However, he did not respond to repeated requests for clarity on his WHYONLY whereabouts at the time of the votes. His colleague Limerick TD Niall RTÉ’s Caitríona MONEYMATTERS Collins, who was seated beside Mr Perry opens up Dooley’s voting position, said he about returning FORWORLDCUPS could not explain the anomaly. to the newsroom Time is set aside in the Dáil every after maternity INREVIEW Thursday afternoon for TDs to and why on legislation and private member that ‘bizarre’ Oval motions. Office moment will Recommended retail price of the Irish Independent in ROI is €3.00 (£1.80 in Northern Ireland) Each TD is assigned a specific seat haunt her until the Vol. 128 No. 251 Irish Independent so that their electronic voting record end of her days. can be tracked. Mr Dooley’s seat was PHOTO: NAOMI GAFFEY empty over the course of eight votes See Weekend Magazine Continued on Page 2 2 Saturday, October 19, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT Inside today’s paper News

Weekend The untold story of Hurricane Lorenzo was nothing more than a storm in a teacup P6 Review Sport :: ‘More can be Big tournaments Forwards to carry done’ to promote are being held in the fight against Bram Stokers’ wrong places All Blacks P3 P4 links to capital

Luke Byrne and Alan O’Keeffe News State relies on huge corporate tax take to help pay the wage bill P4 IT IS one of the best-known and most successful horror stories of all time – recreated Personal The Week on-screen, in print and on the stage for more than 120 Finance Unionists’ best years and resurrected every interests now lie Halloween. Why motorists But not all of Bram Stoker’s in Ireland as dance face a Halloween fans are aware just how much with Tories ends Dublin’s north inner city fright was a key inspiration for his P42 P33 masterpiece ‘Dracula’. The area has been fighting to re-establish its connec- tion to the novel and its World 29 Comment 33 Letters 38 TV and Radio Weekend Magazine author, from festivals to a Business 39 Classifieds 44 Deaths 46 Puzzles 49-51 plaque commemorating the address where Stoker lived on Buckingham Street from the ages of 11 to 17 in the mid-19th century. At the Irish Independent, we take great pride in the quality of our trusted writing and always want to “In those days, the north hear the views of our readers. We also aim to correct any errors as quickly as possible. If you wish to inner city was a Gothic give feedback on this newspaper or report any inaccuracy, typographical and grammatical errors, Disneyland with a ghost on please email [email protected]. If you have a customer care issue, please call 1890 130130. every street corner,” said historian Hugo McGuinness, Postal address: Irish Independent, Independent House, No 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1. D01 X2E1 Telephone: 01-7055333. Letters to the Editor should be sent to: [email protected] who has written ‘Bram Stoker in the North Inner City’, the transcript for a self-guided Tokens are on Page 6 and 8 today walking tour. It will give fans of the maca- bre an insight into the early life of the author who wrote Today’s weather “despair has its own calms”. Stoker was fascinated by his mother Charlotte’s tales of Tribute: ghosts in her native Sligo and Historian her stories of a local cholera Hugo epidemic in her youth. McGuinness Mr McGuinness believes at the her stories and the ghostly Dracula tales, folk memories, and lore mural at of Dublin’s northside had Buckingham a very strong influence on Street in Stoker. Dublin. Stoker was delighted to PHOTO: OWEN listen on street corners to the BRESLIN stories told by local people of strange happenings, ghostly Dooley vote recorded six times but he

Continued from Page 1 Video footage of Dáil votes respond to several subsequent shows whether TDs vote ‘Tá’ phone calls and text messages. or ‘Níl’ with green or red dots Queries sent to Fianna Fáil on Thursday afternoon, yet his over their seats. also went unanswered. vote was recorded six times. Mr Dooley’s vote was The was last night The votes were on amend- recorded on six occasions dur- looking into the matter after ments to a Green Party motion ing the Dáil votes on Thursday, queries from the Irish Inde- on forestry and a Sinn Féin despite his absence. pendent. motion on the living wage. When the matter was raised There were wide margins in with Mr Dooley last night, he Prominent the results of each of the votes said: “There must have been a Clare TD Mr Dooley (50) is a and it would not have changed mistake or something.” key member of Fianna Fáil the result if Mr Dooley’s vote He also said: “I don’t know leader Michael Martin’s front- had not been counted. anything about it”. bench. While some votes require Asked by the Irish Independ- He was first elected to the walk-through divisions in the ent if he would investigate and Dáil in 2007, having previously Dáil chamber, votes on Thurs- come back with a further com- served five years in the Seanad. day were carried out electron- ment, he replied: “I’ll try.” Mr Dooley has been prom- ically. However, Mr Dooley did not inent in the debate over how IRELAND’S BEST-SELLING NEWSPAPER

See ‘Back to the Sport ‘My daughter finds it hard to darkest days’ make friends’ Tony Ward on Ireland’s World Cup drubbing Health & Living

Monday, October 21, 2019 €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) C – DÁIL CONTROVERSY – No further EU concessions to Phantom votes: FF in get DUP onside, warns Varadkar

Cormac McQuinn chaos as more TDs and Caroline O’Doherty

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said there will be no further EU conces- sions to help the British government win the support of the DUP for the dragged into scandal new Brexit deal. He also said the Government was “disappointed” that the House of Commons had not yet voted on the deal struck between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU. He said yesterday that a Brexit Chambers says extension was preferable to a crash- out Brexit “if it comes to it”. sorry she did not The DUP is opposing the deal as it is against the prospect of a de facto reveal vote ‘error’ customs border in the Irish Sea. Mr Varadkar ruled out further con- cessions aimed at getting the DUP Cormac McQuinn onside. and Fionnán Sheahan “This is done now – we have nego- tiated two deals with the UK gov- FIANNA FÁIL’S high-profile Brexit ernment at this stage, both of them spokesperson has supported by 28 governments,” he become embroiled in the ‘phantom said. votes’ controversy that has rocked the “There isn’t going to be any further party. changes and I think the UK govern- In a fresh headache for leader Micheál ment acknowledges that.” Martin, she has admitted she recorded The UK has requested a Brexit a vote “in error” on behalf of Fianna Fáil extension and Mr Varadkar said “an deputy leader during last extension would be preferable to no Thursday’s bizarre Dáil session. deal if it comes to it”. And she apologised for failing to dis- Meanwhile, councils around the country have identified a string of Brexit concerns, including a “high risk” of disruption by republi- Fionnán Sheahan: Debacle plays cans, job losses and damage to local right into opponents’ hands economies. The Irish Independent can today reveal details of local authorities’ con- close this in a radio interview when she tingency planning – how they expect was asked directly whether she ever their county will be hit, and efforts to voted for another colleague in the Dáil. mitigate the damage. Mr Martin has ordered Timmy Dooley Some of the starkest concerns are and to stand down from the laid out by officials in Border coun- front bench until the Ceann Comhairle ties. In Co Leitrim, concerns have has completed a probe into the matter. been raised about Brexit-related Fianna Fáil TDs privately expressed fury activity by republicans. at the mess as Fine Gael ramped up the pressure and sought to bring two more Under pressure: Fianna Fáil’s Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers recorded a vote ‘in error’ for Dara Calleary Full reports: Pages 10&11 senior figures – Barry Cowen and Willie O’Dea – into the scandal. Recommended retail price of the Irish Independent in It comes after the Irish Independent ROI is €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) revealed on Saturday that Mr Dooley Vol. 128 No. 252 Irish Independent was recorded as voting six times despite 16 questions TDs have to answer not being in the Dáil chamber.

Continued on Page 4 N 4 Monday, October 21, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT News FF Dáíl scandal

FF in chaos as more TDs Phantom votes: dragged into revelations over voting in Dáil amid probe into irregularities

From Page 1 are not in their assigned seat. Fine Gael Health Minister Simon Har- Both he and Mr Collins initially ris claimed on RTÉ that their explana- claimed they did not know what hap- tion was in “‘dog ate my homework’ pened when contacted on Friday. territory”. However, the following day the pair His party colleague said Mr Collins had pressed Mr Dooley’s claimed Mr Dooley and Mr Collins’s voting button in the mistaken belief he accounts were “complete and utter rub- was still in the chamber. bish”. Mr Brophy also raised questions Mr Calleary’s assigned seat is beside relating to Mr O’Dea and Mr Cowen. fellow Mayo TD Lisa Chambers. Dáil video from Thursday shows Mr The Fianna Fáil deputy leader was not Dooley approaching Mr Collins – who present at the start of Thursday’s vot- was chatting to Mr O’Dea – just before ing session as he was doing a live radio he leaves the Dáil chamber at the start interview. of the voting session. Mr Dooley says Ms Chambers was asked directly on something to Mr Collins as he points RTÉ yesterday whether she had ever towards his seat before leaving. Mr Bro- voted for a colleague or had a colleague phy questioned if Mr O’Dea could “shed vote on her behalf. She replied: “No, I any light on this”. haven’t.” Exclusive: The ‘phantom votes’ story He also questioned why Mr Collins sat However, she failed to give any men- broke in Saturday’s Irish Independent in Mr Cowen’s assigned seat. tion to the vote she made in error on Last night, Mr O’Dea said the issue Thursday and last night she apologised “For this, I apologise.” had nothing to do with him and said he for that. Mr Calleary said he understood that didn’t hear what Mr Dooley said. Ms Chambers said that she inad- Ms Chambers inadvertently voted in Mr Cowen said on RTÉ: “When I came Comment vertently sat in Mr Calleary’s seat and his seat for the first of the votes, but not in [to the Dáil], Niall was in my seat and Super Saturday “pressed the button once in error on the for any of the remaining ones for which I just [sat] beside him and we voted first vote”. he was absent. Mr Calleary added: “I did away, as we always do.” was a crushing She added: “No one asked me to do not and would not ask any other deputy He said the Ceann Comhairle is disappointment this and when I realised, I immediately to vote for me in the Dáil.” investigating “and whatever emanates – but at least moved to my own seat.” Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl from that will have to be accepted by all the political The record shows a vote recorded in has ordered an investigation into voting concerned”. Ms Chambers’s own seat as well. irregularities after the revelations about Party leader Mr Martin asked Mr theatre in “The vote was lost by a large number Mr Dooley and Mr Collins. Dooley and Mr Collins to step down as Westminster Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin so I did not inform the Teller. It was a Mr Dooley has since said Mr Collins front bench spokespersons. He said he was more shakes hands with Deputy Timmy genuine mistake and not intended. I voted for him “under the mistaken was doing this without prejudice and Dooley watched by Deputy Niall Collins have informed the Ceann Comhairle belief” that he was “at the back of the pending the outcome of the Ceann compelling earlier this year. Mr Martin took action this evening,” she said. chamber on the phone” when the vote Comhairle’s report. than the game yesterday to limit the fall-out of the “I genuinely believed that this error was taken. He said he has spoken to the He said he doesn’t think what hap- in Tokyo ‘phantom votes’ affair involving the was insignificant and when asked on Ceann Comhairle and asked to see if pened is acceptable, adding: “The John two TDs. PHOTO: MARK CONDREN RTÉ... had I ever voted for anyone else the record of the Dáil can be corrected. integrity of the voting situation in Dáil I answered no as [I] was never asked to Mr Collins has claimed that deputies Éireann is of the utmost importance... Downing vote for anyone else. “often” vote for colleagues when they and must be respected at all times.” 21

Another fine mess as Fianna Fáil phantom votes debacle plays right

party faithful come to wrap ously he takes the phantom phantom voting have some- coming out and putting their ANALYSIS themselves in the flag of true votes débâcle engulfing his thing in common. Both are They hands up. Republicanism. party. relatable and easily followed tried to Martin has stopped the “Many have abused the He had little choice. by the public. bleeding by offering up the name of Irish Republican- Timmy Dooley and Niall They cast politicians in a bad play it pair of frontbenchers. ism through the years, and in Collins were caught out badly light and confirm the preju- down The outcome of an inves- Fionnán particular those who waged with their carry-on. Collins dices of many. However, they and tigation by the Ceann Com- Sheahan a sectarian and divisive con- voted for Dooley in the Dáil – also display bad judgment on hairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl will IRELAND EDITOR flict against the repeatedly a clear breach of the rules and the part of public represent- excuse determine their future on the expressed opposition of the responsibilities of TDs. atives, which raise questions it away Fianna Fáil frontbench. Their ,” he said. Nonetheless, his action con- about their parties. prospects of becoming min- ICHEÁL It was a beautiful, crisp Inquiry: trasts starkly with the faff- The original sin is eclipsed isters are by no means over. MARTIN was October morning. His speech Ceann ing about of Taoiseach Leo by the amateur reaction. These are hardly career-end- standing on mainly covered Brexit and Comhairle Varadkar with Dooley and Collins tried ing offences. the founda- contained thinly veiled digs at Seán Ó following her swing fall com- the “deny, evade and explain” But they have brought their M tion stone of Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. Fearghaíl has pensation claim. routes. Initially, they knew party into disrepute at a sensi- international Republicanism He should have been con- launched an After failing to solve a prob- nothing about it when asked tive juncture. yesterday. centrating on his pitch for the investigation lem like Maria, Fine Gael by this newspaper. Then There’s a general election The annual Wolfe Tone general election. Instead, he into Fianna remains stuck in a morass they tried to play it down and around the corner. Martin commemoration in Bodens- was dealing with the school- Fáil’s Dooley swampier than Booterstown excuse it away. cannot afford self-inflicted town cemetery, Co Kildare, boy antics of his frontbench. and Collins in Marsh at the boundary of the It was an unconvincing dis- accidents. is a mainstay in the Fianna Martin moved swiftly and the wake of Dún Laoghaire constituency. play. The damage would have One of his predecessors as Fáil calendar, where the decisively to show how seri- claims The swing fall claim and the been mitigated by simply Fianna Fáil leader, the late N IRISH INDEPENDENT Monday, October 21, 2019 5 FF Dáíl scandal News

16 unanswered questions at the heart of Dáil ballots affair

THE Irish Independent has posed a series of detailed questions about the ‘phantom’ voting controversy to Deputy Niall Collins and Deputy Timmy Dooley. The questions remained unanswered last night. The questions for Mr Collins Q. Have you ever voted on Mr Dooley’s behalf before? If so, how many times? If not, why did you do so this time? Q. Why did you say you had “no idea” what happened when you were contacted by the Irish Independent on Friday, given that you were able to offer an account of the incident on Saturday? Q. You have said that Mr Dooley did not ask you to vote on his behalf. Why did you record his vote on this occasion? Q. Have you ever recorded Mr Dooley’s or any other TD’s vote without them requesting you to do so before? Q. If you have voted on behalf of other TDs, were any of them in tight votes in the Dáil? Q. Can you categorically say that you have never voted on behalf of Mr Dooley or any other TD who was absent from the chamber on any previous occasion? Q. Does the Dáil record need to be corrected for any other votes you have recorded on behalf of Mr Dooley or other TDs? If so, which ones? Q. Why did you take Barry Cowen’s seat in the chamber? Q. Mr Dooley’s vote was recorded in six of the eight votes during Thursday’s Dáil session. Why did you not record his vote in the last two votes?

The questions for Mr Dooley Q. Both you and Mr Collins have said that you did not ask him to vote on your behalf on this occasion. Have you ever previously asked him to do so? Q. If not, why do you think Mr Collins voted on your behalf on this occasion? Q. If you did previously ask him to vote on your behalf, which votes did you ask him to record on your behalf? Q. Have you asked Mr Collins why he recorded your vote in the first six votes, but not the last two? Q. Does the Dáil record need to be corrected for any other votes in your name due to your absence from the chamber? If so, which ones?

The questions both TDs must answer Q. What was discussed when Mr Dooley approached Mr Collins just before he left the chamber ahead of voting? Q. Have they ever voted for other TDs who were not in their seats? If so, how many times? And for whom? into opponents’ hands in questioning credibility of front-rank TDs

Albert Reynolds, sagely noted riage referenda, the revival What he has done, though, agenda has little by way of like in government. The ghosts it’s the little things that catch in the 2014 local elections, FG will is bring his party to the point achievement in the areas of of the chaos of the collapse you out. the 2016 general election roll out where it can conceivably lead health and housing. a decade ago will also haunt Almost 25 years ago, on Tues- comeback and subsequent the next government. Fine Gael will roll out Varad- Fianna Fáil. day, November 22, 1994, the confidence and supply the To get there, he needs to get kar, Simon Coveney and Pas- Fine Gael deliberately com- then-Taoiseach, who secured a arrangements. trusted hold of the Holy Grail of poli- chal Donohoe as a trustworthy plained about Cowen’s gag- breakthrough in the Northern He deserves great credit trio of tics: the pitch to convince the triumvirate and say there is filled post-budget speech being Ireland peace process with the within his party and he has general election floating voter. experience amongst the rest of “more puns than policies”. Downing Street declaration done the State some service Leo, There are always swing votes the Cabinet. And the party will The prudish and IRA ceasefire, was forced by ensuring we have a Gov- Simon, up for grabs. point a telling finger across to ignored Michael Noonan to quit over a convoluted row ernment during this difficult Paschal Fianna Fáil’s main oppo- the opposition and ask who is establishing a reputation in about extraditing a paedophile Brexit period. nents in the middle ground of In the there to match up. the 1990s for riddling his post- priest. Compare his mature people who want stable gov- spotlight: The behaviour of Dooley and Budget reaction speech in the “It’s amazing. You cross the approach on the need for rep- ernment for the country will Fianna Collins will be shown as an Dáil with wonderfully creative big hurdles, and when you resentation to the abstention- be Fine Gael. Taoiseach Leo Fáil’s Brexit example of a lack of integrity. jibes at the Government. get to the small ones, you get ist stance of Sinn Féin, which Varadkar’s party is basking spokesperson The voting saga is now That was the message then, tripped up,” he quipped. is based on complaining rather in the glow of its handling of Lisa sucking in Dara Calleary, the message now is about seri- Martin has guided his party than solving. the Brexit negotiations and Chambers Lisa Chambers, Barry Cowen ous administration for serious over many big hurdles: the Martin is still the only leader a booming economy. Fine has been and Willie O’Dea to various times. 2011 general election wipeout, of Fianna Fáil never to have Gael has already set out its sucked degrees. Just when Fianna Fáil’s cred- the report served as Taoiseach. There’s stall, focusing on statesman- into the The message will be if this is ibility was under scrutiny, their findings on , the no guarantee he won’t retain ship, economic stability and controversy the way they carry on in oppo- leading lights go and create tricky abortion and gay mar- that title. dependability. The domestic over voting sition, imagine what they’ll be another fine mess. IRELAND’S BEST-SELLING NEWSPAPER

Farming Independent Lifestyle A royal rift Page 27 Beef price deal How princes William and fails to deliver Harry grew up 36 pages of news & expert opinion inside – and apart

Tuesday, October 22, 2019 €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) C – DÁIL VOTEGATE– Millionaire GAA patron distressed at Cowen’s phantom being called a ‘donkey’

Shane Phelan vote for Brexit law LEGAL AFFAIRS EDITOR A MILLIONAIRE backer has called for “a forensic audit” of Fine Gael ministers also forced to deny they were absent from chamber as votes cast Mayo GAA’s accounts as the sponsorship row engulfing the county deepened further. UK-based options market Cormac McQuinn, Fionnán month where he appeared to ters forced to deny they were vote cast for him – and has the “I was in the chamber at the trader Tim O’Leary hit out at Sheahan and Kevin Doyle be absent from the chamber absent from the chamber diary to prove it. time but may have been off the “culture” he believes exists and other TDs sat in his seat. when votes were cast. And Rural Minister Michael camera,” he said. within Mayo GAA, revealing FIANNA Fáil public expendi- Last night, Mr Cowen Housing Minister Eoghan Ring has denied he was absent Their colleague Justice Min- he was branded a “donkey” in ture spokesman Barry Cowen insisted he never asked a col- Murphy said he was out of for a vote in October 2018 ister Charlie Flanagan issued an email sent from an official is the latest front bench TD to league to vote for him when he camera, but present, when a where he was marked down a grave warning that laws county board email address. be dragged into the growing was not in the chamber. vote was cast in the Dáil on as voting. passed as a result of tight Dáil Mr O’Leary also claimed ‘phantom voting’ storm. As the voting controversy January 17. Mr Ring can’t be seen in his votes could be open to legal some individuals associated His vote was recorded on a deepens for Fianna Fáil, it Fine Gael junior minister seat on video for about 10 min- challenges. with the county board had Brexit law and on two other threatened to spread to Fine Damien English also moved to utes during a vote on housing falsely sought to link him with pieces of legislation last Gael as well – with minis- insist he did not get a phantom and tax motions. Continued on Page 4 Mike Ashley, the much-ma- ligned owner of Newcastle United, who runs sporting goods retailer Sports Direct. The businessman told the In their Irish Independent he was not element: alleging any wrongdoing but Yelyzaveta claimed there needed to be Barkalova, an audit – “not to wash dirty Maria linen, but to get control and Bychkova, balance”, so the county could Sitora plan for the future. Khismatova He made the demand after and Stella circulating a letter containing Malkina, fresh allegations about alleged dancers from governance issues. St Petersburg The move marks a serious Ballet escalation of the sponsorship Theatre’s row which has been rumbling ‘Swan Lake’, for several months. posed with A group chaired by Mr the swans of O’Leary has been withholding the Grand €250,000 from Mayo’s county Canal before board, saying it would cease their opening funding “until appropriate night in governance structures are put Dublin’s Bord in place”. Gáis Energy Theatre. Continued on Page 2 PHOTO: BRIAN McEVOY Recommended retail price of the Irish Independent in ROI is €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) Vol. 128 No. 253 Irish Independent N 4 Tuesday, October 22, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT News Dáil votegate

ANALYSIS Do-nothing BARRY COWEN

Kevin Doyle GROUP POLITICAL EDITOR Dáil created Little white lies vote saga in reveal truth – a plague on TDs find voting a waste of time all in House

EN seconds and three steps – that’s what it would have taken for Lisa Chambers to correct the record of the Dáil. or presiding member.” T She didn’t bother because she COMMENT So it’s not an option. TDs do “genuinely thought it was insignificant”. have to be present in the Dáil. Fianna Fáil’s rising star even thought her Justice Minister Charlie Fla- mistake was so irrelevant she told a little nagan pointed out proxy vot- white lie on radio. ing was “unlawful”. “No, I haven’t,” Chambers responded on Fionnán More pertinently, he said Sunday when asked very directly whether Sheahan there have been tight votes in she had ever cast a vote for a colleague. IRELAND EDITOR the Dáil in the past, some won The answer came swiftly but when she by just one vote adding: “This NIALLCOLLINS popped up again on RTÉ’s ‘Morning Ireland’ is all now subject to challenge early yesterday, the Mayo TD explained she ICHEÁL Mar- – that any law that was passed interpreted the question to mean did she tin will have on the basis of a fraudulent ever “intentionally, knowingly, purposefully” no problem vote will be subject to chal- vote for somebody else. securing an lenge.” Chambers also claimed during the M overall major- And yet there is a view within interview that the Dáil is like the theatre ity in the Dáil after the next that this is not and the seats are “not numbered”. That’s general election. an isolated incident. not accurate because the voting panels do It doesn’t matter how many “It’s endemic with some actually have numbers on them. The voting seats he wins, he can just get TDs. They work it like a FÁS pad she has used during every voting session his Niall and Lisa to push the course,” a TD said last night. since February 2016 is marked A-17. buttons for enough TDs in the The Oireachtas has been “I was tired, it was a long week,” she said Dáil. brought into disrepute and in a moment of hubris that must have sent Fianna Fáil’s phantom votes the authorities, headed by commuters into a haze. The vote took place was one of those touchstone the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó shortly after 1.30pm on Thursday afternoon. topics that got the nation talk- Fearghaíl, will have to clamp before it in 2014. Independents in the adminis- For what it’s worth, I believe her excuse. It’s ing yesterday. down on this activity. The phantom voting affair is tration, legislation cannot be most likely she did accidentally cast a vote Politicians behaving badly The Constitution also allows a reflection of the attitudes of passed. for Dara Calleary before doubling down and tends to have that effect. the Dáil to set it own rules and the so-called ‘do-nothing-Dáil’ The Government can be placing her own. However, it’s no laughing govern itself. towards the operation of the defeated on symbolic votes, The fact she didn’t think it mattered and matter. Voting by TDs is set Ó Fearghaíl is well-regarded parliament. which have little impact. Many was prepared to skirt over it when asked is out in the Constitution. as fair-minded by many in the contentious issues are parked. the real concern. Article 15.11.1 of Bunreacht na House. He has already cleaned New Politics Publishing the Autumn Voting in the Dáil is a very small part of hÉireann specifies: “All ques- up a mess which TDs made, The New Politics era of Con- Legislative Programme, the a TD’s workload but arguably the most tions in each House shall, save and then ran away from, with fidence and Supply means we Government said the Dáil significant. And for a €100,000 salary, you’d as otherwise provided by this his apology to former Rehab have a minority government has enacted 34 bills this year. hope they might see its importance. Constitution, be determined chief executive Angela Kerins propped up by the main oppo- There are 32 bills on the pri- But Chambers, who holds the important by a majority of the votes of for the way she was treated sition parties. ority list and 27 bills at various Brexit brief for her party, has survived her the members present and vot- by the Public Accounts com- Without the acquiescence stages. first ‘scandal’ since becoming a TD. ing other than the Chairman mittee during an appearance of both big parties and the Veteran TDs say this is the She is definitely embarrassed but still standing, unlike her colleagues Timmy Dooley and Niall Collins. By applying one punishment to Chambers and another to the two male deputies, Micheál Martin has suggested he doesn’t Cowen’s vote on Brexit legislation was believe their version of events. And maybe this is why. Last Friday, the Irish Independent contacted both representatives almost simultaneously to ask Continued from Page 1 Stormy Separately, Dáil video from them about the vote. waters: September 26 shows Mr Cow- It was put to Collins that he voted on behalf Already there are rumblings Housing en’s vote being recorded twice, of Dooley. He replied: “Jeeze, I’ve no idea. I that an anti-abortion group is Minister while he appears to be absent better check it out. Let me check it out and scouring video of the passing Eoghan from the chamber. I’ll come back to you.” He never did. of the legislation allowing ter- Murphy has Mr Dooley was in the Offaly Dooley was asked the same question in minations. been drawn TD’s assigned seat during reverse, and replied: “I don’t know anything An investigation into irreg- into the the sitting. Mr Cowen is seen about that.” ular voting, ordered by Ceann controversy. walking into the chamber just By Saturday afternoon, both were running Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, is minutes after the two votes. the line that Collins had wrongly believed Editorial being conducted by the clerk Last night he insisted: “I Dooley was elsewhere in the chamber and, Comment of the Dáil. A report could be have never asked a colleague unprompted, did his voting for him. Voting in ready by the end of the week. later admitted he voted on Mr nowhere to be seen. to vote for me when I was not It tells us many TDs don’t set much Dáil an The probe was launched Dooley’s behalf. He claimed he Mr Collins was sitting in Mr in the chamber.” value in the weekly voting sessions. They after the Irish Independ- was of the mistaken belief his Cowen’s seat during the vote But his statement did not see a wasted hour of sitting around every obligation ent revealed Fianna Fáil TD colleague was in the chamber. in question while former TD definitively say he was present Thursday. But the white lies suggest they for TDs, Timmy Dooley’s vote was Now Dáil video footage of Billy Kelleher – now an MEP in the chamber at the time. know the public expect them to take the job not an recorded six times during a a vote on Brexit legislation – is in his. “As has been confirmed in more seriously. Dáil session last week despite from March, uncovered by this Mr Kelleher’s own vote is the last few days, there is a A lie is only useful if the truth is more imposition his absence from the chamber. newspaper, shows Mr Cowen’s recorded in the row behind, known practice of members dangerous. 21 Limerick TD Niall Collins vote being recorded while he’s despite him not sitting there. who are in the House asking N IRISH INDEPENDENT Tuesday, October 22, 2019 5 Dáil votegate News

BREXITVOTE: COWEN’S PHANTOM VOTE How voting system is supposed to work Billy Kelleher sitting in Niall – and what happens Collins’s seat Billy next as probe goes on Kelleher’s empty seat Do TDs have to be in their Q&A Niall Collins own assigned seats to record sitting their vote? In theory, yes. But as we’ve in Barry learned in recent days, Cowen’s seat colleagues sometimes press Why is there controversy other TDs’ buttons when they about votes in the Dáil? are elsewhere in the chamber. The Irish Independent revealed They could be chatting to that Clare TD Timmy Dooley’s another TD or even on the vote was recorded six phone at the top of the stairs. times last Thursday despite his absence from the Dáil And that’s allowed to take chamber at the time. His party place – that sounds mad? colleague Niall Collins later For now it is allowed, yes. claimed he was pressing Mr Justice Minister Charlie Dooley’s voting button in the Flanagan said he accepted it’s Barry mistaken belief his colleague “not good practice”. Cowen’s was on the phone at the back Communications Minister vote is cast of the chamber. Fianna Fáil Richard Bruton said the rules leader Micheál Martin ordered will “undoubtedly” have to be and Billy the pair to step down from tightened up. He said it will be Kelleher’s the front bench pending the for the Ceann Comhairle Seán vote in the outcome of an investigation Ó Fearghaíl to decide. row behind to be carried out by the Ceann is also cast Comhairle. It has spiralled What action has the Ceann since then with other TDs Comhairle taken? getting dragged into the Mr Ó Fearghaíl ordered an ‘phantom voting’ scandal. investigation into irregular votes in the Dáil in the wake of How is voting supposed to the controversy surrounding work? Mr Dooley and Mr Collins. There are two ways that votes The Oireachtas could are carried out – electronic not offer details of this voting and walk-through investigation last night other votes. Most of the routine than to say a report is “to be votes on legislation take prepared by the clerk of the place on Thursday afternoons Dáil as a matter of urgency”. and the majority are carried least productive Dáil they this month to laud his minis- frontbench pending an inves- out electronically. But Are there any votes planned have come across as ministers Veteran terial benches. tigation into his phantom vot- fundamentally TDs must this week? are simply avoiding legislation TDs say Pointing to the general elec- ing, and Lisa Chambers, who actually be present. Yes, the routine weekly that will be shot down on the tion campaign, he emphasised is explaining how she mistak- divisions are scheduled in for Floor. this is the importance of his “team”. enly voted for a colleague. How do TDs know they need just after 1pm on Thursday. The abortion law is the most the least “If we had a Fianna Fáil-led It doesn’t exude confidence. to get into the chamber? striking exception but that had effective Government now and they The focus will remain firmly Bells sound throughout Will they be conducted substantial support in both were involved in Brexit nego- on the parties and personali- Leinster House and its offices electronically, given the houses of the Oireachtas. Dáil tiations now who could they ties in the run in to the general warning TDs a vote is about to furore over ‘phantom votes’? In Fianna Fáil, the situation send who could match Simon election. take place. They have at least Yes, unless TDs demand engulfing the party’s front Coveney or Helen McEntee?” The voting saga was spread- six minutes to get there before walk-through votes under the bench hasn’t improved. The answer to that question ing last night, and drawing in the doors are locked while the Dáil’s rules which are known Taoiseach Leo Varadkar used would be sending their oppo- Fine Gael. vote is taking place. as standing orders. his address to the Fine Gael site numbers: Niall Collins, A plague on everyone’s Presidential Dinner earlier who has stood down from the houses. How does the electronic What does this involve? voting work? TDs must troop up the stairs First introduced 17 years and register their Tá or Níl ago, it cut down the need for votes with tellers stationed on TDs to march through the opposite sides of the chamber. voting lobbies at the top of This is the method used for recorded while he was not in seat the stairs on every issue. TDs the Dáil to elect a Taoiseach or are assigned their own Dáil Ceann Comhairle. Sometimes seat which has three buttons walk-throughs are demanded – green for Tá (Yes), red for where the vote results are colleagues to press the voting pending the outcome of the it’s never out of my sight when Níl (No) and blue for Staon tight. At least 20 members button if they are away from Ceann Comhairle’s investiga- ‘I have I’m in the chamber.” (Abstain). They have one are required to support the their seats in other parts of the tion. never in And junior minister Mr Eng- minute to press the button holding of a walk-through chamber,” he said. Meanwhile, Fine Gael Hous- lish insisted he did not get any and record their vote. vote. In the wake of ‘vote- “There are at least four ing Minister my life colleague to cast a vote for The votes pop up on a TV gate’, TDs may well demand entrances to the chamber has been forced to insist he asked him. His vote was cast on May graphic showing the Dáil’s that this happens on Thursday. that are used frequently by all did not go missing when he anyone 15 on the Greyhound Bill 2018 seating plan as they are taking members of the House.” was casting a vote in the Dáil. to vote but the video of the vote shows place. Cormac McQuinn Mr Cowen said he welcomes Mr Murphy has been drawn he was not in his seat on the News the investigation ordered by into the phantom votes contro- for me if Government benches. Timmy the Ceann Comhairle. “I hope versy over a vote on January 17. I wasn’t Mr English says his min- No-deal Dooley’s vote there are recommendations in The minister leaves his seat there’ isterial diary shows he was Brexit was recorded the report that will tighten vot- after a vote and then returns in the Dáil that day for the plans six times ing practices,” he added. 27 minutes later. But Mr Mur- votes. “I have never in my life continue in the Dáil, The question mark over Mr phy says he was in the cham- asked anyone to vote for me if despite his Cowen’s votes creates another ber and is merely out of sight. I wasn’t there in the chamber,” as Britain’s absence from problem for Fianna Fáil leader “I was present and voted. In he said. “If I voted, I was in the divorce the chamber Micheál Martin. He has the shot, I’m out of camera chamber. If I was stuck talk- deal is in at the time. already temporarily demoted and I am in the chamber. You ing to someone, I would ask two front-bench members – can clearly see my minister’s someone to push it for me,” he disarray Mr Dooley and Mr Collins – folder remains at my seat and added. 10 IRISH INDEPENDENT Friday, October 25, 2019 9 Votegate News

INQUIRY ‘I was sloppy, I owe apologies’ – what Fianna Fáil TDs told the investigation

Timmy Dooley Niall Collins Lisa Chambers Barry Cowen Clare Limerick Mayo Offaly

FIANNA Fáil’s now former FIANNA Fáil’s now former IN THE same block of votes FOR the entirety of the now- communications spokesman foreign affairs spokesman as the Dooley-Collins debacle infamous voting block Niall told the Dáil clerk Peter repeatedly told Mr Finnegan’s occurred, the party’s Brexit Collins was occupying Barry Finnegan’s inquiry that he inquiry that he believed spokesperson voted in her Cowen’s seat as he voted and wanted to speak to Niall Mr Dooley was in the Dáil deputy leader Dara Calleary’s cast Mr Dooley’s vote. He said Collins on the day of the votes. chamber during the votes. Dáil seat when he was not in he didn’t consider switching “I saw him, I needed to Mr Collins said even after the chamber. seats with Mr Cowen as they speak with him. I said I’ll see voting three times for Mr “I pressed the button and had voted this way before. you at the vote but I have to Dooley he “didn’t realise he looked up at the screen Mr Cowen told Mr take a call. I left and couldn’t [Dooley] was gone”. to make sure my vote had Finnegan’s inquiry this was come back. I left everyone in a When Mr Finnegan registered. It was at that “not necessarily” unusual and difficult position,” Mr Dooley pointed out this was an 18 to stage that I realised I was in that when he came into the said. 20-minute period and asked the wrong seat,” she told Mr chamber he registered his vote Video shows Mr Dooley “did alarm bells ring?”, Mr Finnegan. in Mr Collins’s seat. pointing at the Dáil seats Collins responded: “No and it “It is a force of habit that I Mr Cowen said: “I’m voting before he leaves the chamber. should have.” looked up at the screen. I then on his, he’s voting on mine “I was indicating that ‘I’ll At one stage he was seen hopped over and voted for but it saves us reaching across see you at the votes’,” he taking a “quick 10 second myself.” each other.” explained. He said he is “clear phone call in the chamber”. Mr She did not inform the tellers He said he did not believe he on that fact” that he did not Collins said he could not recall of having double-voted. “I needed to correct the record. ask Mr Collins to vote for him. who phoned him. didn’t think it was a massive “I never did before if similar “I’ve learned a hard lesson,” He voted for Mr Dooley six issue so I left it,” she said. circumstances arose. You’d he said. “I owe apologies, I times but not for the final two “I never made this mistake have lads voting for each was sloppy and I should have of the eight votes which took before, what a day to do it. In other when up the back of the delayed taking a call and place that day. Asked why this the moment, I left it as it was a chamber but no one queues instead concentrated on the was, Mr Collins said: “I don’t big loss the vote in question. It with the Whip to correct the voting.” know, I can’t explain that.” is too casual altogether.” record.”

POLITICS

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl Howlin recalls former Tánaiste Spring going to Dáil on stretcher to ensure his vote counted e in class because no one will own up Kevin Doyle Car Mr Howlin blames accident: confidence and supply FORMER Tánaiste Dick arrangement for the current Spring had to be brought into had to be Votegate controversy, “I will deal with that later,” the Dáil on a stretcher to vote present in the saying the Government now Chaos, said Micheál. after a serious road accident, Dáil when regularly loses votes and turmoil “For God’s sake,” interjected Brendan Howlin has recalled. there was a nobody pays attention. Dessie Ellis. The Wexford TD said tight vote He wants a system similar and farce “Trivialisation,” dismissed up until the current Dáil, to the European Parliament – e-voting Louise O’Reilly. voting was seen as being of introduced, whereby TDs takes Much sniping and heckling Comment “monumentally importance” would be required to insert almost as made it all too clear we have No reason but it has now been a card into the Dáil voting reverted back to the old ways. to believe “cheapened”. machine in order to activate long as the Then one by one, the four Speaking on Independent. accident in Tipperary in evening and meeting Martin it. old way Fianna Fáil deputies rose to next Dáil ie’s ‘Floating Voter’ podcast, December 1981. Cullen who suffered terribly He said the machines are deliver their apologies, Timmy will be he refers to one incident “I remember Dick Spring with his back. already equipped for log-in Dooley quaking so much his any more in the early 1980s when his being carried in on a stretcher “He was ashen with agony cards but parties previously papers threatened to leap out predecessor as Labour Party to vote. In tight votes, he was and I said to him, ‘for God’s argued against them. of his hands. dynamic leader wasn’t allowed to miss required to be present and sake, you’re not physically fit Also on the ‘Floating Voter’, After it was over, he exhaled than this a vote despite being seriously physically brought into the to be here’. But the whips said he discusses the latest sharply and gave a helpless one injured. chamber because at the time he had to be there to vote. developments on Brexit and shrug to Martin Collins as Jason Mr Spring, a junior minister he wasn’t allowed a pair,” Mr “Up to this Dáil, votes were suggests the Labour Party smiled grimly. at the time, was a passenger Howlin says. deadly serious matters and will enter a coalition after the Confidence is officially in O’Mahony in a garda-driven car which “I remember myself coming people took them deadly next election if they have the short supply. 28 was involved in a fatal out of the chamber one seriously.” numbers. IRELAND’S BEST-SELLING NEWSPAPER Schmidt ready for Dating in coaching return your 50s Lifestyle next season Sport Why it’s hard to find love Page 36

Wednesday, October 23, 2019 €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) C Votegate: now it’s war

Scandal deepens: Fianna Fáil reports five Fine Gael ministers over voting irregularities

Philip Ryan, Fionnán Sheahan During a day of high politi- grave” voting revelations, first Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Fáil housing spokesman the party’s chief whip Michael and Cormac McQuinn cal drama in Leinster House, reported by the Irish Independ- Martin admitted he had voted Darragh O’Brien was sitting Moynihan was the result of Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó ent, while a separate probe will on behalf of Dáil colleagues. in Mr Martin’s seat as he was the party reviewing more THREE separate Dáil investi- Fearghaíl announced a two- be carried out by an Oireachtas And it has emerged his vote taking the legislation for the than a year of Dáil footage to gations have been launched pronged investigation into ethics committee. But within was recorded while he was party. establish whether Fine Gael into alleged voting irregular- four Fianna Fáil TDs involved hours of the announcement, apparently not in the chamber Mr O’Brien last night admit- TDs were absent from the ities as the ‘phantom votes’ in the voting controversy. Fianna Fáil wrote to the Ceann during a debate on reducing ted he may have incorrectly chamber when their votes scandal sparked all-out war Mr Ó Fearghaíl said the clerk Comhairle seeking an investi- the number of seats in the EU pressed Mr Martin’s voting were recorded. between Fine Gael and Fianna of the Dáil would compile an gation into the voting records Parliament in February. button. Fáil. urgent report on the “very of five Fine Gael ministers. During the debate, Fianna The Fianna Fáil complaint by Continued on Page 10

Johnson gets 600,000 are victory – but issued with timetable for largest-ever boil Brexit in doubt water notice

Allison Bray Hugh O’Connell THE Environmental Pro- PRIME Minister Boris John- tection Agency is to carry son secured the UK govern- out an independent audit of ment’s first significant victory operations at an Irish Water on Brexit in the House of Com- treatment plant that left huge mons last night – but his plan swathes of the Greater Dublin to leave in eight days’ time Area under the largest boil remained in serious doubt. water notice ever issued. Mr Johnson’s plan to take An estimated 600,000 cus- the UK out of the EU in just tomers were affected due to a over a week’s time suffered breakdown in the disinfection a blow after his proposed process at the Leixlip plant. rapid timetable to pass the Irish Water issued the notice deal through Parliament was at 5pm yesterday. rejected by MPs. It came min- But consumers were left utes after MPs had for the first scrambling for information time backed the government’s after the water.ie website Brexit deal that Mr Johnson crashed, and there was pan- hammered out with the EU ic-buying of water in affected five days ago. areas last night. It was the first time the Com- The EPA said it will assess mons had been prepared to operations at the plant in the support any Brexit deal. coming days. Mr Johnson said he would now “pause” the Brexit legis- Full report: Pages 2-3 lation as it remained unclear when and indeed if the UK Recommended retail price of the Irish Independent in would leave the EU, despite ROI is €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) the PM’s long-stated pledge to Vol. 128 No. 254 Irish Independent leave ‘do or die’ on October 31 ‘Watershed’: Vicky hails cancer-test scandal apology with or without a deal. Emotional day: From left, Stephen Teap, Vicky Phelan and Lorraine Walsh outside the Dáil yesterday after hearing Taoiseach Full reports: Pages 12-13 Leo Varadkar apologise to the victims of the CervicalCheck scandal. FULL STORY, PAGES 4-5 PHOTO: SAM BOAL/ROLLINGNEWS.IE