Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 20 Feb 2020
ALMOST TWO WEEKS after the country went to the polls, the 33rd Dáil sat for the first time today.
TD’s voted to elect a Taoiseach and, as expected, Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, Mary Lou McDonald and Eamon Ryan were all rejected by the house.
The Fine Gael leader will travel to Áras an Uachtaráin to tender his resignation but will remain in place, along with the current cabinet, until a new Taoiseach is elected.
McDonald racked up the most votes as several independent and Solidarity-People Before Profit TDs backed the Sinn Féin leader.
Seán Ó Fearghaíl was re-elected as Ceann Comhairle.
Here’s some other pieces to get you up to speed:
So here we are.
The only thing that’ll definitely happen today is the election of a new Ceann Comhairle.
It’s Fianna Fáil’s Seán Ó Feargháil – who has done the job since 2016 – against independent Denis Naughten.
If Ó Feargháil wins, it’ll mean Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil would now be level in terms of the number of seats it has in the Dáil.
Our political correspondent Christina Finn has more details on all of that for you here.
What else should we keep an eye out for today?
Well the Healy-Raes made quite the entrance on the first day the Dáil sat in 2016.
Gah. Commentators’ curse.
Michael Healy Rae, at least, has gone for the low key approach this time around, Newstalk Shane Beatty has reported.
Our reporter Rónán Duffy is also down outside Leinster House.
He’s been speaking to Sinn Féin’s new TD for Roscommon-Galway Claire Kerrane.
She said: “I’ve been in here for the past three years working but today is a different capacity. I’m looking forward to it… It’s a great day for everyone.”
Sinn Féin's new TD for Roscommon Galway @ClaireKerrane says it's a big day for her party #Dail33 pic.twitter.com/dTlZyHe3sb
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) February 20, 2020
Not a new TD but an experienced one, @MHealyRae says the big parties need to "knuckle down" pic.twitter.com/KrrmEfiySw
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) February 20, 2020
And Michael Healy Rae has been speaking to Rónán Duffy outside Leinster House.
“The real negotiations will start to take place after the election of the Ceann Comhairle,” he says.
“I hope over the coming days and weeks we start to see the emergence of a new government.”
New independent TD for Limerick County Richard O’Donoghue, however, has opted for a bit of panache.
Oh. Michael Healy Rae is now predicting some “mild celebration” from supporters when his brother Danny arrives.
Independent for Cork South West TD Michael Collins has also turned up and made an impromptu speech outside Leinster House.
Says that any politician who dares to turn their back on the people will have people turn on them also.
As Rónán Duffy reports, Limerick’s Richard O’Donoghue definitely has had the flashiest entrance so far.
TDs do love to make their mark on their first day in the Dáil.
Spare a thought for Mary Mitchell O’Connor today, who inadvertently drove over the Dáil plinth on her first day in Leinster House in 2011.
An astute observation on O’Donoghue’s choice of vehicle from Green Party councillor Una Power here.
There’s another new arrival across the city today.
And it’s a new baby rhino in Dublin Zoo.
Ain’t he lovely?
In more wholesome content, here’s new Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South West Christopher O’Sullivan on the way in with his mam.
Many of those who’ve arrived have brought lots of family and friends.
Here’s Richard O’Donoghue getting a lift after exiting the fancy car.
He says he wants to bring “common sense to government”.
Green Party TDs – and husband and wife – Catherine Martin and Francis Noel Duffy have arrived at Leinster House with their three children.
They say they’re going to have to strike a work-life balance.
Kildare Street is absolutely thronged with people now.
The Killorglin Pipe Band’s Seán Whelan is getting ready for the arrival of Danny Healy Rae, it seems.
And Sinn Féin has arrived to a massive media scrum.
Everybody give us the thumbs up on 3…2…1.
The slow march towards Leinster House for Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald and the rest of her TDs.
And here they all are now.
Columnist for TheJournal.ie Lise Hand is also on hand at Leinster House.
And she’s spotted an incredible banner from a Healy Rae supporter outside.
Mary Lou McDonald is speaking to reporters.
Unlikely to be elected Taoiseach today, she’s said that she’s expected at least 37 votes from her party colleagues for the top job.
Without abstentions, 80 votes would be needed to become Taoiseach.
Sinn Féin leader @MaryLouMcDonald says TDs today have a choice to make pic.twitter.com/15CjyRRFtC
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) February 20, 2020
More from Mary Lou. She criticises Fianna Fáil “in particular” for not speaking to Sinn Féin about forming a new government.
And here’s the video evidence to prove it.
And yet more.
They all seem to be having a great time.
There’s more.
He’d better get in the Dáil. It starts in just over 10 minutes.
We’re just a few minutes away now until it all gets under way.
Firstly, the Clerk of the Dáil will read the Proclamation summoning Dáil Éireann,
Then the announcements of the members elected.
We won’t have the Ceann Comhairle election until around 12.25.
And then there’s a long-day ahead. Potential Taoisigh are nominated from 3.15pm and that vote held this evening.
Our political correspondent Christina Finn has just informed me that a bird pooed on new Social Democrat TD Gary Gannon on his way in the door.
Good luck for him for the next Dáil term so!
The Dáil chamber is starting to fill up.
The Healy Raes are sitting in the same spot as they did in the last Dáil.
Micheál Martin is deep in conversation. Leo Varadkar hasn’t arrived yet.
The clerk of the Dáil has arrived, we’ve a full house and we’re under way.
He says a prayer as Gaeilge and then in English.
A lot of initial formalities to get through now in the next few minutes.
Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney just had a little joke about something, but I didn’t screenshot them laughing fast enough.
So he’s about to issue writs for election of members and the announcement of members returned.
It’s basically listing the people elected.
Here’s a live video of proceedings here.
They’re going alphabetically by constituency.
We’re on the Cs.
It could take a while.
Here’s some more of the photos from outside Leinster House prior to the start of proceedings today.
We’ve just passed Sligo-Leitrim.
Almost finished listing out the 160 names.
The next item of business is the selection of the Ceann Comhairle, via secret ballot.
It’s Seán Ó Feargháil vs Denis Naughten. As the incumbent Ceann Comhairle, Ó Feargháil may be best placed to retain the role.
They’re both allowed to have a say first.
Naughten first.
Naughten welcomes the new TDs in the Dáil and says older heads can “share their experience”.
“I understand every perspective in this house because I have lived it,” he says.
“I’ve been more than happy over the years to provide advice and assistance to new members, regardless of views.”
He says he’s putting his name forward because of the frustration over accountability he found on the doorsteps during the campaign.
“Getting straight answers to straight questions is getting more difficult in Dáil Éireann.”
Naughten says civil servants must be accountable to Dáil Éireann.
He says that in the case of the HSE, the only method of accountability is the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health or parliamentary questions that can take weeks.
“Sometimes the very last person to know is the TD whose constituents are directly affected,” he says.
Naughten says that GDPR is being used to avoid answering legitimate questions of TDs.
“It would be an honour to be Ceann Comhairle,” he says, saying it’d be a greater honour to allow TDs to seek answers and provide greater accountability.
Here’s Seán Ó Feargháil now. He congratulates the new members of the Dáil, as well as Dáil clerk Peter Finnegan and his team.
Of Naughten, he says competition is an “essential part of the democratic process”.
Today he says he seeks a renewal of that mandate “hoping [his] work” over the last four years has shown his commitment to delivering essential reform.
Says the last Dáil was conducted in a more “collegiate” manner than ever before.
Ó Feargháil says he has helped build structures to help members in the drafting of legislation.
Other “absolutely critical” all-party committees on health, on housing and on the Travelling community has seen “us work well for common cause”, he says.
“We have engaged with the youth of this nation on the crucial issue of climate change,” he says.
“I seek your support this afternoon to continue that collegiate approach,” he says.
“We have challenges… I seek to build on the relationships made, the friendships formed,” Ó Feargháil.
“We’ve much important work left to undertake,” he closes, asking for members to vote for him as Ceann Comhairle.
Everyone claps.
The bells are going to ring for six minutes now. After another four minutes, the secret ballot will commence.
Thanks Sean! Cónal Thomas here folks taking over from my colleague for the next while.
Before the secret ballots commences, TDs take a minute to chat amongst themselves. There’s Tánaiste Simon Coveney speaking with outgoing Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin.
So what happens now?
Well, voting takes place using the PR-STV system, so TDs will mark candidates in order of preference. They will vote in the privacy of specially erected polling booths in the voting lobbies just off the Dáil chamber.
Once all members have cast their votes the ballot will conclude and the Dáil will be suspended so the votes can be counted.
The quota is 50% plus one. Theoretically, if all members vote correctly (no spoiled ballots) then the quota is 80. As soon as a candidate has reached this threshold, they are deemed elected.
Once elected, the successful candidate’s name will be announced at the count centre, near the Seanad chamber.
The Dáil resumes and the election of the new Ceann Comhairle is formally put to the house. If 30 members call for a division then a vote must take place, but if there are fewer than this then the candidate is formally elected.
No other Dáil business may be conducted until a Ceann Comhairle is elected.
Still plenty of milling about going on in the Dáil chamber. The voting is about to get underway.
The doors are about to be closed.
Before the voting begins, the Dáil clerk asks for confirmation that the ballot boxes are empty. There’s the Captain of the Guard checking now.
And…they’re empty.
TDs will now be issued with a ballot paper each and they’ll then proceed to the voting booths, eight of which are dotted around the chamber.
Once they’re finished casting their votes, TDs must return to their seats.
And off they go.
Who will be the next Ceann Comhairle?
TDs form an orderly queue.
As voting continues, here’s a look back to Danny Healy-Rae and Co. entertaining the troops outside Leinster House earlier today.
As TDs continue to cast their ballots, can you name the first ever Ceann Comhairle?
That’s right, it was revolutionary leader Cathal Brugha, who served for only one day, presiding over the house’s symbolic first meeting, before leaving the post to become President of Dáil Eireann.
“How many votes did they put in this thing?!”
So, the Dáil won’t be back until 3.10pm when we’ll know the result of the ballot to elect a Ceann Comhairle.
The first business for the Ceann Comhairle is to seek nominations for the position of Taoiseach later today.
The Ceann Comhairle will usually ask a member of the largest party in the House to nominate their party leader for the position of Taoiseach.
There’s Dáil Clerk Peter Finnegan with his staff now, readying for the counting of votes.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell has put those rumours to rest.
Dáil Clerk Peter Finnegan says it’s time to count the votes for Ceann Comhairle.
Down at Leinster House our Political Correspondent Christina Finn is hearing what Micheál has to say.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin sums up the people’s wishes – “They want action on housing, they want action on health and to alleviate the pressures people are under and they want to deal with the crisis of our generation, climate change.”
More from Micheál Martin on his position on talks with Sinn Féin and Fine Gael.
Back to the Oireachtas and Seán Ó Feargháil looks set to take up the mantle of Ceann Comhairle for another four years.
Ó Feargháil received 130 votes with Naughten receiving 28 votes.
The Ceann Comhairle is the chair of the Dáil and is expected to observe strict impartiality and keep order in the house.
Whoever is elected to the role is automatically re-elected to the next Dáil.
Ó Feargháil was Ceann Comhairle of the 32nd Dáil and was the first to be elected by secret ballot in 2016. Previously, the government of the day would simply choose who would take up the role.
He was the first Fianna Fáil Ceann Comhairle to be elected since Seámus Kirk who held the post in the 30th Dáil between 2009 and 2011.
My colleague Christina Finn, meanwhile, has been chatting to TDs ahead of today’s vote on choosing a Taoiseach.
Well now.
Down at Leinster House, TD Richard Boyd Barrett has said that Solidarity-People Before Profit will vote for Mary Lou McDonald for Taoiseach.
“Our view is that there was a political earthquake that happened in this election and that earthquake demanded that there was a break in the cycle of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael rule,” he said.
“We think the only way to give effect to that clear demand of people is to establish a left minority government and the only realistic way of doing that would involve supporting Mary Lou McDonald as Taoiseach and ruling out any deals with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael to form a government.
“On that basis we are going to vote for Mary Lou McDonald as Taoiseach, but we want to make it clear we are not giving her a blank cheque, we are doing this in order to give effect to the demand to break the cycle of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
“We hope she will take our support in order to rule out any possible deal with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.”
It’s all go down there today.
And we’re back.
Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ó Feargháil has been re-elected Ceann Comhairle and dons the robes for another term.
After taking the chair Ó Feargháil gave a brief history of the Ceann Comhairle robes. He told the house that they were once the subject of a Freedom of Information request which found that they were so old that nobody knew who much they cost and they had never been dry cleaned.
Party leaders are now congratulating Ó Feargháil on his reelection. The Green Party’s Eamon Ryan thanked him for being an excellent Ceann Comhairle, noting that he never kicked anyone out during his first term.
Ryan did offer a small bit of criticism, joking that Ó Feargháil has reduced the length of the minute of silence to about 11 seconds.
Leo Varadkar is the final person to congratulate Ó Feargháil. Introducing him, the Ceann Comhairle said: “A bit like the wedding feast of Cana, we now go to the Taoiseach”.
“I didn’t realise the Taoiseach was at the wedding feast of Cana,” Varadkar quipped in response.
Ó Feargháil thanked all the contributors for their kind words, saying he had to pinch himself at one point because he thought he was dead.
We’re now on to nominating people for Taoiseach and Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan, the oldest member of the house, has nominated Leo Varadkar to continue in the role.
“He has discharged that office in the past with distinction, with honour, with courage,” Durkan said.
Making her maiden address to the Dáil, Fianna Fáil’s Norma Foley said she is “proud beyond measure” to nominate Micheál Martin for Taoiseach.
“If you look fairly at his record you will see that he has already achieved far more positive change than his loudest critics could ever hope to match,” she said.
Martin’s nomination was seconded by the youngest member of the 33rd Dáil. 22-year-old James O’Connor, TD for Cork East.
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty has nominated Mary Lou McDonald for the position of Taoiseach, giving an impassioned speech as gaeilge.
“Nobody in this Dáil can lead this government for change other than Mary Lou McDonald,” he said.
Above all else she is an Irish republican and at this time that is what we need.
Claire Kerrane seconded McDonald’s nomination.
“As a republican woman there is no one I admire more than Mary Lou McDonald,” Kerrane said.
“We need change, we need something new, we need Mary Lou.”
The nominations continue with Dublin Fingal TD Joe O’Brien putting Green Party leader Eamon Ryan forward. “Eamon incapsulates a spirit that is essential for the 33rd Dáil if it is to succede,” O’Brien said.
Joan Collins of Independents 4 Change, Mick Barry of Solidarity–People Before Profit, Paul Murphy of RISE and independents Thomas Pringle and Catherine Connolly have told the chamber they will be backing Mary Lou McDonald for Taoiseach.
So the Sinn Féin leader looks set to secure the most votes later today.
The sitting is continuing with a range of politicians having their say on the election and the government formation talks.
Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae congratulated Sinn Féin on taking the initiative and trying to form a government.
Richard Boyd Barrett confirmed that People Before Profit will also back McDonald.
Róisín Shortall said the Social Democrats would not be backing any of the candidates because it would be “meaningless” to do so without a programme for government agreed upon.
Several more TDs are in line to speak before the Dáil votes on the four nominations for Taoiseach.
Danny Healy-Rae is currently paying tribute to his “army” of volunteers that helped him get reelected.
The story in the local papers was that Fianna Fáil smelled my blood. Well I still have all my blood… they were on the wrong scent.
Fianna Fáil’s John McGuinness said the Dáil should not adjourn for two weeks after today’s sitting. He also said that no party should be left out of the discussion about the future of the country.
Here’s more from our political correspondent Christina Finn in Leinster House:
Limerick independent Richard O’Donoghue has made a memorable maiden speech in Leinster House.
“How many of ye here have education of life? How many of ye have common sense? I do believe that an ounce of cop-on is better than a stone of brains,” he said.
O’Donoghue also demanded that the next government respects rural Ireland.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl has revealed that there are nine further speakers before voting can take place. He urged the remaining speakers to be mindful that the voting will take some time as well.
We’ll be here for a while yet.
Fianna Fáil’s Jennifer Murnane O’Connor has quoted CS Lewis saying: “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
Hopefully she was talking about this Dáil sitting.
Kerry TD Brendan Griffin has welcomed all the new deputies to the Dáil by noting that many eminent writers have been quoted in the chamber today.
“I’m going to quote Axel Rose,” he said. “Welcome to the jungle.”
The Fine Gael junior minister also hinted that the 33rd Dáil might be a short lived one. “We don’t know whether to put the posters in front of, or behind, the turf shed yet,” he said.
Griffin also referred to an earlier contribution from his fellow Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, who said that he had 162 volunteers out canvassing for him on one night during the election campaign. Griffin said he had 163 people out on the same evening.
A busy night in Kerry.
Independent TD for Galway West Noel Grealish says he “will not sit on the fence” this evening and will vote in favour of Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin for Taoiseach.
“People want us to get on with it and form a government,” the former Progressive Democrat said.
Independent Waterford TD Matt Shanahan said he will not be supporting any of the four candidates for Taoiseach as a mark of protest over restrictions on cardiac services in the south east.
Contributions from deputies are expected to wrap up soon after which we’ll have a four votes on Taoiseach candidates.
To catch up on all the antics as 48 new TDs entered the Dáil for the first time check out this piece from Rónán Duffy:
Fianna Fáil’s Mary Butler was the final speaker ahead of the votes. Varadkar is first up. If, as expected, he is not elected he will travel to Áras an Uachtaráin to tender his resignation.
The bells have been rung and the voting is underway.
The chamber is filling up and the result of the vote on Leo Varadkar for Taoiseach is expected shortly.
Fine Gael only has 35 TDs so he’s expected to fall far short of the required 80 votes.
Deputies are now filing through the lobbies. There’s quite a bit of a backlog in the Níl lobby so the vote on Varadkar for Taoiseach looks set to be comfortably defeated.
The result is:
Tá – 36
Níl – 107
The proposal on Varadkar for Taoiseach has been defeated.
TheJournal.ie‘s political correspondent Christina Finn reports that the Social Democrats abstained from the vote, as did independent TDs Cathal Berry and Pat Shanahan.
Galway East independent Sean Canney backed Varadkar, bringing his number up to 36.
Varadkar will travel to Áras an Uachtaráin to tender his resignation but will remain in place until a new Taoiseach is elected.
TD’s are now voting on Micheál Martin for Taoiseach. Again this vote looks set to be comfortably defeated.
Independent Noel Grealish earlier indicated that he would join the 37 Fianna Fáil TDs in backing Martin.
Sean Canney has backed another horse.
Result:
Tá – 41
Níl – 97
Abstentions – 19
Not near enough to see Martin elected. The house will now vote on McDonald.
Meanwhile, away from Taoiseach votes, a new technical parliamentary grouping has been established.
Nine TDs from across the country have agreed to come together to establish ‘The Regional Group’.
the group’s members are: Cathal Berry, Sean Canney, Peter Fitzpatrick, Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, Verona Murphy, Denis Naughten, Matt Shanahan and Peadar Toibin.
Convener Denis Naughten said:
This group will operate as a technical group in Dáil Eireann for speaking time and the scheduling of parliamentary business.
“The group was established following the decision by Dáil Eireann today to establish a business committee to progress the day-to-day operation of parliamentary business.”
The result of the vote on McDonald for Taoiseach is in:
Tá – 45
Níl – 84
Abstentions – 29
McDonald racked up more votes than her Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael counterparts, who got 41 and 36 respectively.
It still isn’t anywhere near enough to see her elected.
Scenes in Leinster House as we nearly had an accidental Taoiseach. Virgin Media’s Gavan Reilly has the news:
The result of the vote on Ryan for Taoiseach is in:
Tá – 12
Níl – 115
Abstentions – 28
No Taoiseach has been elected in the first sitting of the 33rd Dáil.
The four defeated nominees will now make contributions. Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked them to be mindful that we are running way over time.
Varadkar is speaking first. When this sitting finishes he will travel to Áras an Uachtaráin to tender his resignation.
Varadkar says he will travel to the White House for the annual St Patrick’s Day visit if no government has been formed by then.
However, he says it will be a shortened trip as the Taoiseach will have to travel back to Europe to attend an important EU Council meeting.
He paid tribute to the ministers who lost their seats in the election but said he knows they will continue to lead their departments with “good grace and competence”.
Micheál Martin dedicated a significant chunk of his remarks to criticising Sinn Féin, accusing the party of glorifying the IRA.
“I see we still live rent free in Micheál Martin’s very narrow and bitter mind,” McDonald said in an equally lengthty and excoriating response.
“I have significant concerns with a leader who sat around a cabinet table with people who were subsequently jailed for corruption,” she added.
So that’s it from the first day of the 33rd Dáil. It was a day that saw 48 new TDs attend Leinster House for the first time, but a new government still looks quite a distance away.
The house will reconvene in early March and the political horse trading will continue in public and behind the scenes.
Check out TheJournal.ie for all the important developments and thanks for following this evening.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
This woman’s opinion is the reality of what UKIP are really about and it’s just beneath the surface..
What you just said is bull. The actions or words of one person does not mean all members of UKIP are deeply racist.
Your reasoning and logic is ridiculous. The system is scared of UKIP. We will continue to see articles condemning UKIP as racists which after listening to Nigel Farage and others for many years is just not true at all.
I think ukip acts as a magnet for this type of person by the fact that ukip are / were the only party not singing from the mass immigration hymn sheet.
Ukip definitely have a problem with oddballs like this one but it doesn’t make them racists. I’ve yet to hear a racist policy.
Thejynxeffect, are you trying to say UKIP doesn’t have a problem with racism?
Pretty much.
It seems time and time again we hear the same old story from Farage “we’re not racist, we kick all those people out when they’re exposed”… which, you know, in the surface is fine. Except there seems to be an awful lot of them in UKIP!
I see the red thumbing from the “down with foreigners” crowd has commenced.
The Doctor
I’m saying that just because one person said something racist, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the party are racists. Even to suggest so, is moronic. If UKIP as a party said they were not accepting black people as members, then I would consider the party racist. The reality is they have plenty of black members. Anyone with a shred of common sense knows that a racist party could not survive in politics today, but UKIP are growing exponentially. Are the millions who vote for them a bunch of racists aswell? No. A sensible immigration policy has nothing to do with race.
Alan Kennedy
Your talking through your hoop
But it’s not just one person is it? It happens fairly often does it not?
Can anyone actually back up the racism accusations levelled at ukip?
Tony nonsense, so some research and stop spurint mainstream media Hasbara……in other words grow a brain for yourself….
Tony so you support “Nazi supporters” in Ukraine because the US does and they are supposed to be “freedom givers” around world…..lol…..haha…..lol….just shows how stupid people really are…
The reality of what UKIP is about is hitting the people of Britain who have enough of the reality of multiculturalism and mass-immigration. UKIP is about securing Britain for the British. The Brits have woken up.
They are part of the EFD. Europe’s biggest collection of far right parties.
People can make up their own minds. I’ve made up mine. Racists.
True
I think their new slogan is “No overt racists”
“We’re racist but we won’t get caught – if you’re a racist you can still vote for us. *wink wink*”
‘White people love playing divide and rule.’
Black Labour MP Diane Abbott – Jan’ 2012.
She gave only a conditional apology when forced to by Labour leader Ed Miliband.
She said there was “no prejudice without power”.
In other words, blacks cannot be racist, no matter what they say.
She didn’t resign or was kicked out.
Is that fair?
True vanguard, she also kept her job with portillo on the daily politics programme on the bbc. Apparently you can only be racist if you are white.
She said there was “no prejudice without power”.
In other words, blacks cannot be racist, no matter what they say.
Eh, NO it is not ‘in other words’, it is in fact putting words in the her mouth that she didn’t say. Now don’t you have a cross burning to go to or a mosque to picket?
In 1996, Abbott claimed that at her local hospital “blonde, blue-eyed Finnish girls” were unsuitable as nurses because they had “never met a black person before”. Abbott’s position was supported by fellow Labour MP Bernie Grant who said “Bringing someone here from Finland who has never seen a black person before and expecting them to have to have some empathy with black people is nonsense. Scandinavian people don’t know black people—they probably don’t know how to take their temperature”.
At the time Miss Finland, was a black lady of Nigerian and Finnish descent.
Peter,
because protecting your Irish ethnicity means you hate other ethnicities!!
Racism is a blackmail word.
Aww, Ten Major upset as he claims someone is putting words in someone’s mouth.
Hypocrit, you leftard open border nuts do that all the time.
Ten
Why does she even talk about representing “black people”, aren’t we all the human race, aren’t they are Brits, why the need to talk about “the black community”, doesn’t she feel she is like any other British person, white or black? She has also shown her own attitude acknowledging difference:
“West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.”
But I thought we were all “the human race”, shouldn’t we ask the same question many holy anti-racist joes here ask about Irish, “what is it to be Irish anyway?” they say. So can we ask the same here, “what is a west Indian anyway?” We are all human race, we are all the same.
So why go on about the “black community”, the West Indian community? Very confusing, I am trying to be a good, holy anti-racist. Can someone please correct me if I am sinning, thank you, thank you so much, bless, may the holy spirit of open borders be with you.
Atleast she is truthful
Truthful yes…….and Brain dead
Racist oxygen their
John,
If you are going to call other people braindead, then it’s a good idea to show you aren’t either.
“Racist oxygen their”….the “their” should be “there.”
Thanks for that helpful input, imagine my surprise to find I was the first person in history to make a typo that could not be edited.
Do you feel you might be using more than your share of the oxygen supply ?
The word was supposed to be thief, neither of the theirs
John,
Some further help for you. Down below you say:
“YOU HAVE LEAD A VERY SHELTERED LIFE AND YOUR A RACIST”
That should be…..you have “led” a very sheltered life and “you’re” a racist.
Wouldn’t have pointed it out until you started going about others being braindead.
Oh and I see the anti-racist thinks some people should not be alive “using more than your share of the oxygen supply ?” Exposed, the true hate inside every anti-racist, using the agenda of being anti-racist to hide their own hateful nature inside.
Typo man
Typo man
Does whatever a spellchecker can
On the spelling you mistake me for someone who gives a …..
It’s a quickly written comment on an article about a bitter racist old woman
On the racism, good for you it’s nice to have a hobby somebody you can get together with other like minded thick people, along with your spell checking OCD. Maybe it’s a crossover group
I’d never heard anyone described as an anti racist before, I thought it was just the general public then thick racist people
Dear Johannes,
Hope this finds you in good stead. I hesitate somewhat in having to send you this memo being as it is tinged with a drop of rather regretful news, although the delight in reading your insightful and illuminating communiqué’s animates the darkest hours of life’s journey, such an opportunity to witness your colourful witicism’s and articulate correspondance is indeed one of life’s little pleasures. But I digress, I regret and am loathe to vulgarize or sully these joyous occasions so please forgive me for pointing out that in earlier tidings, I am sure it was apparent that my own unworthy and unqualified remark was in the manner of the casual observation of your magnanimous and candid addressing of some scoundrel as “braindead”. These disclosures are humbly as always of course, meant for your esteemed amusement, sincerest apologies Johannes if this message is not agreeable, upsetting the harmonious accord of your wondrous disposition.
Salutations and felicitations oh great and venerable Johannes,
From as always, on bended knee,
The unworthy and oh so lowly Thick.
No you lost me at Dear, Ted
Irish KKK meeting must be about to start soon, thank somebody for a bit of interbreeding in Ireland, diluting the gene pool, hopefully less challenged thinkers going forward.
John,
Yea protecting one’s ethnicity automatically means hate of other ethnicities, better tell the Maouris and zulus that they are haters who are hatefully preserving their racial identity.
Btw as regards gene pool, you are also implying that Zulus, Maoris or Amazon Indians, in fact every ethnicity in the world, which means the vast majority of the world’s population are all interbred, challenged thinkers. What a nice compliment of you to give to humanity, not surprising for someone who wishes others to be dead by saying they are “oxygen thieves”.
Oh, and when Ireland was at it’s most homogenous we managed to build Newgrange and other earth monuments that were aligned to astrological chronology, and that before the pyramids. That is only one of a series of some of the world’s greatest inventions and artifacts which the Irish created. Fact is the Irish so-called challenged, interbred, thick gene-pool you seem to hate, was looking to the stars while other ethnicities were still scrabbling in the mud.
It is evident you have a tonne of hate and poisonous bile inside you, which you try to use fake humanitarian “anti-racist” persona to cover up. Not a happy camper Johnny lad.
Éire, if anyone has a ” tonne of hate and poisonous bile inside” it’s you. How you can equate Irish homogeneity to something like Newgrange and to claim we were looking to the stars as if that was something special is ignoring the fact that Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Chinese, Africans, and a whole lot of others were looking at the stars and creating and discovering amazing things. Were they all homogeneous groups?
Your racial purity line had it’s time in the spotlight a long time ago and has rightly been abandoned by the vast majority of people. As someone who is a proud Irishman I’m happy to see people from all over the world come here, learn, live and love on this island. I have nothing to fear from other cultures, because Irish culture can lose nothing from this.
Did you lose a job to a non national? You could always try Burger King
Or Supermacs are very homogenous leaning recruitment wise
You would have a great time there you could listen to Garth Brooks all day with all the other staff
Don’t take it so badly apparently we are heading for full employment, somebody will have to take on a racist pedant
That was another reply to Eunuch Powell not Dioluin, totally agree, but getting tired arguing with racists, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel
Diolúin,
Except I didn’t twice promote the idea that any other human being is an oxygen thief, your friend Johnny did that. Newgrange was made by a homogenous group of people, how you ignore that is not surprising from multicultural pushers. Also Newgrange was before the Greeks and the pyramids, it was an example for your pal John who said the Irish were inbred, another example of hatred for the Irish, which in your own hate which blinds you to what he said, you managed to not see.
Racial purity?
So when we had secure borders and simply protected the people of this country trying to create the means whereby the people of this country have proper access to it’s resosurces, hard won by generations of their ancestors, you have a problem with that and misrepresent it as some kind of racial purity. Protecting ones own people and culture is now a sin to globalist puppets like yourself, no doubt you would be telling all the Amazon tribes they must accept in tons of African, Chinese and Asians into their territories because they are in danger of towing a “racial purity ” line.
Another anti-racist full of hate for indigenous peoples of the world. The vast majority of people are not white they are non-white and they are proud to uphold their racial and cultural heritage as they should be, you however seem to preclude whites from doing the same thing, which is where your hate is exposed.
People used to travel to learn about culture, you want masses of people to come here in order to learn about other cultures, the result is a country which ends up looking, sounding, tasting, feeling like every other European country, end of difference. A global monoculture of bland Americana consumerist crap. Where the host country becomes less and less swallowed up by other cultures you opened the territory up to.
This is already been shown to be a destructive and dangerous policy for all other European countries, with their indigenous peoples, on the receiving end of abuse and targeted because they are white, you laud what you are naive about. Other countries peoples have greater experience of how they are experiencing the same results as invasion, with imported murder and rapes which would not have happened otherwise. Your naivety unfortunately has dire consequences for Irish people who have died and suffered at the hands of this multicultural utopia bs you spout, the honeymoon and naivety is over, the Irish are learning the hard way, you and John have the blood fof innocent Irish people on your hands and we hold people like you personally responsible for Irish victims of multiculturalism, for your cheerleading of opening our borders.
John,
“Did you lose a job to a non national?”
And there it is again, Johnny’s latent hate just can’t stop from blurting out. No John I didn’t, but I am sure there are people who have and to make fun out of their misfortune is a rather sc**my thing to do, not surprising seeing as you think certain people “take up oxygen” and are “oxygen thieves”. I think Johnny would be ok with exterminating people like his bolshevik gulag buddies. And off he goes again with the anti-white memes lashing Garth Brooks. Country music people are racist too in John’s anti-racist notebook. So much hate Johnny to cover up, will being an anti-racist manage to hide it all? Tune in next week to see Johnny’s hate vent against Irish culture oppressing asylum seekers.
Why the apostrophes in communiques and witticisms, and why corresponAnce instead of correspondEnce?
Wow 609 signatories.
For a council seat that is actually a decent chunk considering that they only pull in a couple of thousand votes in an election
How about a show “BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS”
Meet the mutlicultural councillors and PC police, the Labour and Conservative multicultural pushers who allowed 1400 white British girls be gang raped and brutally beaten by Pakistani muslims ( it is official that the gang rapists were from the Pakistani muslim “community” in UK, as stated by then foreign secretary Jack Straw, various UK media and news outlets) all for fear of “racism”
The report found: “Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought as racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so.”
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/isis-american-south-lynching/
… and 4000 of ‘the other race’ sledgehammed, dismembered, corkscrewed and burned to death as horribly but truly described in the link above.
Ok so 1400 here…. but then 4000 there… yea but 1 million here… yes but 6 million there…
Numbers, numbers, numbers….so what?
It’s all the same…. hatred and intolerance. No more than these 2 words are needed to explain it all.
Our great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers did it to the great-grand fathers, fathers and fathers of our neighbours. And we are all still doing it to our neighbours (but in subtler more politically correct ways). And yes of course…. our forefathers were not racist… and of course neither are we.
What a filthy, evil state of affairs. God please have mercy…
‘UKIP is not a racist party’
Bbc made this documentary, the current government funds bbc, the current government does not like ukip equals bbc does not like ukip
Meet the Ukippers? Seriously?
Why dont the bbc have a meet the paedos documentary about all the sexual exploitation that went on in Westminster?
The other parties must really be in anti-UKIP overdrive if the bbc, who are funded by these parties have to pump out blatant political propaganda.
Could I understand this coming from channel 4 or something? Yes.
The BBC? A state broadcaster?! What a joke
They say no publicity is bad publicity.
They’ve got rid of this racist from their party so they might look good after this.
If RTE did a program called “Meet the Green Party People”, do ya not think it would be a good thing for their party?
They should do a show called meet the Labourites and interview all the non-Europeans Labour brought it from and incompatible death-cult and offered them free money and housing for themselves and as many children as they pump out in exchange for their votes. They can ask them questions like “Do you think homosexuals should be murdered?”, “What about apostates who leave your religion or married adulterers, do you think they should be stoned to death”, “would you like Sharia law in the UK?”, “Are you looking forward to eventually out-breeding the native population”? “Who will pay for your large families then though?”
I used to struggle to take UKIP seriously at all, but now I’ve seen how they run things from a dog hotel packed to the rafters with porcelain clowns I’m a changed man.
Looks like the BBC were successful in their mission to smear UKIP.
Let’s judge a political party based on their leaders and policies, and not on how many crazies they have attracted.
Being a UK citizen I can vote in May
Defiantly not going to vote for UKIP, I would rather eat my own testicles. I don’t see why people are constantly shocked by the racism that exists in the Party and I am pretty tired of the press having a daily UKIP scandal.
Interestingly I doubt this will effect their poll standing that much, a lot of KIPPERS have a similar view to this old fart.
Who would you vote for Ewan?
I think you’re right. Most Kippers will see this as an establishment conspiracy against them. It’s the same siege mentality you see from Shinners. On the face of it, they’re very different (SF doesn’t do overt racism except against Brits and UKIP doesn’t do mad neo-Marxist fantasy economics), but there’s a lot of similarity in their underlying attitudes. Same islander worldview. Same “of the people”, fook the establishment PR. Same questionable personnel. Same fetishisation of a slightly weird and disturbing leader.
Greens most likely.
Labour have blown it, they don’t stand for anything
Lib Dems I don’t trust anymore
Tories are well Tory
Ewan – how much of a force are the greens in the uk? They’re about the same suez as ukip aren’t they? I agree with your sentiment re: lab / Tory, though.
If I were eligible, id be tempted with ukip, on a cursory inspection they seem to have some positive aspects – more than their share of loonies, no doubt, but taking min wage workers out of the tax net, Canadian style immigration and no college fees for STEM courses are all good IMO.
ah ha ha, the economic illiterate Greens who want open borders and basic income for all. What could go wrong.
Apparently UKIP members think you have to be a skinhead with a swastika tattoo on your chest to be a racist. Anything less than that is ok to them.
Haha… so true.
Will ya get back into your time machine love, and head back to the sixties where you belong.
yea because multiculturalism and mass-immigration really benefits the native Brit while hurtling them along to their destruction. 1400 British white girls gang raped by Pakistani muslims in one UK town, for fears of the word racist. There’s real progress for you, multiculturalism putting your country right back into the stone age.
Wow. That’s one of the strangest admissions I’ve ever seen. On one hand she’s saying she’s a barefaced racist, on the other she’s offering some lame excuses for it but in the end making no apologies for what are her failings.
Ukip are a horrid excuse for a political party
Holy shit
Won’t be long before Jim Allister offers her a job.
Mrs Brown is a UKIP Memeber??? Mind Blown!
This it no longer news. This story is now several days old.
UKIP and racist in the same sentence. Now there’s an oxymoron!
I’m having a hard time believing this is real!
I have a black & white tv so I can’t be racist, .. I know a guy who only likes white chocolate, what a racist !!
Multicultural thought-police now considering whether saying the word “racist” is racist. I’d better report myself to the local thought-crime station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIaORknS1Dk
it’s kind of appropriate that she appears to be sitting in a den of creepy clowns
I think ukip are pro legal citizen anti illegal immigrant, even if the illegal immigrant used to have british citizenship
Sure UKIP are always Right.
have your say