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IRELAND’S NATIONAL TRUST An Taisce has lodged a second complaint over the Seanad’s temporary relocation to the National Museum.
The trust said it was prompted to make the complaint to the Dublin planning department after the digging of a foundation-pit for a lift that is to be attached to the outside of the protected building.
The temporary relocation of the Seanad to the museum is expected to cost in the region of €1.5 million.
Vagrant senators
In the middle of October, An Taisce lodged a complaint about the development citing the building’s protected status.
An Taisce said planned changes to certain rooms will result in the loss of amenities such as a Viking-themed audio-visual display. The museum said it has “no spare space for the temporary convenience of vagrant Senators”.
Public Works Junior Minister Séan Canney’s department, responding to a question by TD Tommy Broughan, said the department “has no function in the determination or management of the accommodation requirements of the Houses of the Oireachtas or of the National Museum of Ireland.”
Dr Mark Clinton, of An Taisce’s Monuments & Antiquities Committee, said: “Deputy Broughan has observed that there are ready-made alternatives available to the Senate within the grounds of the Oireachtas; for example, the LH2000 chamber or indeed the large Committee Room in Kildare House”.
“Why should an accommodation issue in Leinster House become a problem for the National Museum? What have the Senators got to say for themselves? Their silence is deafening.”
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Hopefully were at the start of the road to reconciliation, equality, peace and a united ireland
@Mel Finn: we’ll hold our breath.
Not sure how its a political shift to sinn fein, more a defragmentation of unionist politics. Sinn Fein didn’t win any more sears did they? and they still need to work with the DUP, although the DUP wont like playing second fiddle to Sinn Fein i doubt stormont will have an assembly and another election will be called which could gey messy for both because if they both appear to be inhibiting the formation of the assemble, the Alliance party will be waiting to pick up the pieces
@Garreth mc mahon: where are you getting the false perception that SF are blocking the formation of an assembly???
@M Bowe: read it again, I never said Sinn Fein, I blamed the DUP on potential failure
@Garreth mc mahon:
It will be The DUP and The TUV and for obvious reasons certainly not SF who will block the formation of The NI Assembly.
@M Bowe: typical shinner.
@Garreth mc mahon: “ although the DUP won’t like playing second fiddle to Sinn Fein I doubt Stormont will have an assembly and another election will be called which could get messy for BOTH if THEY BOTH appear to be inhibiting the formation of the assembly”.
On re reading the above which is a direct quote you are implying BOTH are at fault on this issue.
@Dave Connolly: if being a typical shinner is the ability to read and comprehend what is written, then THANK YOU.
@Garreth mc mahon: I have read it and you referred to both
@Garreth mc mahon: you can’t agree that SF ran a good campaign and for the first time have gained First Minister…. but try to muddy thereafter by implying SF are blocking the assembly, when the dogs in the street know that’s the DUPs position…. ? Division politics is alive and well in your bloodstream Garreth.
@Patricia O’Brien: they haven’t gained first minister .. yet.
@Garreth mc mahon: I concur. SF had 28 and 29 seats before and managed 27 in the last two elections. A 0.9% growth is not exactly earth shattering and still behind the combined UUP and DUP vote and even if combined with SDLP votes it is still 20,000 votes less than the unionists. The growth of the Alliance party holds more hope for a better future to Northern Ireland politics over the divisive pro and anti Union politics.
@Patricia O’Brien: I have noticed recently that the anti SF brigade have switched to subliminal “ they as bad as each other” mantra. So when unionism refuses to accept SF electoral democratic mandate they attempt to link SF to that in democratic behaviour. That suits their narrative in refusing to engage with SF across this island.
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: yes. And the article should discriminate between the two successes. One is based on nationalist populist politics the other isn’t. Where the former leads we already know, where the other does we don’t know yet. For me, the shift towards the alliance represents a genuine shift. The rest is just more of the same, polarising opinion, exploiting past their sell by date narratives.
@alan: Sinn Fein has signed up to the GFA, which was endorsed by an overwhelming majority on this island. They clearly stated their aims and ambitions for reunification by purely democratic means. How is this legitimate and widely held outlook on this island either extreme or polarising???
Leo and Micheàl will be very nervous now :)
@Patricia O’Brien: Sinn Fein have only the same No of seats they did not improve their Numbers
@Patricia O’Brien: why? The party that actually made the gains from the Unionist and SDLP losses were the alliance party….not SF!
@Joe_X: lol….
@Sheila McNulty: SF are first minister… for the first time in history… but thats not a big deal to u… keep the ole blinkers on there, u won’t see SF coming up on the rails …
@Joe_X: Very true, this is more a weakening of the DUP than anything else. That it’s gone from DUP to alliance seems more like a shift away.from the extremes and divisiveness and towards unity which really is more important than unification, it must come first for unification to work.
@Sheila McNulty: surly you will agree that now S.F. are the largest political party in the six counties. You may possibly remember a time when FFG/ successive British governments stated if Sinn Fein entered the Democratic route they would be welcomed into the ( Fold). Well the electorate have spoken, but is it now the FFG / Unionist or British governments version of Democracy that counts. Bit contradictory don’t you think.
@Patricia O’Brien: I hope Leo and Micheàl are at a point of copping themselves on and looking to the bigger picture. Both of them can and should have a role in the future of the island and I hope they realise that. The strategy of othering SF into oblivion has clearly failed and they should probably readjust rather than sink with that ship.
SF have now got what they set out to achieve. Now the executive needs to attend to the needs of the people of NI. Hopefully, that will happen after some tinkering with the protocol.
There remains a “Unionist” majority in these results so a border poll is not an immediate concern. For those in favour of a United Ireland a lot of hard work is needed to eventually convince a majority in NI of its merits.
@camio55: SF have NOT called for a border poll, they have called for the debates/ conversation about what such a poll will contain. What all the people of this island would like a reunified country to achieve for them. FFG and unionism cannot block those conversations at government level any longer.
@M Bowe: The first step in the process of moving forward on a United Ireland is to respect the terms of the GFA. That explicitly states that majority in NI must be in favour. To achieve this a lot of work needs to be put into persuading “Unionists” and others of its merits. It is not a foregone conclusion that this will just happen, it requires thoughtful consideration of all issues both political and economic. The people of the South then need to vote on the matter taking into account the full ramifications of a unified country(again both economic and poliical factors need to be assessed).
@M Bowe: It would probably require a referendum down here, and quiet frankly, while it is a nice notion to have a United Ireland, when people down here look at the finances of it, I could not see it passing.
I don’t know if NI needs some kind of Referendum or not, but if they do need to vote on it, once they look at what they have on this side of the border, and compare it to UK finance wise, it might paint a different picture.
At the end of the day, it will be like all things, economically and financially driven, not by nice notions of a United Ireland
@camio55: yet FFG who are supposed to be co signatories of the GFA have continuously blocked any debate at government level around the issues that you raise. 24 years has seen enough of their stymying those discussions.
@Joe_X: all your own opinions, which unfortunately for you does not over ride the referendum result on GFA. Sonlets get on with removing the unproven and sometimes outright scare mongering over reunification. Who is running scared of these conversations. SF and their supporters know the change they wish to see across this island for betterment for ALL the citizens on it. They are not hiding from or scared of these conversations at all levels of society and government.
Just on a point of order as they say . The headline says Sinn Rein’s success , what success ???, They have 27 Seats,– exactly as they had previous to the Election , and they increased first Preferences significantly,– no success there is there . They are the dominant Party because DUP actually lost 3 Seats .
The Real winners is the Alliance Party, just a pity that they didn’t get some more .
@Eugene Comaskey: correct
Definitely not, Sinn Féin need to culture this swing of voter change.
It is a massive vote change an a signal.to all parties north and south who piss off the Voters Look at the Republic election next time and look at the vote swing.
Sinn Féin won’t make the mistake of not enough candidates
have your say