Never Mind the Ballots: A sideways glance at Election 2020 (16 days to go)
Takeaway 1:
The Green Party's bright young star, Saoirse McHugh, has revealed some pretty radical ideas as to her ideal vision of how Ireland should be run.
In an interview with Joe.ie, she said: “If I had to say what my ideal country would be, it would be no State, it would be devolved communities organising themselves.
“We are so far away from revolution and even though I'd be like 'hold them out, sharpen the guillotine,'” she added.
She also said she would be “afraid” of going into coalition with Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil.
Really interesting stuff from @saoirse_mchugh in this piece with @ellenmcoyne pic.twitter.com/N33INyBMLU
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) January 22, 2020
Do you agree with her, Eamon Ryan?
Takeaway 2:
Waterford Fianna Fáil TD Mary Butler told her local radio station, WLR, that it is her “belief” that the IRA Army Council still has a “significant role in how Sinn Féin does business in national politics”.
Butler's view echoes comments from her party leader Micheál Martin and Labour leader Brendan Howlin. But it was firmly rejected by Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald.
She told broadcaster Sean O'Rourke that as leader “I am controlled by no one.”
Takeaway 3:
Independent
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Not everyone is happy with the involvement of Mr Casey in the capital. Labour’s Joan Burton said the former presidential runner’s particular “message of division and hate is not welcome in Dublin West”, which she described as “one of Ireland’s most diverse and inclusive communities”.
“It would be a shocking thing if a Dáil candidate notorious for creating division should use the occasion of this election to sow seeds of disharmony for purely political purposes,” she said.
Picture of Day:
Well Said
Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey bowed to the inevitable and confirmed she
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"It is with great sadness, that after 16 years as an elected representative in Dún Laoghaire, I will not be standing in this election," she said.
She said the past number of months have been "extremely difficult for me both privately and politically".
She may be correct about the difficulty she has endured, but much if not all of it was her own fault.
Good Day/Bad Day
Independent TD Tommy Broughan's
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Broughan is the second shock retiree in Dublin Bay-North after Independent Alliance Minister Finian McGrath announced his decision to stand down last week.
A bad day for private sector workers as Fianna Fáil made clear it will not make any move to end the supplementary pension for public sector employees.
Frightened to grasp that nettle before an election, it is clear that inequality is set to continue should the party get into office.
