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These Sinn Féin MPs were at Leinster House today to demand speaking time

Separately, Gerry Adams held talks with Theresa May. The British PM also spoke by phone with Leo Varadkar.

Updated 8pm

SINN FEIN’S NEWLY elected Westminster MPs were at Leinster House today demanding that they be given speaking rights in the Dáil.

Cavan-Monaghan TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the provision of speaking rights on the floor of the Dáil was recommended by an Oireachtas committee as far back as 2003.

However, despite extensive discussions with the Taoiseach of the day, Bertie Ahern, MPs were only given access to the Oireachtas Committee on the Good Friday Agreement.

“Sadly, he bottled out,” Ó Caoláin claimed – contending that a “watered down opportunity” was given.

He insisted that allowing MPs access in relevant debates on the floor of the Dáil “would be a critical first step”.

Access should not be restricted to Sinn Féin, but opened up to members of the DUP and other parties elected by constituencies in the North, he said.

Ó Caoláin called on the new Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and the newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, to revisit the 2003 recommendation and “open the doors of the Dail”.

Sinn Féin candidates stand in the Westminster elections but have never taken their seats in London as the party believes the parliament has no legitimate power over Northern Ireland.

The party secured seven seats in last week’s election. Representation of the SDLP in Westminster was wiped out.

There have been calls in the last few days for Sinn Féin to reverse its policy on abstentionism, in order to provide a voice for the nationalist community in the Westminster parliament.

However, leader Gerry Adams remarked at the weekend that voters were aware of his party’s stance before casting their ballots.

“Sinn Féin stand in British general elections on an abstentionist platform. This is not a new policy,” Adams said.

This position was once again resoundingly endorsed by the electorate on Thursday. The citizens of the North who voted for Sinn Féin had a choice of candidates. They supported Sinn Féin. By so doing they turned their backs on Westminster entirely.

Deal with the DUP 

In London meanwhile, Theresa May’s Conservatives appear to have reached a “broad agreement” with the DUP to prop up her minority government.

A Conservative source told AFP earlier that talks with the DUP were progressing well. The Tories and the DUP are committed to strengthening British unity, delivering Brexit, combating terrorism and delivering prosperity but “at the moment there isn’t a deal,” the source said.

A Sinn Féin delegation also attended talks at Downing Street.

Speaking to reporters, Gerry Adams said the party would not stand for any Conservative-DUP arrangement which compromised British government impartiality in the North.

“A little side bargain to keep Theresa May in power… won’t have any integrity and certainly isn’t as important as the needs of people” in Northern Ireland, said Adams.

The prime minister has totally ignored the will of those people in terms of Brexit.

Adams said he also told May she was in breach of the Good Friday Agreement.

It was confirmed today that Queen Elizabeth will formally open parliament and announce the British government’s legislative programme on Wednesday of next week – two days later than planned, after Prime Minister May’s election setback.

New Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke by phone to Theresa May earlier today, following his election to the office yesterday.

According to a readout of the call provided by the Government Press Office:

The Taoiseach extended the Government’s sympathies to Prime Minister May on the tragic fire in London. They reiterated the shared objectives of avoiding a hard border, maintaining the common travel area and supporting the Good Friday Agreement.
They also discussed the ongoing political discussions in London and in Belfast, agreeing on the need to have the Northern Ireland Executive up and running as quickly as possible, and they discussed Brexit.
They noted they would each be meeting with the Northern Ireland parties over coming days and agreed that the Taoiseach would meet with the Prime Minister in the very near future to continue their discussions.

Enda Kenny resignation PA Wire / PA Images PA Wire / PA Images / PA Images

Varadkar also spoke by phone to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Brexit was discussed on both calls, according to the Government’s summary.

Additional reporting AFP and Daragh Brophy

Poll: Should Sinn Féin MPs from the North be allowed to speak in the Dáil?>

Read: SDLP to meet with election office over claims votes were ‘stolen’ in constituency it lost to Sinn Féin>

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245 Comments
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    Mute John Long
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    Mar 14th 2023, 3:50 PM

    Stomach churning stuff!

    142
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    Mute Fi Wyse
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    Mar 14th 2023, 4:45 PM

    This just goes to show you the lengths that people will go to too to lose weight when they are desperate.
    Get Wegovy on the market now! Get people having conversations with their doctors and start taking a product in a controlled manner.
    Cap the price of each pen to €100 and make it easily accessible for everybody!

    78
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    Mute Don't Forget
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    Mar 14th 2023, 7:38 PM

    @Fi Wyse: Exercise is free and not eating dirt is a money saver.

    116
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    Mute Fi Wyse
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    Mar 14th 2023, 9:20 PM

    @Don’t Forget: well straight away you have no idea how obesity works with an ill informed comment like that. Unfortunately eating less and moving more, while it does work for a very large portion of the population does not work for everybody because we don’t all share the same metabolic rates and DNA makeup. If you want to talk about this offline and in an adult manner drop me a message on Facebook and we’ll discuss it and I’ll go through the facts with you based on my own case history.

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    Mute Tina Kelly
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    Mar 14th 2023, 11:20 PM

    @Fi Wyse: Hashimotos sufferer here, well aware of how the “eat less, move more” mantra that people like Don’t Forget spout is wrong and overgeneralizing

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    Mute Fi Wyse
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    Mar 15th 2023, 5:58 AM

    @Tina Kelly: It’s kinda funny really, the narrative is changing now, the medics know they got it wrong. Weight Watchers the largest slimming group in the world has acquired Sequence in America a telemedical company in the US to prescribe GLP1 meds to people.
    That tells you everything that you need to know. We are on the right path to helping people suffering with food issues all their life. Telling a larger person to just stop eating, ignore cravings and exercise is like telling a depressed person to exercise and be happy or a drug addict to just stop injecting heroin with no meds or therapy to help them. Their bias is sickening and its time to call people out on this.

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    Mute Fi Wyse
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    Mar 15th 2023, 6:05 AM

    @Tina Kelly: of course you can be guaranteed that Don’t Forget will never contact me to educate himself and will continue to spout incorrect waffle!

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    Mute Tina Kelly
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    Mar 15th 2023, 8:34 AM

    @Fi Wyse: was prescribed ozempic last September in hospital when my hashimotos was diagnosed after years of hypothyroidism, by Christmas my thyroid blood tests were showing signs of returning to normal levels. They are life-changing drugs and not just for their weight loss side effect.

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    Mute Fi Wyse
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    Mar 15th 2023, 8:39 AM

    @Tina Kelly: I’m on it myself the last 6 months, two stone down, no joint pain, able to really enjoy my weightlifting now and all my other exercise pain free, so much more enjoyable than what it was before, because ya know I was still doing that ‘free’ exercise but not getting to where I needed to be (insert rolley eyes here)

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    Mute Gearóid MacEachaidh
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    Mar 14th 2023, 4:13 PM

    Botox in your stomach!?!?

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    Mute Paul Whitehead
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    Mar 14th 2023, 5:44 PM

    @Gearóid MacEachaidh: Far better than in the liathróidí.

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    Mute Fuji Hakayito
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    Mar 14th 2023, 8:23 PM

    They should have walked to Turkey.

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    Mute et
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    Mar 15th 2023, 5:56 AM

    Desperation leads to desperate measures, many more cases like this need to be highlighted more often, people going for dental treatment also, in many cases are over treated by giving multiple Crowns, Veneers, Implants etc where they are not needed, it can very often take a couple of months before realising the level of damage that has been done to the mouth.

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