'This is not democracy' - former Tipp TD speaks out on chaotic Dáil

A former Tipperary Sinn Fein TD has spoken out about the chaotic scenes in the Dáil yesterday and about the accusation of lewd gestures against Tipperary Independent TD, Deputy Michael Lowry,

"The strokes pulled by the Government and the Regional Independents in the Dáil on Tuesday are deeply concerning and deserve widespread condemnation", representatives of Tipperary's Sinn Fein group said this morning (Wed Mar 26).

"The Government's decision to change Dáil rules with the backing of the Ceann Comhairle, to create another member's slot stinks of stroke politics just to appease Government-supporting TDs like Michael Lowry and his grouping during Taoiseach's Questions", the statement sent to Tribune signed on behalf of Tipperary Sinn Fein, Martin Browne and Dean McGrath says.

"The events of the past few months, begs the question, what has Michael Lowry over Micheal Martin and the Government that they are going to such lengths to facilitate him in such a fashion. This again led to the Dáil being adjourned amidst cries of shame from Opposition TDs, It is essential that all members of the Dáil, pledge to uphold the principles of democratic accountability, and the proper functioning of our legislative institutions. The people of Ireland deserve nothing less", they said.

"Since the idea of a technical group made up of TDs who were involved in the negotiation of the Programme for Government was suggested, opposition parties have been outraged, and  they came together and insisted that any TDs involved in government formation talks should not be given speaking time which would otherwise be given to them, and the Ceann Comhairle ruled in favour of the opposition on this, but has since reneged on her ruling.

"It’s clear that the Ceann Comhairle is as much a part of the government as Michael Lowry’s group apparent in the way she rammed through yesterday votes without following the usual procedure. As the Government refuse to make public the contents of the deal, we are calling on Deputy Lowry to come clean and to inform the public. 

"Furthermore, the incident involving Deputy Michael Lowry making an offensive gesture towards opposition benches, is reprehensible and falls far below the standards of conduct expected within our national parliament.  We also call on Deputy Mattie Mc Grath to explain why he voted to push this deal through despite the widespread opposition to it.

"For decades, no government was worried about how much speaking time the back benchers got. Michael Martin claiming that it is only eight extra minutes is a smokescreen for reducing the 90 minutes to 45 minutes speaking rights during Leader's question time on Wednesday. 

"This is not democracy", Martin Browne said. 

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