MICHAEL Lowry “will not be allowed to masquerade as an opposition TD”, Mary Lou McDonald has declared as she sent a stark warning about further chaos when the Dail returns next week.
The election of Micheal Martin as Taoiseach was derailed last week as opposition parties teamed up to shout down the Dail in a row over four Independent TDs who support the government but want to be in opposition.
Michael Lowry, Barry Heneghan, Gillian Toole and Danny Healy-Rae have all agreed to back the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael coalition but want to act as opposition TDs in the Dail at the same time.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald today warned that further Dail chaos could be on the cards next week if the Government tries to allow Michael Lowry and Co act as opposition.
She said: “Micheal Lowry will simply not be allowed to masquerade as an opposition TD.
“Micheal Lowry is not an opposition TD. Micheal Lowry is a former Fine Gael minister. Michael Lowry is – as Pearse [Doherty] has said – the star of the Moriarty Tribunal.
“He is an independent TD who enjoys a mandate and I absolutely recognise that but he is the person who led negotiations leading to the Programme for Government.
“Part of that Programme for Government settlement was an agreement on the Ceann Comhairle as you have said and so called super-junior ministers sitting at Cabinet.
“Michael Lowry has made no bones about the fact that he and his associates will back this government through thick and through thin.
“There are no circumstances in which Michael Lowry should be allowed or can be allowed to pretend he is a member of the opposition.”
Following the Dail chaos last week, a Reform Committee was established to come up with a solution for the row.
The Government is due to bring forward their idea for a solution on Thursday, however, reports suggest that Deputy Lowry still wants the opportunity to speak in Leaders’ Questions – a slot where opposition TDs can quiz the Taoiseach.
Mary Lou McDonald warned that this will not fly for opposition parties who she claims stand united on the issue.
She said: “He certainly cannot be part of a charade wherein he questions the Taoiseach in Leaders Questions to hold a Taoiseach that he supports to account.
“That turns logic and democracy on its head. It is a patent absurdity and it is an actual insult to the collective intelligence of the Irish electorate. Nobody buys it.
‘NEED TO THINK AGAIN’
“So not alone do I have concerns around Michael Lowry, I have a deeper concern around Micheal Martin and Simon Harris if they are deluded enough to think that they are actually going to pull this off they need to think again.
“The combined opposition have made our position very, very clear. Coming from different perspectives we are very clear.
“We have a job to do as the opposition and we will not allow Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to encroach on the opposition and to blur the lines to create confusion and to pretend that one of their own TDs would be the one to hold them to account.”
