No resolution to Dáil drama weeks into the new term, with more fireworks possible today
French president Emmanuel Macron will debrief EU leaders about his meeting with US president Donald Trump. Photograph: Doug Mills/The New York TimesOur politics team's behind-the-scenes take on events of the day.
A fudgey compromise was agreed to get over that hump, but it did not resolve the problem – it simply postponed it for a while. Now it’s back. The Government parties promised to seek a solution that was acceptable to all parties; the Opposition took this as a promise that they would not impose a solution using their Dáil majority. Those two interpretations were always going to run into one another.
On one level it’s an outrageous try-on by the Government parties to facilitate the desire of Michael Lowry and others to hover somewhere between Government and Opposition; on the other hand, it’s hard to take seriously the assertions of the Opposition that this represents a mortal threat to democracy.
But however you look at it, there’s no sign of an obvious solution. The Ceann Comhairle last night wrote to both sides urging them to come to a compromise at a meeting of the Dáil reform committee today. Neither sideLong day in the Dáil where business gets under way with topical issues after 9am, Leaders’ Questions at noon, statements on Ukraine at 3.50pm and weekly votes at 8.40pm.
Inside-Politics Michael-Lowry Ukraine-Crisis
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