WE CAN OVERCOME
New Taoiseach Martin vows to lead recovery
NEW Taoiseach Micheal Martin vowed to get the country back on track yesterday and pledged: “We can overcome.”
The Corkman, 59, made history as leader of the first Ff-fg-greens coalition and warned that we have no time to lose in shaking off the Covid-19 pandemic. Naming his Cabinet brought plenty of surprises, but the biggest shock came as ousted Fine Gael TD Regina Doherty was returned as leader of the Seanad.
BY FERGHAL BLANEY and CIARA PHELAN
MICHEAL Martin made history yesterday by becoming the first Taoiseach of a coalition uniting old enemies Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
He picked up his seal of office from President Michael D Higgins in Aras an Uachtarain after being nominated by a majority of the Dail in Convention Centre Dublin.
The third leg of the new Government sees the Green Party back in power.
The Fianna Fail chief becomes only the 15th Irish leader since independence was won nearly 100 years ago.
Ever since then, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have been at loggerheads after they fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. Outgoing Taoiseach, incoming Tanaiste and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar congratulated the new Government chief.
He said: “This is a historic occasion. I believe Civil War politics ended a long time ago in this country but today it ends in our parliament.”
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who was the kingmaker in the process, recommended Mr Martin for Taoiseach describing him as “forward-thinking”.
Kerry Fianna Fail TD Norma Foley formally proposed party leader Mr Martin to lead the 33rd Dail.
She added: “By every measure he has used his time in high office to Fianna Fail TD James O’connor, from Cork East, seconded the nomination. Mr O’connor is the youngest TD in the Dail and played his part in the nominations as part of an old tradition. The vote was easily won – 93 in favour, 63 against, and three abstaining. Before heading off to the Aras to receive his seal of office, Mr Martin made a short speech in Irish and English. He told how the first work of the new Government would be to tackle the ongoing crisis caused by coronavirus and he thanked Fine Gael politicians for their work so far. He said: “In the last three-and-a-half months, enormous progress has been made in controlling the spread of the virus and treating those who have become sick.
“For this and much more we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to staff working in our health system, in other frontline roles and within our public services.”
Warning that the struggle against the virus is not over, he added: “We must continue to contain its spread.
“We must be ready to tackle any new wave. And we must move forward rapidly to secure a recovery to benefit all of our people.
“As we meet here there are nearly 900,000 of our people wholly or partly relying on special pandemic payments. This is the fastest moving recession ever to hit our country and to overdeliver.” come it we must act with urgency and ambition.
“Starting today, this work will be at the very centre of everything the new Government will do.
“Our country has shown time and time again that we can overcome the toughest of challenges – and we will do so again.”
Mr Martin, whose family watched proceedings from Cork due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, said: “To be elected to serve as Taoiseach of a free republic is one of the greatest honours which anyone can receive.
“I want to thank the deputies of my party for their support, and also those of Fine Gael and the Green Party, as well as those independent deputies who voted for me.
“Most of all, I want to thank my
I campaigned for a Yes vote as I believe this programme for government could be transformative for Ireland.
“It gives us the opportunity to move from climate laggard to climate leader on the European stage and to do so in a fair and just way. “I am delighted party membership agreed with this and have given the programme a resounding endorsement.
– GREEN MEP FOR DUBLIN CIARAN CUFFE
Your Government will become known as a Government of eco-austerity, of two-tier healthcare, and of a worsening housing crisis.
“A Government which represents the rich, the landlords and big business. It will be a hated Government. A lesson of the pandemic was that radical and rapid change was possible. “But this Government wants us to go back to the failed neoliberal capitalist model.”
– PAUL MURPHY TD, RISE
Much has been made that this is a historic change, but the parties that have ruled Ireland since the foundation of the State remain in power. “What we are witnessing is the is the creation of a Government that no one wanted, not even FF or FG. It’s noteworthy that this building in which Micheal Martin was elected Taoiseach was bailed out by Nama as a result of decisions made by Martin’s last cabinet. The big wheel keeps turning.”
– PEADAR TOIBIN, AONTU
Our country has shown time and again we can overcome challenges & we’ll do so again
MICHEAL MARTIN CONVENTION CENTRE DUBLIN YESTERDAY
We all knocked on doors the length and breadth of this country, we heard the same message over and over again. There was a desire for fundamental change. “Could we look people in the eye and say we presided over a Programme for Government that was ideologically the wrong approach? Or that was never economically sound to begin with and thus failed to deliver the changes they demanded from us? “We couldn’t, and so we will robustly stand over our decision.” – SOCIAL DEMOCRATS CO-LEADER CATHERINE MURPHY TD
Following the confirmation the Green party would go into this Government and thus attempt to rehabilitate the disgraced Fianna Fail party and keep Fine Gael in office demonstrates a betrayal of the movement for change that swept this country culminating in the General Election of 2020. We now have a task of building movements to fight for social and affordable housing on public land, affordable childcare and a singletier National Health Service. “People Before Profit are ready to step up and fight for a different and fairer society.” – RICHARD BOYD BARRETT TD
family and my community. Without them I could have achieved nothing.”
Sinn Fein also proposed their leader Mary Lou Mcdonald for the top job, even though they knew that they wouldn’t have the numbers to beat Mr Martin.
The Dail did not vote on this nomination after Mr Martin won his vote.
But Pearse Doherty used the opportunity to remind the public his party believes the new Fianna Fail/fine Gael/green coalition will be more of the same “old politics”.
He added: “I want change, I want a government that breaks from things of the past. “A government of FF and FG will deliver the very opposite. “Instead of moving forward, we will be moving backwards.” Sinn Fein’s youngest TD, Mairead Farrell, from Galway, seconded Ms Mcdonald. Ms Mcdonald said: “Sinn Fein won more votes in the election and undoubtedly this was a mandate for change... our time is coming because change cannot be stopped.” Mr Varadkar slammed Sinn Fein, the new lead opposition, for “banging on” about change and criticised them for giving out about the Greens entering Government when they wanted to do so too.
He described it as “a load of spin and nonsense”.
Labour leader Alan Kelly staked his claim as an opposition leader by attacking Sinn Fein from the start.
He said about the party: “Their manifesto was a Late Late Show giveaway, one for everyone in the audience.”
And then he turned his sights on the incoming coalition.
Mr Kelly added: “The financials in this Programme for Government are comical – in fact, they’re so comical they weren’t put down on paper, they don’t exist.”
But it was his digs at Mr Varadkar, that got the attention of everyone. He went on to give the outgoing Taoiseach and movie buff a good slagging about his recent habit of quoting from popular films such as teen drama Mean Girls and Lord Of The Rings, referencing the Bourne spy thrillers franchise.
He said: “We all know the outgoing Taoiseach loves his films.
“He must have taken some tips from Matt Damon when he was here during the lockdown as Leo has woken up akin to Jason Bourne with no actual memory of what he said about Fianna Fail or Micheal Martin over the last 10 years.
“I want to give this new Government notice that the Labour Party will hold it to account.”