By AFP
Micheal Martin was appointed Ireland’s new prime minister on Thursday after lawmakers belatedly backed him following a bitter row over parliamentary speaking rules that had delayed the vote.
The 64-year-old was officially appointed taoiseach — premier — during a ceremony with President Michael Higgins after Irish parliamentarians voted 95 to 76 to support the nomination of the Fianna Fail party leader.
The approval came a day after chaotic scenes disrupted the process and resulted in the suspension of the Dail, the name for Ireland’s parliament.
Martin, who previously served as prime minister between 2020 and 2022, was appointed along with government ministers after overnight talks to break the deadlock over speaking rights for parties in the new parliament.
He said it was a “profound honour” to again be nominated taoiseach, the Irish name for the head of government.
But he added in a speech to the Dail: “It is a sad development in many parliaments in the world that they have become more angry and divisive.”
“They have become forums dominated by the inflated rhetoric of demonstrations rather than a place where different groups can argue in good faith and respectfully disagree,” he said, without directly referencing the events of Wednesday.
Sinn Fein objections
Martin had been due to be nominated and elected Wednesday ahead of a vote in the Dail that had been seen as a mere formality.
Martin, whose centre-right Fianna Fail won most seats at a general election in November, had steered the formation of a three-way centrist coalition.
But amid raucous exchanges in the chamber, opposition parties, led by the Dail’s second largest, the leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein, forced two suspensions of parliament before it was eventually adjourned on Wednesday for the day.
Sinn Fein and other opposition parties angrily objected to several of the pro-government independents in the coalition being granted speaking time allocated to the opposition in parliament from now on.
Handing pro-government lawmakers speaking time designated for the opposition is “a subversion of democracy,” Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said afterwards.
Martin in turn branded the disruptions a “subversion of the Irish constitution,” in comments to reporters late Wednesday.
“This is the first time, I think, in over 100 years, that the Dail has failed to elect a government to fulfil its constitutional obligation.”
‘Stunt politics’
The appointment of outgoing taoiseach Simon Harris, 38, as deputy prime minister was also delayed. He leads the centre-right Fine Gael that came third in the election.
Under the power-sharing agreement, Harris is due to become prime minister again in November 2027 as the coalition partners rotate the role.
Wednesday’s scenes were “utterly farcical,” said Harris earlier, describing the Dail disruption as “stunt politics”.
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael combined — who led the previous government with the support of the Green Party — fell short of a majority in the 174-seat parliament in the November 29 vote, triggering inter-party coalition talks.
The two parties, who have governed in turn since Ireland gained independence from Britain over a century ago, agreed with a group of independent lawmakers last week to make up the coalition’s third leg.
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