Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu to stand as Independent in Seanad elections

Faugheen

https://twitter.com/aoifegracemoore/status/1374767465117405198?s=20

This is the most boring 'scandal' of all time but the Greens are really showing themselves up over this.

Do they put a motion of no confidence in the Deputy Leader/Cabinet Minister or the Junior Minister who nominated her? If not then it's an awful look.

Just let her run ffs.

PunkIPA

She has an absolutely almighty job to do to get elected as a SocDem in DBS. The left-wing inner city vote there is with SF and won't be moving, and the left-liberal vote in the leafier environs I think aligns much more closely with Ryan's politics than the Lord Mayor's.

If she defects to the SocDems the blame rests with her current enablers.

Necro

keano_afc wrote: »

Standing because the Seanad needs to more diverse? Doesn't she repeatedly tell us she's Irish? The Seanad is full of Irish people.

Threadbanned

PunkIPA

Faugheen wrote: »

https://twitter.com/aoifegracemoore/status/1374767465117405198?s=20

This is the most boring 'scandal' of all time but the Greens are really showing themselves up over this.

Do they put a motion of no confidence in the Deputy Leader/Cabinet Minister or the Junior Minister who nominated her? If not then it's an awful look.

Just let her run ffs.

This is actually quite explosive. General Election in 2021 is 2/1 on Paddy Power, looks a decent bet. The party has been tearing itself apart at the seams for quite a while over being in government in the first place, CETA etc. This could be the excuse needed by the watermelon faction (green on the outside, red on the inside) to bring the whole thing down.

Marcos

keano_afc wrote: »

She'll join the Social Democrats. Match made in heaven.

Well, there's a lot of overlap already. Look at Anne Marie McNally, former Soc Dems candidate in Dublin Midwest and their Political Communications Director who was appointed as a government advisor to Green Party's Joe O'Brien last month at €65k a year, not too shabby.

awec

Faugheen wrote: »

https://twitter.com/aoifegracemoore/status/1374767465117405198?s=20

This is the most boring 'scandal' of all time but the Greens are really showing themselves up over this.

Do they put a motion of no confidence in the Deputy Leader/Cabinet Minister or the Junior Minister who nominated her? If not then it's an awful look.

Just let her run ffs.

She definitely cannot be allowed to run now as a Green.

Amirani

Faugheen wrote: »

https://twitter.com/aoifegracemoore/status/1374767465117405198?s=20

This is the most boring 'scandal' of all time but the Greens are really showing themselves up over this.

Do they put a motion of no confidence in the Deputy Leader/Cabinet Minister or the Junior Minister who nominated her? If not then it's an awful look.

Just let her run ffs.

She is being allowed run, but fellow party members obviously feels she shouldn't remain party chairperson, which is fair enough IMO.

Eric Cartman

Edz87 wrote: »

Would have swore down she was going to run as a SD

Seanad seems like a waste.

(Thank fock)

SD, GP and Labour will all effectively amalgamate next time round, the Green Party is falling apart, SD will take the mad ones, labour the sane, then SD will package itself up as not mad and whip them into becoming good labour ready candidates, shedding a few to PbP along the way.

awec

https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1374686960640483332?s=20

So she'll be an unofficial, de facto Green rather than an actual independent. That said it's fairly clear that the whip means little in the GP.

"as long as I'm still a member" a telling phrase.

Eric Cartman

awec wrote: »

https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1374686960640483332?s=20

So she'll be an unofficial, de facto Green rather than an actual independent. That said it's fairly clear that the whip means little in the GP.

"as long as I'm still a member" a telling phrase.

"she contested the election because there were no other female candidates for the Industrial & Commercial Panel"

Can you just do one thing without it being identity politics hazel, just one.

PunkIPA

Party discipline has gone out the window it seems. There is obviously no fear of Ryan or any sanction that he could impose. I'd say he needs to crack the whip, and fast, but the Lord Mayor is supported by Martin and her faction, he can't very well discipline the Deputy Leader.

If I was in Ryan's position I would feel my leadership is untenable. I would have a huge amount of respect for the guy if he resigned as a consequence of this whole affair.

The level of disrespect he has been shown by his supposed supporters and colleagues is remarkable. Let's not forget, after resurrecting the party and leading it to it's best ever electoral result they tried to depose him.

L1011

awec wrote: »

I actually missed the fact that the deputy leader of the GP nominated her. Ha!

Either Catherine Martin is absolutely certain that Hazel Chu has no chance of winning, in which case why embarrass the party for nothing, or she's playing a dangerous game with the parties reputation in government and should also lose her position.

What a dysfunctional group.

She'll be certain she has no chance of winning, as she has no chance of winning. Even if every non-committed already vote went to her she couldn't - Labours 11 will go to Ahern, FF/FG have their deal which the remains of the Greens will also vote for and that doesn't leave enough. I can't remember if anyone else is running

awec

L1011 wrote: »

She'll be certain she has no chance of winning, as she has no chance of winning. Even if every non-committed already vote went to her she couldn't - Labours 11 will go to Ahern, FF/FG have their deal which the remains of the Greens will also vote for and that doesn't leave enough. I can't remember if anyone else is running

In which case this is a deliberate attempt by Martin to embarrass the party.

They are completely dysfunctional. I voted Green, my mind has genuinely been blown the past year.

Eric Cartman

awec wrote: »

In which case this is a deliberate attempt by Martin to embarrass the party.

They are completely dysfunctional. I voted Green, my mind has genuinely been blown the past year.

Id more put it down to Hazel herself just wanting a few more column inches, she hasn't appeared in the headlines in a few weeks.

Underground

awec wrote: »

https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1374686960640483332?s=20

It's the Seanad at the end of the day, I mean who cares about it really. It's a sinbin for ousted TD's in the main. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out her p*ss poor justification for contesting the it though. As I said earlier, it's 40% women in there and will probably be majority women after the next round of elections. The gender card is a total nonsense play.

She will get in. The way she's set this up we can tell that she already has the victim cards at the ready if she somehow doesn't get in too.

Best of luck to her. I genuinely do hope she grows as a person and learns to put this divisive brand of identity politics to one side. She has demonstrated in the past to be a capable individual which is more than can be said for many a Seanad member. I'll keep an open mind and be open to changing my mind on her if she extends the same courtesy to me (ie the general public).

Itssoeasy

TheValeyard wrote: »

What has she done to deserve a place in the Seanad?

Then again, what have 3/4 of them done to deserve a place there.

Being unable to win a seat in the dail.

Itssoeasy

I actually can’t blame the members of the Green Party who aren’t happy. Imagine any political party county councillors, city councillors, Lord Mayors, etc of any of the main parties deciding to go on a solo run as an independent while still being a member of the party. And was there a convention and she wasn’t selected or did she not get nominated or what happened ?

tayto lover

She’s going nowhere.
Nearly everyone has seen through this self-server by now.
Grasping at straws.

L1011

So there's 160 TDs and 58 Senators currently, which is the entire electorate for this. 218, so 110 votes needed to win on the first count.

There's at least four candidates
FF/FG: Gerry Horkan
Labour: Ciaran Ahern
Who Knows: Hazel Chu
Independent: Billy Lawless.

FF/FG have 107 votes between them here; and its quite clear the 3 existing Green Senators are now voting for the FF/FG candidate, along with some of the Green TDs. There's >110 votes and its done on the first count. A few FF/FG votes may go elsewhere but not in any number.

Anyone running against Horkan is doing it for PR purposes. Ahern will get Labours 11 votes and may get one or two independents if he's lucky. Lawless will get a tiny handful of Independent votes.

Chu knows this, and is doing it for PR purposes too - she cannot win.


(the other panel is potentially more likely to go away from the FF/FG candidate, as SF + a number of the smaller parties are backing Ian Marshall, and there is more chance of an FF/FG vote slipping to him in the secrecy of the ballot)

Hi_thur_folks

This may be a dumb question....sorry
The Seanad elections are obviously coming up.
Do we know when the next GE will be held?

Thanks

DrumSteve

DrumSteve wrote: »

I think it is a useful function of a democracy to have an upper house to review legislation... But the senate in its current form is not fit for purpose and seems to be a holding pen for politicians who can't get elected by the general public or are unelectable full stop.

Wasn't it supposed to be reformed if we kept it? That didn't happen. I did vote to have it abolished but if it was kept and reformed then i wouldn't mind as much.

L1011

Hi_thur_folks wrote: »

This may be a dumb question....sorry
The Seanad elections are obviously coming up.
Do we know when the next GE will be held?

Thanks

These are by-elections for vacated seats.

The next GE would be February 2025 if not called earlier.

Deleted User wrote: »

Wasn't it supposed to be reformed if we kept it? That didn't happen. I did vote to have it abolished but if it was kept and reformed then i wouldn't mind as much.

No, reform was never on the table - people kept saying "reform don't remove" but the option was binary: keep as-is or remove.

Reati

It's a pity memory is short and every few GEs people vote the greens in to be reminded why you never vote for the greens.

They are a shambles on a good day.

joebloggs32

Faugheen wrote: »

She's had one foot out the door of the Greens for a good while now. She admitted to being approached by the Social Democrats not too long ago.

I think it's a great move. She won't get elected but it lays out to the public exactly how much of a mess the Greens are and it's not going to get any better as long as Eamon Ryan is leader. The fact Catherine Martin (along with her husband and brother) signed her nomination papers says it all for me.

Holy fcuk....the Greens must be riddled with Nepotism.
I don't follow them too closely so maybe I'm being a bit slow in only realising this.

Catherine Martin is married to another TD. Fair enough both elected, but I'm sure it helps in internal party politics.
Then her brother gets appointed to the seanad as a Taoiseeach nominee.....some cynics might say Catherine's price for signing up.

Chu is fast tracked in as Lord Mayor....when your partner is a TD, so obviously no harm again for internal party politics and jockeying for positions.

Then one from my own neck of the woods who I was aware of.....Pippa Hackett. First time councillor in 2019. Within 6 months was bumped up to the Seanad, and in 2020 gets a super junior ministerial post while still a senator.....but heres the kicker....she gave her council seat to her husband.

If any of the other parties were up to this they would be slaughtered for it.

Beechwoodspark

PunkIPA wrote: »

Party discipline has gone out the window it seems. There is obviously no fear of Ryan or any sanction that he could impose. I'd say he needs to crack the whip, and fast, but the Lord Mayor is supported by Martin and her faction, he can't very well discipline the Deputy Leader.

If I was in Ryan's position I would feel my leadership is untenable. I would have a huge amount of respect for the guy if he resigned as a consequence of this whole affair.

The level of disrespect he has been shown by his supposed supporters and colleagues is remarkable. Let's not forget, after resurrecting the party and leading it to it's best ever electoral result they tried to depose him.

This is the thing. He dragged them back from the black hole they were sunk in and the minute he did that, they attacked him from all angles. Including hazel chu.

Beechwoodspark

joebloggs32 wrote: »

Holy fcuk....the Greens must be riddled with Nepotism.
I don't follow them too closely so maybe I'm being a bit slow in only realising this.

Catherine Martin is married to another TD. Fair enough both elected, but I'm sure it helps in internal party politics.
Then her brother gets appointed to the seanad as a Taoiseeach nominee.....some cynics might say Catherine's price for signing up.

Chu is fast tracked in as Lord Mayor....when your partner is a TD, so obviously no harm again for internal party politics and jockeying for positions.

Then one from my own neck of the woods who I was aware of.....Pippa Hackett. First time councillor in 2019. Within 6 months was bumped up to the Seanad, and in 2020 gets a super junior ministerial post while still a senator.....but heres the kicker....she gave her council seat to her husband.

If any of the other parties were up to this they would be slaughtered for it.

I mentioned that on the last thread. It’s like a soap opera in the greens with all these couple politicians at each other’s throats over who gets the sweeties

PunkIPA

Reati wrote: »

It's a pity memory is short and every few GEs people vote the greens in to be reminded why you never vote for the greens.

They are a shambles on a good day.

The Green Party vote comes, largely, from comfortable, middle-class voters who can afford to prioritise environmental policies over issues of the economy etc.

Assuming we will go through a period of moderate recession in the coming years as a consequence of the pandemic response, their natural voter base is going to be severely eroded.

Eric Cartman

PunkIPA wrote: »

The Green Party vote comes, largely, from comfortable, middle-class voters who can afford to prioritise environmental policies over issues of the economy etc.

Assuming we will go through a period of moderate recession in the coming years as a consequence of the pandemic response, their natural voter base is going to be severely eroded.

it already is, people give a crap about the planet when the economic rollercoaster is climbing, now they can see the fall and its back to the sweet embrace of economic conservatism and a hope that FG will choose spending cuts over tax increases.

Peregrine

PunkIPA wrote: »

Party discipline has gone out the window it seems. There is obviously no fear of Ryan or any sanction that he could impose. I'd say he needs to crack the whip, and fast, but the Lord Mayor is supported by Martin and her faction, he can't very well discipline the Deputy Leader.

There was no whip because Ryan insists there was no pact.

https://twitter.com/RTENewsPaulC/status/1374689454846271490?s=20

Yakov P. Golyadkin

Peregrine wrote: »

There was no whip because Ryan insists there was no pact.

https://twitter.com/RTENewsPaulC/status/1374689454846271490?s=20

That's the bould Hazel herself saying that, no? I think as far as the Green Party is concerned there is/was a pact.