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Brian Walsh Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Brian Walsh: 'Seanad abolition is Enda Kenny's baby and I won't go against it'

The Fine Gael TD, who lost the party whip, says he will not join a new alliance made up of his fellow party dissidents.

GALWAY WEST TD Brian Walsh has refused to get involved in a new group of expelled Fine Gael members who aim to establish a new political alliance because some are set on “campaigning aggressively” for the retention of the Seanad.

Mr Walsh is one of five TDs who lost the Fine Gael whip for voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.

The other TDs include Lucinda Creighton, Billy Timmins, Brian Walsh, Terence Flanagan, Peter Mathews as well as senators Paul Bradford and Fidelma Healy-Eames.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, he said: “A number of the members of the group will be campaigning for the retention of the Seanad. This policy was clearly in the Fine Gael mandate, for which we got elected upon. I didn’t want to be a part of that.”

Enda’s brainchild

He added:

But this is Enda Kenny’s baby and brain child, so to go against it is taking an anti-Enda stance.

I am a member of Fine Gael and a member of government, but I know some members of the group are planning to aggressively campaign for the retention of the Seanad. This is contrary to what we agreed to when we entered government.

He said that the members who want to see the Seanad retained are maintaining that it is a “personal and individual” choice. However, Walsh states that the public will view them as a group.

It will be assumed that it is a group policy. The public will not be able to differentiate between personal policy and group policy, with different members having different policy ideas. And in the future, what will it be like then?

Earlier this week Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said he would like to see a pathway that would allow the former members of the Fine Gael parliamentary party return into the fold.

Fine Gael party

Walsh said he welcomed Leo Varadkar’s words but said “Enda Kenny has been strong in his leadership on this and seems adamant,” adding the the abortion legislation was “a single issue for me that I couldn’t vote for, but I will be fully supportive of government in the future”.

He said:

I am under no illusion however that if an election were called tomorrow, I would not be selected as a Fine Gael candidate, but I would like to be.

The group of those dejected from the parliamentary party are due to meet on Saturday.

When asked what the meeting is about, Walsh said the the meeting is being held between the Fine Gael members that lost the whip and is going to be about “debate and discussion on policy issues and I suppose what they want to achieve in the next term. Also it is a good opportunity to launch the new name of the group. But I won’t be a part of it”.

Explainer: Why can’t the Fine Gael rebels form a new political party?>

Read: Fianna Fáil thinks Seanad abolition is ‘transparently ridiculous’, but Fine Gael disagrees>

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35 Comments
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    Mute Larry Whack
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:38 PM

    Would yee ever just…

    327
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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:55 PM

    @Larry Whack: Ever just what? I suppose you’re missing licking the lead paint off your toys? Or is it spraying CFCs into the atmosphere you miss? Both of those examples are hyperbole and the implications of this study are yet unknown as is stated in the article. We can hope that the implications are minor/negligible but that doesn’t mean that the public should be kept in the dark, we’re all adults and should be able to read what is written.

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    Mute Larry Whack
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    Oct 19th 2020, 7:19 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: Yikes!

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 19th 2020, 7:23 PM

    @Larry Whack: Yikes what? Any chance you’d elaborate?

    14
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    Mute Barry
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:41 PM

    We really need to move away from plastics.

    More bottles should be made of glass as this can be recycled better and cheaper.

    With plastics you can’t recycle them, instead plastic can only ever be down cycled to lower quality plastic each time.

    180
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    Mute Rachel O' Meara
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:52 PM

    @Barry: Fair point but they used glass bottles in the past, they were notorious for chipping and breaking causing injuries. The rubber nipples were also notorious for harbouring harmful bacteria. As much as plastic bottles have flaws they are currently still the best we have.

    63
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    Mute Jacqui Russell
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:00 PM

    @Rachel O’ Meara: I use glass bottles now – a few of the brands have started selling glass. They seem to bounce pretty well so far! I’m a little sad that it’s much harder for him to hold it himself, but he’ll get there.

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    Mute Rachel O' Meara
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:03 PM

    @Jacqui Russell: Didnt know that, tbh it’s been a few years since I’ve dealt with all that. Are they pyrex do you know? Great news if they can make it work.

    19
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    Mute Martin Byrne
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:40 PM

    @Rachel O’ Meara: I don’t remember the glass bottles chipping. Plastic will be seen soon as the disaster that it is. We might be comfortable with it, but it’s disgusting. We need to move away from it.

    36
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    Mute Caroline Moran
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:54 PM

    Breastfeeding is always best, if it’s an option for the mother.

    169
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    Mute Ned Gerblansky
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:43 PM

    If that’s the case, Katie Price’s children must be consuming it by the pound.

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    Mute CAMILA REMONA
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:38 PM

    @Ned Gerblansky: classic

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    Mute Betty Davis
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:43 PM

    My favourite part of the story is where the alarming news shouldn’t thought of as alarming.
    It’s almost like the formula companies need to make formula at any cost

    53
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    Mute Anú Ni Shúilleabháin
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    Oct 19th 2020, 9:09 PM

    @Betty Davis: ya it’s our main dairy export…. 15% of the dairy industry.
    Actually when I think of it, no one mentions production of formula as a contributor to environmental damage.

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    Mute Dermy
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:50 PM

    Didn’t do me no harm

    30
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    Mute EillieEs
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:20 PM

    @Dermy: two negatives make a positive so what harm has it caused you?

    45
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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:50 PM

    You know they reckon that every human being has the chemicals from non stick pans in their body including isolated tribes because it has spread everywhere.

    32
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    Mute Sam Harms
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:54 PM

    @Craic_a_tower: I didn’t know about this until I watched Dark Waters!

    20
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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 19th 2020, 7:04 PM

    @Sam Harms: Sounds interesting, must give it a watch.

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    Mute Peter 'Nocky' Naughnane
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    Oct 19th 2020, 8:10 PM

    @Sam Harms: that movie is truly an eye opener. Ruffalo is brilliant in it.

    4
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    Mute Sinead Merrigan
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:20 PM

    What goes in will come out the other end as its not digestable. A non article

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 19th 2020, 7:03 PM

    @Sinead Merrigan: What is your evidence for this claim? Asbestos isn’t digestable, but it doesn’t come out the other end it either when ingested it causes peritoneal mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the peritoneum [lining of the abdominal cavity]). I am in no way saying that microplastics cause harm on the level of asbestos, I am just showing that just because something is indigestable doesn’t mean it comes out the other end.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 19th 2020, 7:06 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: *cancer of the peritoneum

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    Mute Irene Mc Hugh
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    Oct 19th 2020, 8:29 PM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: Asbestos is inhaled into the lungs ……not into the stomach .

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 19th 2020, 9:03 PM

    @Irene Mc Hugh: Asbestos can both be inhaled and ingested. When inhaled it causes mesolithomas to form in the lungs. It is much more common for it to be inhaled than ingested but when ingested it causes them to form in the peritoneum. Mesolithomas from asbestos have also been recorded forming in the heart and testes.

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    Mute Martin Byrne
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    Oct 20th 2020, 9:21 AM

    @Sinead Merrigan: That’s the hope, but there is concern that microplastics are staying in the body. They might be no harm at all. But let’s find out.

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    Mute Watchful Axe
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:50 PM

    Back to the sheep’s bladders.

    6
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    Mute sully
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:42 PM

    When i see people using boiling water in the babies bottle my heart skips a beat

    6
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    Mute Rachel O' Meara
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:58 PM

    @sully: Why? Boiling water is sterile and fully dissolves the powdered formula, otherwise it’s gritty and clogs up the nipple, it also helps eradicate any bacteria that may be in the formula. Trick is to cool it down by either leaving it out over time or the better choice is a rapid cool down by standing the bottle in icy water.

    46
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    Mute Lisa Quinn
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:59 PM

    @sully: why? It’s how u make formula. Babies dont drink it boiling it’s ok.

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    Mute Jacqui Russell
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:02 PM

    @sully: that sounds serious. Might ring your GP about that.

    22
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    Mute Sam Harms
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:45 PM

    @Lisa Quinn: heat can potentially cause chemicals to be released form plastics faster than they normally would.

    16
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    Mute Lisa Quinn
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    Oct 19th 2020, 6:55 PM

    @Sam Harms: it’s not instantly boiled u allow it to cool for no more than 3o mins

    11
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    Mute Maurice Dodd
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    Oct 19th 2020, 10:25 PM

    Babies are ingesting flouride , now that’s a worry

    4
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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Oct 20th 2020, 11:27 AM

    @Maurice Dodd: I hear they even ingest chlorine and sodium these days, absolutely toxic chemicals, luckily when combined they’re just table salt just how when fluoride interacts with other atoms they create harmless molecules.

    2
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    Mute Caroline Otoole
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    Oct 19th 2020, 11:41 PM

    In 1992 glass was reccommended, but with plastic lids and I presume a rubber teat.
    I think the bottles given out in the hospital in 2010 were glass too, but I didn’t see it close up.

    3
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    Mute Mollybán
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    Oct 20th 2020, 12:28 PM

    All my kids drank from plastic bottles…..all thriving in their 30′s and 40′s now. Unfortunately breast-feeding wasn’t promoted much in the 1970′s and 80′s when I had my children, it tended to be impractical because maternity leave was so short. You were back to work when the baby was ony 6/7 weeks old, and the routine of bottle-feeding was easier to establish.

    1
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    Mute David Faulkner
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    Oct 20th 2020, 12:55 PM

    The journal should have the same colour scheme as the sun and mirror. Scary headlines get the clicks.

    1
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