{"id":102452,"date":"2025-10-04T08:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T08:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/102452\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T08:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T08:02:10","slug":"budget-battle-truce-declared-as-paschals-kid-lines-out-for-na-fianna-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/102452\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget battle truce declared as Paschal\u2019s kid lines out for Na Fianna \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s all go at Government Buildings this weekend as the final few departments holding out for a better budget allocation slug it out with money Ministers Jack Chambers<\/a> and Paschal Donohoe<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Talks, in keeping with tradition, are expected to go down to the wire. But despite the rush this year to get deals done and dusted before budget day on Tuesday, a truce between demanding Ministers and their finance overlords has been declared for Sunday afternoon. <\/p>\n

Nothing will happen in Merrion Street while the Dublin Senior Club Football semi-finals are happening in Parnell Park. Or, to be specific, while the semi-final game between Kilmacud Crokes and Na Fianna is under way.<\/p>\n

Oscar Donohoe, son of Minister for Finance Paschal, is part of the Na Fianna squad and has lined out at corner back for the Glasnevin club on numerous occasions. Oscar, who has represented Dublin at minor and U20 level, also plays for UCD, where he is studying economics and finance. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great and we\u2019re all very proud of him,\u201d says Paschal. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be there on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OscarOscar Donohoe playing for UCD against DCU in Belfield in March. Photograph: Tyler Miller\/Sportsfile <\/p>\n

At least they had all day on Friday to make some progress. <\/p>\n

Well, they did and they didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n

The fire alarm went off in Government buildings on Friday afternoon in the middle of the all-important leaders\u2019 meeting on the budget. The building was evacuated and the entire Taoiseach\u2019s department ended up standing out at the corner on Merrion Square. <\/p>\n

There were jokes that the Taoiseach may have been at the deep fat fryer again when he failed to appear at the muster point. Did Miche\u00e1l leave the chip pan on in his office?<\/p>\n

Simon Harris was missing too. Along with Paschal and Jack Chambers.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ministers in fraught negotiations over tightest budget in yearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Maybe somebody spontaneously combusted because the talks become so heated.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the shivering Spads and civil servants were relieved to hear that the two party leaders, along with Chambers of Commerce, had decamped to Donohoe\u2019s office to continue their talks.<\/p>\n

By close of business on Friday, a number of high-spending departments had yet to seal a deal for next year. <\/p>\n

Agriculture wasn\u2019t one of them, although on Wednesday there were a lot of sticking points to iron out. We hear negotiations were tough and tense but, at the tail end of the night, agreement was reached with the team from Public Expenditure and Reform.<\/p>\n

The deed was done and it was a final flourish for Brendan Gleeson, secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, who retired on Thursday. <\/p>\n

A popular figure, Brendan spent many years working in Ag and although he is a Dub through and through, they never held it against him.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we wonder if Simon, Paschal and Jack had time to admire the new carpet and freshly painted walls in the recently spruced-up Taoiseach\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l has also taken the opportunity to shuffle a few desks around, installing members of his constituency office staff right up outside the private office while moving some of the private office people down to where the constituency office used to be under the stairs.<\/p>\n

With his presidential protege Jim Gavin not exactly shaking up the election campaign, some wags on Merrion Street are wondering if Miche\u00e1l is positioning his most loyal troops in preparation for a battle.<\/p>\n

\"KevinKevin ‘Boxer’ Moran: ‘I was very annoyed by Mary Lou. Very annoyed.’ Photograph: Nick Bradshaw An ear-bashing over the bike shed<\/p>\n

\u201cBoxer\u201d Moran was hopping mad on Tuesday afternoon when Mary Lou McDonald was belting the Taoiseach around the ears with her latest object of outrage. <\/p>\n

The Sinn F\u00e9in leader was in her element.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s happening again. It\u2019s bike shed Groundhog Day,\u201d she fulminated during Leaders\u2019 Questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bike shed scandal mark two is on the cards.\u201d <\/p>\n

You wait years and years for a bicycle shelter abomination and then two come along in the space of 12 months. <\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l Martin didn\u2019t rise to the angry chorus from across the floor, but Kevin \u201cBoxer\u201d Moran, the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), got very worked up as Mary Lou tore strips off the Government for blowing \u20ac100,000 on a new bike shelter for the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you read the e-tender?\u201d he roared. \u201cRead the e-tender!\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0National Maternity Hospital bike shed should not have to cost \u20ac100,000, Taoiseach saysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Boxer wasn\u2019t in office last year when the scandal of the OPW\u2019s \u20ac335,000 bike shed in Leinster House hit the headlines. <\/p>\n

But there have been, eh, learnings. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince that scenario in Leinster House, we\u2019ve tightened up everything,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd, in a way, I think it was the best thing to happen in terms of making us realise: \u2018Listen, we have to get better value for money here.\u2019 And in fairness to Minister Chambers, my boss, he\u2019s on to us all the time about this. I respect what he says to me and I\u2019m making sure that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sinn F\u00e9in leader\u2019s latest bicycle shed broadside hit a nerve. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was very annoyed by Mary Lou. Very annoyed. First of all, that shelter is nothing to do with me, it\u2019s the maternity hospital in Dublin that\u2019s doing it. But she is more or less blaming the OPW, saying we haven\u2019t learnt anything. But we\u2019re not building it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boxer says he recently signed off on a \u20ac180,000 project which will significantly improve access to Leinster House for people with mobility issues. It included installing a new lift and ramps and building and demolition work. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe OPW are very quick to give a price, but people also need a breakdown of costs. Then you have TDs like Mary Lou just taking the headline figure and standing up in the D\u00e1il saying you\u2019re wasting money without reading the ins and outs of the tenders. That annoys me because we\u2019re sending out a message that\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Pope Leo visit Inishark? <\/p>\n

We rang Eamon Ryan on Friday morning. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in Castel Gandolfo,\u201d sez he, as you do. \u201cBeautiful gardens.\u201d <\/p>\n

What was the former minister for the environment doing in the pope\u2019s holiday retreat outside Rome? <\/p>\n

Eamon explained he is attending the three-day Raising Hope for Climate Justice conference which was hosted by Pope Leo XIV to mark the 10th anniversary of his predecessor\u2019s Laudato Si\u2019 encyclical, a landmark document devoted entirely to the environment. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe changed church teaching by recognising that we have to look after nature and each other. The importance of this conference is Pope Leo saying he is going to double down on that mission, which is more important than ever,\u201d says Eamon. <\/p>\n

The former Green Party leader is attending in a personal capacity. <\/p>\n

Leo addressed delegates on the opening day of the conference when he was joined by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie hailed the American-born pontiff as a (climate) \u201caction hero\u201d and backed the Vatican\u2019s initiative to \u201cterminate\u201d climate change.<\/p>\n

When Eamon met Leo there wasn\u2019t time for him to present him with the gift he brought from Ireland \u2013 a book called Island Endurance, along with two little pebbles from a recently discovered ancient shrine on the tiny island of Inishark, next to Inishbofin. <\/p>\n

In a short handwritten note inside the cover, author Ryan Lash writes of the story of another Leo, \u201cthe patron saint of Inishark, a small island off the west coast of Ireland. A thousand years ago, a shrine on this island drew pilgrims who marked their journeys by leaving behind white quartz pebbles in their thousands, polished like pearls by the churn of the tide … I pray that the world can learn to remember, like these pebbles and pilgrims, the majesty of what we share, a common resonance of being and belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes the pope will visit Inishark \u2013 an invitation shared by Eamon Ryan \u2013 to see the places of St Leo and find fellow shepherds there.<\/p>\n

\"TimTim Ryan, editor of Nealon\u2019s Guide, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy and Fergal Nealon at the launch of this year’s guide. Photograph: Alan Betson\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

D\u00e1il anoraks welcome launch of Nealon\u2019s Guide<\/p>\n

Buswells Hotel was packed on Wednesday night for the launch of the latest edition of the Nealon\u2019s Guide to the 34th D\u00e1il and 27th Seanad. <\/p>\n

Edited by public affairs consultant and former political journalist Tim Ryan, the guide is the go-to reference work for political anoraks and hacks and an indispensable handbook to each general election. <\/p>\n

Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy did the honours, delivering an informative speech which was sensibly tailored with an eye to the clock and events across the road in the D\u00e1il, where the weekly voting bloc was due to take place a little later in the evening. <\/p>\n

The Nealon\u2019s Guide is named after former RT\u00c9 political broadcaster turned Fine Gael TD and minister of state, the late Ted Nealon, who produced the first one in 1973. Some of the guests at this week\u2019s launch included proud owners of that first edition who like to boast about owning the full set.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Latest Nealon\u2019s Guide edition details 34th D\u00e1il and 27th SeanadOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Ted\u2019s son Fergal, a county councillor, came up from Sligo for the occasion. <\/p>\n

The latest edition \u2013 which is supported by AIB and produced in association with The Irish Times \u2013 includes the top 10 poll-toppers in last year\u2019s election. Fine Gael and Sinn F\u00e9in each have three entrants, there are three Independents, with just party leader Miche\u00e1l Martin the sole standard-bearer for Fianna F\u00e1il.<\/p>\n

Donegal\u2019s Pearse Doherty (SF) just edged out Kerry\u2019s Michael Healy-Rae (Ind) for the top spot. <\/p>\n

The constituency with the highest turnout was Wicklow and the one with the lowest was Dublin Central. <\/p>\n

The father of the D\u00e1il is Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s Willie O\u2019Dea and the Mother of the D\u00e1il is Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Mary Lou McDonald. This title is conferred on the member with the longest record of unbroken service. Willie has been knocking around the house since 1982, and Mary Lou was first elected in 2011. <\/p>\n

Cross-Border kicks<\/p>\n

Fine Gael backbencher Frankie Feighan is a busy man these days. <\/p>\n

He was just back from attending the British Labour Party\u2019s conference in Liverpool when we met him at the Nealon\u2019s Guide launch. <\/p>\n

As a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, he likes to keep abreast of political developments on the other side of the water and, as a political anorak, he enjoys attending party conferences. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, I pay my own way.\u201d <\/p>\n

He\u2019s hoping to go over to the Tory party conference in Manchester on Sunday but a trip North on Friday night to the SDLP conference in Belfast may be thwarted by the weather. Leo Varadkar is scheduled to speak at it. <\/p>\n

He put together a five-a-side soccer squad from Leinster House to play in a tournament in Stormont a couple of weeks ago. It was organised by the Northern Assembly\u2019s all-party group on reducing harm related to gambling. <\/p>\n

The six travelling TDs were soundly beaten by their Belfast-based counterparts. <\/p>\n

Player\/manager Frankie and Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa (SF), Aidan Farrelly (Soc Dems), Joanna Byrne (SF), Darren O\u2019Rourke (SF) and Brian Brennan (FG) were no match for the MLAs including All-Ireland medal winner Justin McNulty (SDLP), Philip McGuigan (SF), Robbie Butler (UUP), and Stephen Dunne (DUP).<\/p>\n

Leinster House booking system goes bananas<\/p>\n

TDS and Senators are seething over two unidentified parliamentary colleagues who they say upended the booking system for Oireachtas tour groups, leaving them to tell constituents that their planned trips to Leinster House won\u2019t now be happening. <\/p>\n

As was reported last week by Cormac McQuinn, authorities had to issue a warning to politicians about block-booking Leinster House tours after one politician\u2019s staff tried to bag 118 slots. We hear that another Oireachtas member, possibly a Senator, may also have tried to corner the market in tours of the building, which are conducted with great aplomb by parliamentary ushers and are in great demand from community groups and schoolchildren. <\/p>\n

The booking system sounds a little like the one used by top restaurants, with slots over a specified time period released online on a first come, first served basis. <\/p>\n

According to one disgruntled TD, it appears the booking portal opened at midnight on a specified date late last month. \u201cMost people would go online first thing in the morning but somebody must have got wind of the word because they booked up nearly everything in the middle of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consternation ensued. The authorities have had to act and, following a meeting of the Oireachtas Commission , an email went out with new instructions for the season. <\/p>\n

Each member can book a maximum of three slots, even though some have their names down for a lot more than that. The new TDs and Senators are particularly keen to bring people in.<\/p>\n

Members with more than four bookings will have to choose their three preferred options no later than next Friday and the others will be put back into the mix for reallocation. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s causing a lot of hassle and angst,\u201d says our TD. \u201cThe worst thing is, you\u2019ve already told these groups that they have a tour. They\u2019ve gotten really popular. Now we have to go and tell them it\u2019s off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever is responsible would want to keep their head down and lie low because if we get our hands on them …\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s all go at Government Buildings this weekend as the final few departments holding out for a better…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,46,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-102452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-latest-news","17":"tag-latestnews","18":"tag-main-news","19":"tag-mainnews","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-paschal-donohoe","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}