Dáil to vote next Tuesday on confidence motion in Ceann Comhairle

By Cate McCurry and Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The Dáil will vote next Tuesday on a confidence motion in Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy.

Verona Murphy will have the backing of Government parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, as well as Government-supporting Independent TDs.

Ms Murphy is expected to survive the vote on her position next week, which will be tabled by the Opposition.

The motion comes after Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that Ms Murphy’s actions in the Dáil on Tuesday were “demonstrably partisan” and lacked the “impartiality and independence demanded of your position”.

She said her position was untenable and asked her to reflect on this.

The Ceann Comhairle has “categorically” rejected accusations of partisanship in how she handled an opposition protest in the Dáil.

The motion has been signed by Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity and Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said that the opposition has made “life impossible” for Ms Murphy and said the parliament “cannot work on opposition by veto”.

The motion seeks to note “that the Ceann Comhairle no longer retains the confidence of all members of Dáil Éireann”.

The Government is to table a counter-motion of confidence in Ms Murphy, Education Minister Helen McEntee told the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Wednesday.

In a statement, Ms Murphy said she had “loyally, scrupulously and impartially” carried out the role as Ceann Comhairle and rejected “false accusations of partiality and collusion”.

The clerk of the Dáil, Peter Finnegan, concluded in a report about Tuesday’s proceedings that all decisions taken by Ms Murphy, given the “great disorder”, were in compliance with the rules of the Dail and her powers as Ceann Comhairle.

Sinn Féin said the report is “deeply flawed” and does not tally with footage on the Oireachtas website.

Ms McDonald said the loss of confidence in Ms Murphy is felt across the opposition benches, adding it has been the result of a “Government deal” struck between Mr Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and Michael Lowry.

“That has been the seeds of each of these controversies,” Ms McDonald told RTÉ on Thursday.

“The farce of allowing Government TDs to act as opposition TDs, turning logic and democracy on its head, the fact that the Ceann Comhairle position itself was part and parcel of brokering that deal.”