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FRIDAYS ARE USUALLY quiet around Leinster House, but not yesterday.
The media gathered outside on Kildare Street from early morning to catch an independent or minister for a quick soundbite (anything really, the lack of news in Leinster House the last few weeks has brought journalists to the brink).
Meanwhile, busy workmen toiled tirelessly to construct a makeshift podium for photographers. There were smiles on the politicians faces as they filed in one by one.
After 70 days of lengthy discussions back and forth between all parties, it was finally all coming to an end.
“It reminds me of the first day of school,” exclaimed one TD.
He was correct, with the sun shining down on the plinth, there was a real buzz around the place that something was FINALLY happening.
However, from early in the morning, the soundings were that all was not going to go off without a hitch.
Late in the day on Thursday, the Dáil was told it was to return at noon the next day for a vote for an Taoiseach (fourth time lucky, Fine Gael was hoping).
https://vine.co/v/iQaUz7EJBwn
However, this ultimatum deadline did not go down well with independents, who had only just received the draft programme for government.
Waterford Independent John Halligan told TheJournal.ie that it was “outrageous” that some members of the media got the documents before they did.
He wasn’t the only one. Feedback from the independents was that this was just another example of Fine Gael’s “arrogance” and apparent amnesia that they needed to keep these guys on side.
The mood yesterday morning was that this move had soured the situation, with one deputy saying it was a real snub, while another said there were some aggressive words exchanged over the matter.
But could something like that actually throw a spanner in the works? No one really thought so, but then noon arrived, and there was no sight of the independents in the chamber.
Heads strained to get a glance of them and Enda did not look pleased. The AAA’s Ruth Coppinger went as far as saying he looked like the most unhappy incoming Taoiseach she had ever seen.
Panic set in along the halls of Leinster House.
What was going on? Were the independents in or out? If they are out, are we going back to the people?
As time ticked by, more deputies volunteered to speak. An Irish filibuster, if you will – anything to delay and buy some time as the independents and Fine Gael continued talks behind the scenes in Government Buildings.
The rumour mill was flying with one FG TD saying after, “I really thought that was it for a minute – get the posters out again.”
But then with one camera span of the house, the independents appeared. But what way would they go? The atmosphere in the halls calmed.
“It’s okay, we’ve been told there is a vote at 2pm, it’s grand,” was one deputy’s response as the tension lifted, and relief washed over Kenny’s face.
In the end, he made it across the line with 59 votes to 49.
Five of the Independent Alliance supported Kenny, with Michael Fitzmaurice falling by the wayside over turf. Three of the Rural Five backed him, as well as Michael Lowry and Katherine Zappone. The latter rewarded with a senior ministry. The former didn’t get the same gift.
Politicians and well-wishers lined up outside the entrance of Leinster House, awaiting the newly-elected Taoiseach. As the revolving door spun, Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams appeared with a wry smile on his face. He walked out, taking the opportunity to stroll down past the crowd, soaking in what it might be like to be leader of the Republic.
https://vine.co/v/iQ71VHhQMuq
After thanking the Dáil and making a commitment to the Irish people that he would work hard to solve society’s problems, Kenny was led outside to the cheering crowd.
Tourists and a flock of school children at the Natural Museum and the National Library had their cameras out to catch a glimpse of what was going on.
Hugging, kissing and joking with onlookers, the Taoiseach made his way to his cortège and was whisked off to Phoenix Park.
It was a bizarre and unique day. A Dáil balancing on a knife’s edge, with Labour’s Alan Kelly calling it both “shambolic” and “embarrassing”.
But despite all this, we are waking up this morning with a government in place.
While you may feel a little relieved, there are questions to be answered about how stable – the buzzword of the general election campaign – the minority actually is. One thing seems quite certain, the government that took 70 days to establish, most likely won’t be around for all that long.
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Great pilot to land plane a hero. Great job
@Thomas Linehan: She’s an ex F18 fighter pilot – one of the first female F18 pilots. Heard some of the radio communications of the flight. She sounded completely cool and in control. After the flight she spoke personally to every passenger before they left the aircraft. A wonderful pilot.
@Deborah Blacoe: Well said! Hopefully it will shut up some of those ‘ Woman can’t fly a plane/drive a car’ idiots.
@Michael Evans: They still exist?!
@Deborah Blacoe: fantastic , but again as I commented yesterday there was a time where if there was a catastrophic engine failure of this kind that they would immediately ground the planes with these engines as its too much risk allowing passengers to fly when they dont know the cause and level of risk but it looks like they are putting the dollars before the safety !!!! They were so lucky the whole plane didn’t go down killing all on board – the business model for Southwest ( and Ryanair followed ) is that they use the same type plane for fleet and same engines – this means that the business effect of having to ground the whole airline is simply too big and costly and they are taking risks keeping these up in the air until they identify with some certainty they are safe. Remember they tested these engines a week before the crash and they passed the tests yet exploded mid air killing one and lucky to avoid a whole castrophe – pretty shameful to take such risks until its resolved – id be pretty piiiiised if I lost a family relative because the airline is taking these risks with faulty engines .
@Dave Hammond: checking engines can be done on a stepped basis. They airline is given a set amount of flying hours within which to check engines. If the check hasn’t been completed by then, the aircraft is grounded.
@Deborah Blacoe: the point Deborah is that this engine had been checked days beforehand and passed as safe ????? They don’t know what caused the engine to disintegrate midair ?? You are also missing the other key point – with the evolvement of low cost airline business models – the airline uses ONE TYPE of engine / plane in the fleet to reduce business complexity for parts / maintenance etc – but when there is a catastrophe like this they are unable to ground the effected planes because it means the whole fleet cannot fly – (previously they always grounded a particular plane /engine type when there was an accident / deaths …..but not now. You are falling for the spin / nonsense that they can ‘ check them on a stepped basis ??? Now Think about that for a second ?? The test that was done on this engine days before PASSED !
@Dave Hammond: I am not missing any ‘point’. I am stating a fact. I have never commented on the rights or wrongs of it.
I think OMG’s reference is to the last picture in the article where three people are shown with the oxygen mask over their mouths, not noses and mouths as demonstrated in the safety briefings..
@Kevin O’Doherty: it depends on the size of the mask.
@Michael Lang: and what’s the excuse for having the elastic strap just dangling down rather than around their head?
@Colm O’Leary: putting it on quickly? Passenger partially panicking and just placing the mask against their mouth as getting the air was their highest priority?
You know what, who knows, and I doubt the various aviation safety ‘experts’ commenting on here know either.
I just about to say – None of them have the mask over their noses!
Spot the passengers who were reading the newspaper/chatting to their friends while the safety briefing was been conducted.
Never fails to amaze me how thick some people are.
@OMG!: I’ve been on a lot of planes in my time and I’m pretty sure there has never been any instruction on what to do if you get partially sucked out of a broken window. The lady in question was wearing her seat belt so I’m struggling to see the merit of your comment.
@OMG!: seriously that must be one of the dumbest comments ever on this site. Show some respect
@OMG!: frequent flyers don’t need to listen to such briefings.
@Bingobango: I could be wrong, but I think he’s talking about the fact the people in the photo don’t have their oxygen masks on correctly…
@Bingobango: be interesting to see if seatbelt was been worn at the time and if it would have changed the outcome if it was.
@Davy MacIomhair: The plane was most likely at a safe level of flight where oxygen masks are not required. The pilot descended as soon as cabin pressure was lost, that is the procedure. There doesn’t seem to be mass hysteria or panic here so I stand by my comment and feel the original posters comment was without merit in the context of this tragedy.
If you read more carefully it says that seatbelt was worn by the woman sitting next to the window.
@Ted Logan
@Bingobango: yet the oxygen masks still dropped from the ceiling…. So what do you expect people to do… Sit there and say.
“Hmmm.. I reckon we’re at a safe level of flight, I don’t need these masks…”
Good man.
@Davy MacIomhair: Of course they dropped, the cabin had a explosive decompression. There is only enough oxygen for 15 minutes so I’m pretty sure they were at a safe level of flight when this photo was taken. People harping on about not listening to the safety instructions and complaining that their oxygen masks aren’t fitted correctly are just being ridiculous. Good man.
@Bingobango: but their masks *arent* fitted correctly, and you’re assuming that photo was taken at a safe level of flight. Stop assuming stuff.
@Davy MacIomhair: Can we say a prayer for all those on the flight that lost their lives due to incorrectly fitted oxygen masks.
@OMG!: maybee they are frequent flyers .it amazes me how many people have to be told something before it sinks in .are you one of them.I know the drill off by heart.it never changes.
@Bingobango: I was reading it blew at 38000ft. I’d imagine that loosing a window at that altitude would result in pretty explosive decompression.
@Nauris Serna: Exactly. Hence why the poor woman got sucked out.
@Nauris Serna: It blew out at FL320 or 32000 feet, In the event of such an incident/accident you decent to FL100/10000 feet were the body can breath easily without using supplemental oxygen.
They do have a relatively young fleet but they would be concerned that the business model they use was a direct copy of Southwest – standardise the number of planes/engine types in the fleet etc – and they should be concerned that this engine passed the safety test days before this happened ?? I would suggest they would know that the business risk is huge on two levels – one is that the public react and question / doubt or lose confidence that low cost operators model isn’t compromising the safety of passengers with how far they can use these engines etc before a tragedy like this ? And secondly that they find something what caused the accident here is some fundamental flaw to the engines that may need global mandatory grounding because their exposure would be fairly significant.
What about our airline that flies B737s…Do they have this type of engine.
@tom McCormack If you mean Ryanair yes they also use the CFM engines.
@tom McCormack: that aircraft was nearly 20 years old afaik..ryanair has a relatively young fleet
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