QUOTES OF THE DAY
▪ Paschal Donohoe via Twitter: ”Today, the 33rd Dail crossed the Liffey. Today, Irish politics crossed the rubicon. Onwards.”
▪ Leo Varadkar: “I believe Civil War politics ended a long time ago in our country, but today Civil War politics ends in our parliament.”
▪ Norma Foley, Kerry TD who nominated Micheal Martin, on critics of the new regime: “The loudest voices will no doubt make partisan and personal comments but we will not be deterred.”
▪ Green Party leader Eamon Ryan: “It is action stations time. We need to restore nature and our environment. We are connected to nature just as we are connected to each other.”
▪ Labour leader Alan Kelly on Varadkar’s past criticisms of Martin: ”I believe 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.”
▪ Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty: “No one can lead a government of change other than Mary Lou McDonald.”
▪ Paul Murphy TD (RISE, part of Solidarity-People Before Profit): “Tomorrow and in the days, weeks and months ahead, 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.”
▪ People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett: “Following the confirmation that the Green Party would go into this conservative Government and thus attempt to rehabilitate the disgraced Fianna Fail party and keep Fine Gael in office demonstrates a bitter betrayal of the movement for change that has swept this country culminating in the general election of 2020.”
▪ Social Democrats’ co-leader Catherine Murphy: ”This is truly a historical day, not least that we are convened here in this modern building separated from each other because of Covid-19 to vote on the proposals for Taoiseach. While this is historical, nothing about it is normal.”