The new government has hardly had an auspicious start.
The demands of the Regional Independents Group (RIG) for opposition speaking rights in the Dáil resulted in chaotic scenes in the chamber and scuttled the planned election of a taoiseach on January 22. The Government’s singularly inept handling of this opening debacle has been obvious to all.
On Monday evening, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy ruled that non-ministerial Regional Independent Group TDs cannot form a technical group for opposition speaking time. Her ruling is an embarrassing blow to the Government, which had backed the Michael Lowry-led RIGgers, who are supporting the FF/FG-led coalition.
Then there was last week’s blizzard of junior-ministerial appointments, the necessity for which convinced nobody.
The claim by the leaders that the increase was necessary because of the onerous workload and more complex challenges in running the country hardly stands up to scrutiny. Much more realistic is the acceptance that most of the appointments were based on geographical location or as reward for electoral success.
Nor can it be doubted that the appointment list was a nod towards gender balance, a stick that the Government cut to beat itself with when the first list of Cabinet postings........

© The Mayo News