[Articles] TD suspended from the Dáil

MT

Here’s what happened according to UTV:

Ó Caoláin suspended from Dáil

WEDNESDAY 11/05/2005 11:21:17

Sinn Fein's Caoimhín O Caoláin has been suspended from the Dáil.

The Cavan-Monaghan TD accused the Taoiseach of giving more priority to the concerns of those in the horse-racing and greyhound industry, than to those in the disability sector.

He was ordered out of the chamber after refusing to give Bertie Ahern proper speaking time.

More from Breaking News:

SF TD suspended from Dáil for interrupting Taoiseach

11/05/2005 - 11:38:06

Sinn Féin TD Caoimghin O Caolain has been suspended from the Dáil for repeatedly interrupting the Taoiseach during this morning's business.

The Ceann Comhairle ordered the Cavan-Monaghan TD to leave the chamber for refusing to give Bertie Ahern proper speaking time.

Mr O Caolain had been accusing the Taoiseach of giving more priority to the concerns of those in the horse-racing and greyhound industry than to those in the disability sector.

Mr Ahern countered that the TD was trying to make political gain by deliberately confusing the issues.

“It’s just as important that we look after the needs of people with disabilities as we look after the betting industry in this State. Shame is all I can say,” said Mr O Caolain.

Mr Ahern accused Mr O Caolain of “clinging on to some hope that he can get political gain by ranting on“.

“You’re entirely dishonest in this debate,” he added.

After loud exchanges between Mr O Caolain and the Government benches, the Ceann Comhairle warned the Sinn Féin TD.

He said: “You cannot come into this House, ask a question and then frustrate any member of the Government who wishes to answer the question.

“I’ll ask you to behave yourself. Sorry Deputy, if you open your mouth once more you’ll leave the House.”

After Mr O Caolain refused to resume his seat, Mr O’Hanlon moved that he be suspended from the service of the Dáil.

A vote will be taken under Standing Order 61 before the Order of Business tomorrow morning.

Mr O Caolain had earlier claimed that the Disability Legislation Consultation Group, set up by the Government in 2001, was considering its future after its proposals on the current Disability Bill weren't being implemented in full.

The TD claimed that the group was refused a meeting with the Taoiseach and it was now considering opposing the Bill which is currently at Committee stage.

He asked: “Will you not use the opportunity to ensure the key and critical proposals of the DLCG and the entire disability sector are taken onboard and are enshrined in legislation so that we have legislation that removes the shame of further conflict from the sector?”

He said current disability legislation has backed by multi-annual funding which had never been agreed by any previous Government.

“I don’t believe that I will ever live to see any minister in any Bill bring such recommendations forward.”

“We will try everything we can to make this legislation as perfect as possible.”

Mr O Caolain called on Mr Ahern to meet with the Disability Legislation Consultation Group and to take the world lead in the provision of disability services.

He said the current Government ring-fenced revenue raised in the horse and greyhound industry by legislation in 2001.

I wasn’t sure whether or not to place this in the Sinn Fein thread. My view is that it deserves separate billing as the story brings into focus the sort of behaviour by TDs in general that could result in expulsion from the chamber. Where do you draw a line, beyond which a member’s conduct deserves punishment?

In this instance, however, I feel the Ceann Comhairle was fully justified in ejecting O Caoláin for his woeful disregard for the rights of another member. If such one-sided ranting is allowed to develop in the Dail, its capacity to facilitate constructive and sensible debates will be greatly undermined in future. Democracy would be the loser.

On the specific nature of O Caoláin’s misconduct I feel this episode displays yet again the threat to Irish democracy his party and its members pose.

This was a telling sign of the corrosive effect of ‘Northernisation’ on the Republic’s political discourse. As a member of a party obsessed with the Northern problem and as someone who no doubt spends most of his time analysing its difficulties ahead of any concern for the country he was elected in, O Caoláin displayed a failing common to NI politics – intolerance for the other point of view.

Up here, politicians simply don’t do constructive political discussion. Instead, they choose to scream and rave at the opposition in a style more fitting to the fundamentalism of the 17th century. Neither faction cares to attempt to understand the other side. In their dialogue of the deaf they don’t even maintain a pretence of listening to the other side. ‘Themun’s wrong, ussun’s right’. The result has been a break down in the vital compromise and respect for the ideas of opponents necessary in making a liberal – or for that matter any – democracy work. The consequence of the bitter invective and thinly veiled sectarian hatred spouted on the air by so-called figures of authority has only fuelled the polarisation to the extremes that continues unabated in the North.

Yesterdays session appeared to ape the shockingly hostile and venom filled ‘debates’ in the ill fated Stormont assembly during its brief existence. O Caoláin appears to have been a good student in the destructive arts of his Northern counterparts. Indeed, his behaviour in the Dail is also worryingly reminiscent of the egregious Question Time show where live on air David Dimbleby had to threaten to end the programme when a panel of representatives from NI’s main parties simply refused to allow each other to get a word in edgeways. I’d go as far to say that the poisonous ranting that’s made any debate or TV programme involving Northern politicians a cringe making affair just goes to show that the ‘peace process’ was only ever a continuation of the war by another means. Agreement and compromise seem as far away as ever. Such fundamentalist and abusive ranting – not to mention a whole host of other primeval attitudes – will only pollute the Dail’s atmosphere and damage reasoned debate if the North’s influence continues to grow.

In response to his accusation it might have been interesting if someone had asked O Caoláin which was more of a priority for him – bettering the lives, including those with disabilities, of the people he was elected to represent or getting the North? What exactly do SF TDs in the Dail stand for – the improvement of a functioning and respected democracy that works or fighting endlessly for a failed region to the North full of people who put sectarian tribalism ahead of all else?

This whole tirade simply sounds like Aengus O’Snodaigh’s hypocritical concern for Irish women. Considering that Sinn Fein and their private army have disabled more people than bears thinking about over the past number of decades, where does O Caoláin get the gall to criticise the Taoiseach over the needs of disabled people?

What I’d like to know is when are the volunteers that Caoimhín’s party loves to praise going to pay compensation to all those that have been disabled at the hands of their brutality? Or does Sinn Fein believe that they should ‘move on’ just like the desperate families of the disappeared?

Sparks

I've no sympathy for O'Caolain, but the current Ceann Comhairle is decidedly biased towards the government, more so than his predecessors. It's been commented on before, most publicly when Rabbitte was chucked out of the Dail. And it's rather easy to spot - just watch the webfeed from the Dail during question time and you'll spot that just about any topical question the government doesn't want to answer gets ruled out of order by the CC, but if the government starts to answer, it gets to finish that answer instead of being also ruled out of order.

Quantum

If we are forced to suffer the presence of SinnFein/IRA people in our Dail because of the liberal nature of our democracy, which I am proud of, then we should make sure that they obey the rules laid down by the Dail for behaviour in the Chamber.
The Speaker's job is to enforce those rules - and I for one am delighted he kicked the prat out.

I just wish fewer Irish voters were prepared to send terrorist's and organised crime's political representatives to represent them in the Dail in the first place.

The Dáil has standard procedures to deal with business wrecking like that.

By the way, a cursary google found paul Kehoe [FG] and Pat Rabbitte were suspended in the last 12 months aswell,I'm sure theres probably more.

MT if you specifically created this thread to discuss, some of the SF issues you mention, then you would have been better off making your point in the other merged thread.
I suspect from your post that, that is the premise of this thread and not a discussion on discipline in Dáil Éireann.

Thread therefore closed.