The Floating Voter

This week’s Floating Voter podcast on Independent.ie took a look at how social media abuse should be tackled by the Government. Fianna Fáil’s Niamh Smyth and Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly shared their own experiences of some of the hate they have received online. Deputy O’Reilly revealed that she was this week contacted by Gardaí who inquired about her home security. She also said that she has been previously targeted by the now-removed Barbara J Pym Twitter account, which former Sunday...

Mary Lou McDonald should answer “detailed questions” on Sinn Féin’s internal voter database to ensure her party is not carrying out “Cold War” like profiling of Irish citizens, Labour Party leader Alan Kelly has said. Mr Kelly said revelations about Sinn Féin’s Abú system posed serious questions for Ms McDonald. Speaking on Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast, the Tipperary TD said: “I think Mary Lou McDonald needs to come out front and face questions in relation to this - very detailed...

Green Party Chairperson and Dublin Lord Mayor has admitted that while the chances of her winning a Seanad seat are slim, she has put herself forward for her daughter. Cllr Hazel Chu is in the running as an independent candidate for a seat on the Commercial and Industrial panel, having failed to secure the backing of her party. Following her move, there has been discontent in the Green Party, with three Senators putting forward three motions before the parliamentary party meeting last night,...

Sinn Féin is taking disciplinary action against councillor Paddy Holohan after he failed to remove a Facebook post supporting a salon owner who reopened in breach of Covid-19 restrictions. Senior Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said there is a disciplinary procedure underway after Mr Holohan, who has previously been suspended from the party, failed to remove the post. “This fella made a comment, we told him that comment isn’t in keeping with the party’s view, we told him to withdraw it, he isn’t...

European nationalism has turned Ireland into “bureaucratic losers” in the race to vaccinate citizens, a Fianna Fáil TD has said. Outspoken Sligo-Leitrim deputy Marc MacSharry said the EU “made a balls” of procuring vaccines and insisted Ireland should explore other ways to increase supply Speaking on the Floating voter podcast, Mr MacShary also severely criticised the Government’s reliance on the EU for vaccines and called on the Taoiseach to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson for any extra...

The Taoiseach should receive the coronavirus vaccine ahead of Cabinet colleagues to travel to the US, according to a Fine Gael Junior Minister. Fine Gael Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora Colm Brophy said on Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast that Taoiseach Micheál Martin should be vaccinated to be able to travel to the US for the St Patrick’s Day visit. Mr Brophy said that Cabinet Ministers should then be vaccinated as per the vaccine priority list and should...

Criticism of government is “jumped on and stamped down” by internal Green Party “enforcers”, a TD has claimed. She was speaking on the Independent.ie Floating Voter podcast about Cllr Peter Kavanagh’s statements after he left the party this week, where he stated that criticism of the party by members is viewed as “betrayal”. “That resonated with me and I think that kind of, people within the party taking up the role as enforcer, that is a genuinely a problem,” she said. “That doesn’t lead to...

A Fine Gael senator has detailed her experience with Covid-19, which saw her isolated in her room for days on end while her young children cried out for their mother. Emer Currie tested positive for coronavirus in October. When she first started coughing, the Dublin politician did not believe she had been infected with the virus but went for a test as a precaution. However, by the time the positive result came back, her cough had become more persistent and she was suffering a shortness of...

'Hostility and aggression' amongst principals after Taoiseach announces plans for Leaving Certs to attend school three days a week There is “hostility” among principals in reaction to government plans to allow Leaving Certs to attend school for three days a week, according to education spokesperson for the Social Democrats and Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon. Speaking on Independent.ie’s political podcast The Floating Voter, the TD said that some principals were, in hyperbole, calling to storm...

The end of the year is nearly upon and what a year it has been in the world of politics. If your memory stretches back far enough you might remember we had a General Election which resulted in a historic coalition between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Then there was a once in a life-time pandemic which shut down the entire planet. There were political controversies aplenty at home – agriculture ministers fells like skittles and a golf outing led to constitutional crisis over a...

Former Transport Minister Shane Ross has said Supreme Court Judge Seamus Woulfe should resign rather than face impeachment proceedings in the Dáil. Speaking on Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast, Mr Ross said his former Cabinet colleague should have resigned in August after it emerged he attended the controversial Oireachtas Golf Society Dinner. The former Independent Alliance minister said it was wrong that Justice Woulfe attended the event and insisted members of the judiciary should...

A second wave of Covid-19 cases in nursing homes cannot be ruled out if the rate of community transmission remains high, HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid has warned. Speaking to Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast, Mr Reid said the first phase of the pandemic showed nursing homes in areas of high community transmission were the worst hit. In the exclusive interview, he also speaks bluntly about the coronavirus crisis and how the HSE has learned from the challenges they faced. He frankly...

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has insisted he is still an "advocate" for income tax cuts despite failing to include any significant reductions in the biggest spending budget in the history of the State. Speaking on the Floating Voter Budget Review, along with EY Ireland's Head of Tax, Kevin McLoughlin, the Minister said he will seek to give hard-pressed taxpayers personal tax cuts when the economy returns to good health. "I will continue to be an advocate to look at how we can change the...

Sinn Féin would spend a massive €88bn on unemployment payments, new hospitals beds and affordable homes in the Budget if they were in power - but the party’s housing spokesperson Eoin O’Broin insists the revenue is not coming from a ‘magic money tree’. In a special pre-Budget interview on this week’s Floating Voter podcast, Mr O’Broin talks through Sinn Féin’s freshly published submission ahead of the Budget on Tuesday. The party is proposing a major €900m investment in hospitals which would...

Green Party Cabinet Minister Roderic O'Gorman has called on EU Commissioner Phil Hogan to make a full statement on his attendance at an Oireachtas Golf Society event. Mr O'Gorman, the Children's Minister, said Mr Hogan will have to address his decision to attend the event which has led to resignation of Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary. Speaking on Independent.ie's Floating Voter podcast, the minister said: "I think everyone who was at that event will have questions put to them be they a...

Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae will not force customers to wear masks or facing coverings in his shop as they become mandatory today. Mr Healy Rae said he will encourage people to wear them but said he will not become an “enforcer” and neither will his staff. Speaking on Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast, he said: “We are not going to be saying to a person 'you've no mask on, you can't be in the shop.’” “It won’t happen in my shop and the vast majority of shops in Ireland. People working...

Fine Gael parliamentary party chairman Richard Bruton has hit out at the “hysterical” and “attack dog” Dáil debates which he says are being instigated by Opposition TDs. The former minister insisted the Government was correct to give more Dáil speaking time to coalition TDs who struggled to secure debating slots during the last administration.“There is a relentless attack on people in government over a long period and the currency has got more and more hysterical,” Mr Bruton told...

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has become defined by his “hatred” of Sinn Féin, a senior member of the party has claimed. Cavan/Monaghan TD Matt Carthy said Mr Martin has a “fixation” with Sinn Féin and voters do not know what else he stands for. Speaking to Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast, Mr Carthy said: “His own personal views of our party have become him in many respects.” “If you were to ask ordinary people on the street what does Micheál Martin stand for my guess is that,...

Green Party TD Patrick Costello joined the Floating Voter to discuss the Government’s shambolic attempt to provide childcare services for frontline workers. Mr Costello, who is a scout leader, also discussed the damning report into child sex abuse allegations in Scouting Ireland. The Dublin Central TD said he believes the scouting organisation will bounce back from the controversy. He also insisted the Department of Children and Youth Affairs should be retained by the next government.

Minister for Older People Jim Daly has called on nursing homes to find ways to allow family members visit relatives during the Covid-19 crisis. Mr Daly, who is still the acting minister despite retiring from politics, said nursing homes should introduce perspex screens to allow people visit loved ones who are in their care. Speaking on Indpendent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast, the former Cork West TD said: “I think on a human level it is very, very, very difficult for the residents of nursing...