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Taoiseach Enda Kenny using his phone in a suitable outdoor setting away from Dáil microphones. Graham Hughes/Photocall Ireland

TDs and Senators instructed to stop using their phones in the Oireachtas

Mobile phones can cause interference on microphones used in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

TDS AND SENATORS have been asked to not use their mobile phones in the Oireachtas as interference from the devices has repeatedly disrupted proceedings.

The issue has also been earmarked for discussion by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.

In an email seen by TheJournal.ie, Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett instructed members of the Oireachtas to turn off their phones or put them in flight mode when entering the House.

He said that this is the only way of “insuring [sic] that your contribution in the chamber is both heard and is usable [by the media]“.

The warning is heard frequently in the Dáil and Seanad chambers when a mobile phone interferes with the speaker’s microphone. The issue of mobile signals interfering with live feeds from the Oireachtas is often noted at the start of Committee meetings, where those in attendance are instructed to turn their phones off.

Such interference can render the recordings useless for radio and television broadcasts as the speaker is unintelligible.

While their UK counterparts were given permission two years ago to tweet from the House of Commons, Irish TD and Senators are theoretically banned from using phones in the Chambers under their Code of Conduct.

A mobile phone’s radio transmitters can interfere with some microphones leading to the distinctive pulsing buzzing noise.

TDs and Senators are often spotted using their phones while Chambers are in session.

However, according to a tweet by Senator Jillian van Turnhout, this will only affect the microphone if the phone is placed right beside it.

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25 Comments
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    Mute Clurichaun
    Favourite Clurichaun
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    Jan 31st 2021, 10:02 AM

    London and Paris are just as complicit keeping Putin in power. They should freeze these billionaire oligarchs bank accounts and deport them and their faimilies back to Russia. English football needs to get their money from less dubious sources, or every football fan has a hand in keeping navalny in prison

    215
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    Mute Tom Ripley
    Favourite Tom Ripley
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    Jan 31st 2021, 11:30 AM

    @Clurichaun: absolutely…… But its Convenient to look the other way. The Russians have used nuclear weapon and biological weapon in the UK. But with brexit they will want Russian money. So the decent Russians are on their own.

    54
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    Mute Joe Thorpe
    Favourite Joe Thorpe
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    Jan 31st 2021, 1:47 PM

    @Clurichaun: Did you see the beating the French police were giving protesters yesterday? People on the ground were being birched with big sticks, it’s difficult to be critical when police in Paris & Catalonia are doing exactly the same.

    62
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    Mute ChuckE
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    Jan 31st 2021, 3:09 PM

    @Joe Thorpe: hardly the same thing. The people of Russia want freedom from generations of corruption and political assassinations. The geniuses in France won’t follow basic public health advice while thousands die in hospitals

    42
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    Mute Tom Ripley
    Favourite Tom Ripley
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    Jan 31st 2021, 3:10 PM

    @Joe Thorpe: Well that’s yellow vest nut jobs. We have then here too G.O.D I’d buy the French police a beer if what you said is true.

    20
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    Mute Crispy Brown
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    Jan 31st 2021, 1:58 PM

    If this happened in the USA the condemnation and screams would be heard from across the Atlantic. I always find it amazing how the Russians and Chinese generally get a free pass from The Western Media. Very strange.

    81
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    Mute Hugo Bugo
    Favourite Hugo Bugo
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    Jan 31st 2021, 4:23 PM

    @Crispy Brown: nail on the head mate, why no putin hatred here in Ireland or condemnation, irish people are so manipulated in their thoughts by the mainstream media its hilarious, no putin bashers no?, most Irish people probably don’t even know who he is, just thousands of people on here for months saying how much better off the world is now without Donald trump, yer a joke,

    31
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    Mute Anthony Doyle
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    Feb 1st 2021, 3:03 AM

    @Crispy Brown: day do not speakit de English

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    Mute Anthony Doyle
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    Feb 1st 2021, 3:05 AM

    @Hugo Bugo: got one thing right BETTER OFF WITHOUT THE TWITTERING TWIT

    3
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    Mute Rory J Leonard
    Favourite Rory J Leonard
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    Jan 31st 2021, 11:29 AM

    One cold-war era trained Heavy, and his favourite acquired sidemen, will be incapable of halting the march of a nation towards true democracy and freedom.

    And Navalny is the Leader to see this through, given his past independence from outdated and corrupt Sovereign Governance machine ruling that eleven time-zoned Country for over three decades.

    English Electorate, please observe closely and learn for fear of slippage into similar undemocratic ways by your political masters.

    47
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    Mute alan
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    Jan 31st 2021, 3:45 PM

    @Rory J Leonard: maybe you should check Navalny’s track record before you start putting any hopes in him. Another ‘pro democracy’ merchant with questionable values to say the least. I am not a supporter of Putin either

    20
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    Mute Tom Ripley
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    Jan 31st 2021, 9:19 PM

    @alan: track record? Post. But not from Pro kremlin government controlled media

    3
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    Mute Michael Maher
    Favourite Michael Maher
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    Jan 31st 2021, 1:59 PM

    Like him or hate him Russia needs a strong leader like Putin. If Russia was to fall into the hands of anarchists there be dire consequences for the rest of the world.

    49
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    Mute Eugene Norman
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    Jan 31st 2021, 3:41 PM

    @Michael Maher: or into US stooges like Yeltsin. A man who brought the country to its knees.

    23
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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Jan 31st 2021, 6:28 PM

    @Eugene Norman: Correct the man was a drunk.

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    Mute Gerard Smith
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    Feb 1st 2021, 12:35 AM

    @Eugene Norman: The blame for Putin lies squarely on US shoulders and the West in general. They put Yeltsin in power and enabled oligarchs by privatising public companies so they could do easier business deals. They went back on their promise to Gorbachev not to bring any more countries into Nato in return for a peaceful German reunification. Gorbachev knew exactly how Nato expansion into satellite countries would be used to fuel paranoia in Russia and leverage political opportunities.They even helped write the Russian constitution to suit their own ends. They have destroyed Ukraine through interfering in its economic and political affairs and afforded Putin the opportunity to annex Crimea without breaking sweat. The West has no moral high ground when it comes to Putin. They are reaping what they sowed.

    4
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    Mute Anthony Doyle
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    Feb 1st 2021, 3:08 AM

    @Michael Maher: It has fallen into the hands of a KGB agent (Putin) and a want to be dictator (Trump)

    1
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    Mute SilexFlint
    Favourite SilexFlint
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    Jan 31st 2021, 1:02 PM

    Apparently no one believed them when they said a Russian oligarch owned the palace with a no fly zone and 2km avoidance zone on the black sea.

    26
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    Mute Tom Farrell
    Favourite Tom Farrell
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    Jan 31st 2021, 4:37 PM

    Before you jump to conclusions make sure you look into navalny, a far right nationalist should not be supported blindly because you have been told putin is bad doesn’t mean anti-putin is better

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    Mute Christy Mc Carthy
    Favourite Christy Mc Carthy
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    Jan 31st 2021, 10:38 PM

    Bring back the red flag

    3
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