James O’Connor, a Fianna Fáil backbencher representing Cork East, was pulled back from China for a crucial vote in the Dáil on Wednesday. He has now resumed his trip to Beijing. Some Fianna Fáil members humorously commented that O’Connor spent more time flying this week than certain Aer Lingus pilots.
Last week, O’Connor, along with Fianna Fáil’s Cork North-Central TD Pádraig O’Sullivan, and Senator Erin McGreehan from Louth, embarked on their journey to the Chinese capital. On Monday however, the party leader Micheál Martin made a call ordering the two TDs to return for two significant votes that were projected for the upcoming week.
Despite the party’s disapproval, the two were permitted to travel, stating they had arranged voting pairs independently. In this arrangement, a non-participating opposition TD allows a government TD to abstain from voting, thereby cancelling each other’s votes.
Obliged to return midway through their journey to participate in the Dáil votes, the two deputies from Cork expressed their frustration. An amusing account of their situation was shared among their “considerate” colleagues in the Members’ Bar.
It was a revelation to many in the party that the trio had embarked on the trip to China, leaving some members feeling disgruntled. Many suspected that the Ireland-China Parliamentary Friendship Group, of which O’Connor is the convenor, had facilitated the trip.
Along with O’Connor, two other members of the group – Fianna Fáil’s MEP for Midlands North West, Barry Cowen, and Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh – officially visited China in September. They met Zheng Jianbang, vice-chairperson of the standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
According to journalist Ken Foxe, the group’s official visit to China last September was the costliest trip ever undertaken by TDs and Senators, costing over €20,000 in total. The expenses included airfare amounting to €17,000, accommodation fees of €3,171, and minor expenses for sustenance and other items.
The latest expedition, which is not planned or paid for by the Leinster House, is not a venture by the Friendship Group. It’s expected that the Chinese are financeing the trip, not the FF Three, as they aren’t the representatives of their party. In fact, their party was uninformed about their schemes, according to a spokesperson who spoke about it last Friday. “At the current pace, the bloke’s carbon imprint will be sizeable, even longer than China’s Great Wall,” a fascinated workmate expressed in awe.
The Ireland-China Parliamentary Friendship Group shouldn’t be mistaken with the Irish-sector of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group co-chaired by Senators Barry Ward and Malcolm Byrne, and known for its effort to expose human rights violations by the Communist Party in China.
Wednesday morning was marked by the suspension of Dáil proceedings when Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly disrupted Micheál Martin, his party leader, during a foreign affairs enquiry. Many endeavours were made to eject him from the chamber, during a heated scrimmage between Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy and the Tánaiste regarding the proposed reappointment of Ursula von der Leyen as the president of the European Commission.
At the moment that Micheál began to reject Carthy’s argument that supporting Leyen equated to turning a blind eye to genocide, a mysterious booming voice echoed through the Dáil chamber. The unidentified voice caused both Micheál and Matt, along with a handful of present TDs, to stop and look around in curiosity. It was Senator Daly, former cathaoirleach of the Seanad, who had startled Micheál with his unexpected interruption.
One of the screens stationed at the rear of the chamber, which is always set to the Seanad but is audio-disabled, was suspected to be the source of the interruption. After the bizarre incident, a witty comment by Minister of State Sean Fleming to the Tánaiste added to the day’s events: “This must be your first time being dethroned in the Dáil by a Senator.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if that particular Senator has previously caused you some troubles,” remarked Matt Carthy in a conversation with Micheál. The Kerry politician formerly held the positions of deputy Seanad leader and spokesperson for foreign affairs in Micheál’s party, but had been dismissed from these roles in 2018. His termination came as a consequence of participating in an unauthorised initiation event for a candidate from the Fianna Fáil party competing in the Northern Irish elections.
The sequence of events that unfolded was recounted by Sean, expressing that initially, individuals were puzzled about the source of the disruptive noise that had come from the far corner on the opposite side of the Government benches. One of the attendants made a futile attempt to silence the noise by seizing a remote control to mute the sound in vain.
Another attempt to quell the disturbance came from a different attendant, who tried to locate an ‘off’ button by standing on a chair since the remote control didn’t work. The next solution was to enlist an electrician for assistance. However, this solution would also take some minutes and with the deafening noise from Mark making it impossible to converse, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle made the decision to halt the house proceedings.
Relief only arrived when the electrician appeared with a different control, turned off Mark’s noise and put an end to everyone’s torment. It may well have been causing continuous stress to Micheál.
Could Jack Chambers potentially be suited for the Finance portfolio? He’s Micheál’s candidate for that department. If Fine Gael could have the youngest Taoiseach, there’s no reason why Fianna Fáil can’t have the youngest Finance Minister in their ranks.
To commemorate Jack Chambers (33½) ascension to the Finance Minister position, a brief 13-second video was shared by the party. The video featured a beaming Micheál Martin shaking hands with members from the Chambers of Commerce in his office, while flaunting his easy rapport with the youth. Chambers could be seen in the video, sporting his navy suit without a tie, nonchalantly executing a basketball shot in jacket-less attire before posing with his seal of office in the garden of Áras an Uachtaráin, as if it were his confirmation day.
Megan Boni’s popular song ‘Man in Finance’, featuring the lyrics “I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6ft 5in, blue eyes…” is a main highlight of the soundtrack. However, Megan may have gotten it all wrong, since the Minister openly declared his homosexuality on social media in January. It is speculated that the finance man concept by Fianna Fáil wasn’t originally theirs, but was taken from the Green Party’s youth who used it in Grace O’Sullivan’s election video a few weeks earlier. Regrettably, O’Sullivan did not retain her seat.
In other news, a heartfelt appeal was circulated by Fianna Fáil’s Robert Troy, a sitting member of the Longford-Westmeath TD, to his colleagues on Thursday morning. He had successfully obtained two tickets for Andrea Bocelli’s outdoor concert in Tuscany, Italy, however due to unforeseen circumstances, he is unable to attend. The tickets, priced at €180 each, are for the concert scheduled to be held on Friday 19th July at the open-air Teatro del Silenzio (Theatre of Silence) in Lajatico near Pisa.
Robert’s plea elicited a few responses, though no one has accepted his offer as yet. Among those who replied were Independent TD Thomas Pringle, who enquired if the concert was in Tuscany County, Westmeath or Longford, and Joe O’Reilly, a Fine Gael Senator from Cavan, admitted he couldn’t offer assistance, stating humorously that he hails from ‘Big Tom country.’
On the surrogacy and assisted human reproduction Bill, Senator Rónán Mullen expressed his views exhaustively on Wednesday, and would have continued if his time on the podium hadn’t been cut short.
Regarding the topic of surrogacy, the mainstream media in our nation has remained strangely quiet and, for the most part, have failed in revealing the peculiar, harsh, and confusing propositions put forth by the government, not unlike the ones I’ve just mentioned. The reason behind this is straightforward. It’s always simpler to shed light on the compelling tales of individuals and our attention is often drawn by celebrities who have welcomed children via surrogacy, he announced, before noting his verbal error.
“Celibacy? Celibacy? Good heavens,” was his outburst.
“Surrogacy!” He corrected himself with a chuckle.
Fine Gael’s Mary Seery Kearney chimed in: “They can have children as well.”
Ronán laughed heartily: “Indeed, the principle actually permits it, through celibacy, now that it’s mentioned. There lies this odd circumstance where high-profile individuals have been given the opportunity to become parents through surrogacy.”
He renamed them celibate fathers; a paraphrasing of a famous line from Father Ted: “I take it you’re a surrogate dad now, Father?”
On another note, the OWLs from Leinster House were recognised this week through a graduation ceremony in the LH 2000 complex, led by Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl.
The 2022-2024 Oireachtas Work Learning (OWL) programme saw the graduation of seven students. It is an initiative offering real-world learning, professional growth, and social interaction for young adults with intellectual disabilities.
The Houses of the Oireachtas is the first parliament globally to facilitate an initiative such as this one. This year’s graduates gained beneficial work experience across various offices in Leinster House and other Government departments including Finance, Agriculture and Tourism.
The Ceann Comhairle, who launched the award-winning initiative in 2018, shared his heartfelt wishes with the Super Seven, alongside their loved ones and colleagues, reminding everyone that inclusivity is a key value of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
“I hope you will find joy and satisfaction as you advance in your new roles in work and further academics. I wish you all the success you surely merit.”
End note on a humorous pitch.
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, a member of Sinn Féin, tabled the creatively named Arts (Recognition of Comedy) Bill in the Dáil last Thursday.
Addressing the House, Ó Snodaigh emphasised that comedy, cherished since the days of the ancient Greeks, should not be taken lightly. He asserted that comedians, like other contributors to the arts sector, deserved appropriate recognition and qualification for state funding.
He remarked on the significance of comedy, especially in difficult times, saying that it can often serve as a balm. However, he acknowledged the challenges faced by emerging artists in the absence of adequate respect and access to funding.
Adding an element of irony, the deputies and senators working from the Leinster House 2000 section were startled on Wednesday’s prelude by the appearance of a professional clown making a beeline for the Fine Gael offices. This amusing presence turned out to be a performer engaged by Senator Mary Seery Kearney to amuse children visiting Leinster House with their parents for a surrogacy Bill photoshoot.
There’s a facetious afterthought suggesting that Kearney needlessly spent on a clown since there already existed a surplus of them at Leinster House who could have voluntarily filled in.