Election 2024 live updates: Fianna Fáil says Dublin not safe under Fine Gael justice ministers as it launches manifesto for city

It is day 14 of Election 2024 and there is just over a week to go until ballots are cast.
In parts of the country politicians are trudging through snow as they seek votes and parties are continuing to unveil election promises amid concern over the potential for looming economic stormclouds.
For Fine Gael it is its “blueprint for supporting rural communities”.
Fianna Fáil is outlining its plans to “make Dublin a safe, liveable, and vibrant city for all”.
Sinn Féin will set out what it will do to help renters, and Aontú is unveiling its manifesto.
Stick with us during the day for all the latest developments on a chilly campaign trail.
The closure of hundreds of schools next week to facilitate voting in the general election is outdated and sends the wrong message about the importance of education, the National Parents’ Council insists. Schools have closed twice already this year to facilitate the referendum in March and the local and European elections in June. Now we are going to do it all again, causing needless disruption for working parents, the council says. The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, says on the other hand that the use of schools was an “exciting opportunity for children to see democracy in action”. Carl O’Brien ventilates the subject.
Here’s the Women’s Podcast election special. Katie Deegan, communications coordinator with Women for Election, speaking to Róisín Ingle on the podcast, says that despite the barriers that keep women from entering politics, “what’s really important is that more women than ever want to run”. Orla O’Connor, director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) also joins in to discuss the issues.
Jack Horgan-Jones had an interesting story in The Irish Times today on how Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe dined with Ryanair boss Micheal O’Leary during a previously undisclosed 2022 meeting. The dinner happened at the upmarket Dublin restaurant Delahunt in 2022. No records were kept and no actions were taken arising from meeting, the Minister’s spokeswoman has said. O’Leary of course featured prominently in the first weekend of the election race – and Fine Gael faced a significant political backlash – over comments he made about teachers at the launch of Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke’s campaign.
Taoiseach Simon Harris was asked about the Donohoe and O’Leary’s undisclosed dinner a Newstalk interview and said it is understanding that “this was entirely a social dinner.” He added: ”There is very clear rules around business engagements and those rules are always followed. This was entirely a social dinner. I don’t have any further comment in relation to it. We don’t regulate who you have dinner with in this country. But we do put very clear rules in relation to lobbying and the likes and this was not that.”
As Jennifer Bray reports this afternoon Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called on Donohoe to “clarify” details around the dinner. She said Donohoe “needs to clarify what the situation is”, and that “a bit of transparency and a bit of straightforwardness from them now wouldn’t go astray”. McDonald was speaking at DCU where she spoke to students and promised to address the housing crisis, introduce affordable student accommodation and bring down the cost of living. She said she believed that the general election campaign is now getting into gear.
Immigration was an issue on the Local and European Election trail in June and some candidates who made it a central part of their campaign platforms did get elected to local authorities. Two of them are Gavin Pepper and Philip Sutcliffe who have both been described as “far right” and “anti-immigration”. Both men vehemently reject these portrayals; they say they are not opposed to immigration in theory but are strongly against illegal immigration. Both are now running in the general election and Kitty Holland and Sarah Burns have written about their campaigns for this piece.
Michael Healy-Rae’s snowy canvass video may have been a bit iffy (have a look earlier in the timeline) but here’s a TikTok post from Sinn Féin’s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty (a candidate in Donegal) out and about in Dungloe and Annagry in the last 24 hours complete with falling flakes a beautiful shot of a snow-peaked mountain. Looks. Bloody. Freezing.
Fianna Fáil really is very, very happy with its young Minister for Finance Jack Chambers who turns 34 today. Here is the party wishing him a happy birthday through the medium of social media video – complete with shot of the Dublin West candidate getting a basketball in the net. How many attempts it took we may never know…
From snow and ice to wind and rain canvassers will have to batten down the hatches as there’s a storm on the way this weekend. Storm Bert – no relation to former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach De Bert – will hit overnight on Friday.
Our story on what is looking like a miserable weekend weather-wise is here. Expect flying posters.
Incidentally you can find Bertie Ahern’s advice on how incumbent Governments should fight elections in a piece he penned for The Irish Times on Wednesday. Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams wrote about his party’s chances for today’s paper in an article headlined: “Some see election campaigns as opportunities to write Sinn Féin’s obituary. Sorry to disappoint”.
The major international news today is that judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The move comes after the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced on May 20th that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the October 7th, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the Israeli military response in Gaza. The ICC said Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required. Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of The Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza. Israel has said it killed Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an air strike but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this. Our full story is here.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the ICC decision is “an extremely significant step” He said: “The Government has long expressed its profound concern about the conduct of the war in Gaza and has stated clearly its belief that the rules of international law and international humanitarian law have not been upheld. We have insisted that international law must apply in all circumstances, at all times, and in all places, and that those responsible for breaches, those who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, must be held fully to account.” Mr Harris added: “Ireland respects the role of the International Criminal Court. Anyone in a position to assist it in carrying out its vital work must now do so with urgency. There can be no argument against the need for an immediate ceasefire, release of all hostages and unhindered access for humanitarian aid in Gaza. The situation in Gaza could not be more desperate, is an affront to humanity and cannot be allowed to continue a moment longer.”
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said the ICC decision to issue the arrest warrants “follows the court’s determination that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged crimes were committed by these individuals.” He said: “Ireland is a strong supporter of the ICC and calls on all States to respect its independence and impartiality, with no attempts made to undermine the court.”
Housing is one of the big issues in the election campaign and Fianna Fáil were quick to pounce on the latest statistics from the Department of Housing showing that work has started on more than 53,000 homes in the first ten months of 2024. Fianna Fáil said the commencement notice data is “clear evidence” that the party has “got Ireland back building again”. Its Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said: “Over 250 homes have got started on sites every single working day this year, a 101 per cent increase on last year. That means two homes are now being built for every one home being built last year.” He also said: “I absolutely appreciate that there are many people not feeling the progress we have made yet, and the message Fianna Fáil has for them is that after more than a decade of undersupply the dial is turning.” He said his party’s housing plan will increase supply and “protect, expand and extend first-time buyers supports”. Sinn Féin meanwhile, has today responded to reports that house prices are continuing to surge with its housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin saying it is Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael “policy in action” and arguing that only his party has a plan to make housing affordable. You can find an explainer on the different affordable housing offerings from Sinn Féin and the main Coalition parties here.
Kerry Independent candidate Michael Healy-Rae has a safety message about the “snowy conditions” today. He appears from the video to be braving a blizzard to hand out leaflets on the outskirts of Kilgarvan.
The political parties have been challenged to put forward solutions that will lead to a permanent reduction in the number of patients being treated on trolleys, chairs and in other inappropriate bed spaces in hospitals.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said 4,862 patients have been on trolleys since the election was called and some 490 patients on trolleys today.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The staffing and capacity crisis in our hospitals is a persistent and unrelenting issue.
“As voters turn their minds to what the next five years will look like for our country, political parties who seek to be in government must outline what exactly they are going to do to permanently reduce the number of patients on trolleys.”
She added: “The provision of safe and timely healthcare must not become the forgotten issue of this election.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald did an interview with Virgin Media on Wednesday night. Colin Gleeson’s report, which can be found here, includes how she was asked by journalist Colette Fitzpatrick whether, as Taoiseach, Ms McDonald would attend an “IRA funeral”.
She replied: “The issue of what funerals you attend, this is a question of what’s your relationship with the person. Because the funeral of a republican is not necessarily what you’re depicting as an IRA funeral. It can simply be the funeral of somebody that you know and who has died.
“But I just want to reassure you that I would be very, very sensitive to the fact that you are, as Taoiseach in that office, are representing the population and the people very broadly and balancing that with the fact that I am an Irish republican so of course I will be at republican events.”
She also said “every Taoiseach is at the GPO on Easter Sunday”.
Fine Gael has today said that her remarks amounts to Ms McDonald refusing to rule out attending the funerals of IRA terrorists if she was elected Taoiseach.
Minister Peter Burke led the criticism saying: “This is the frightening vision for everyone who cherishes and upholds the values of those who stood against IRA terrorists on this island.”
Here’s the clip from the Virgin Media interview:
Dogs Trust has asked whoever is in the next government to give dogs the “greatest gift” this Christmas and to appoint a junior minister with responsibility for dog welfare and control.
Peaches – a poodle and bichon frise mix – showed up at Leinster House with a giant gift box. It presumably contains a dog-loving politician who hopes to get a new canine brief in the next government. The tag on the box reads: “To all dogs, love from the government”. Dogs Trust has launched a petition and is urging the public to sign it and support their campaign for a dedicated Minister of State.
The charity said a recent study of more than 24,000 dog owners and enthusiasts – “Ireland’s Dog Census” – revealed that 88 per cent of respondents believe there should be a dedicated junior minister to provide a more co-ordinated response to dog welfare issues in Ireland. It said that currently policy and legislation for the welfare, breeding, selling and supplying, control and traceability of dogs falls between multiple government departments.
“Without one person having sole responsibility for all areas of dog welfare, including enforcing and resourcing legislation, our canine companions can sadly fall through the cracks,” the charity’s statement added.
A junior minister for dogs is not something we have spotted in the parties’ manifestos just yet but who could say no to Peaches?
Fianna Fáil has launched its Dublin manifesto with claims that the capital has not been a safe city under Fine Gael justice ministers, and that housing progress had been moribund before Darragh O’Brien took over the portfolio.
The party has promised to provide an additional 1,000 gardaí for the city centre, increase the number of Garda Reserve officers and have all members wear body-worn cameras. It has also said it will introduce dispersal orders to deal with groups involved in antisocial behaviour and to increase the sanctions for public-order offences.
The party has pledged that provision of social, affordable and cost-rental homes will be ramped up further if the party is in government, and says it will regenerate the city centre with more homes, as part of a €1 billion commitment to the capital.
Senior party figures including Minister for Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien were at the launch at Sandymount Strand on Thursday, alongside other candidates.
Fianna Fáil has also pledged to deliver the Metrolink, Dart lines and to remove the passenger cap at Dublin Airport “as soon as possible”.
The party said it would seek both the justice and housing portfolios if in the next government.
Senator Mary Fitzpatrick said the quarter around O’Connell Street that has been declared a national monument will be developed into a commemorative centre for 1916.
Its justice spokesman, Jim O’Callaghan, said that Dublin was not a safe city.
“At certain times, at night, it’s not safe. We need to work on that. And what Fianna Fáil is proposing is that we’re going to allocate an extra 1,000 gardaí to Dublin.”
Mr O’Callaghan said that Fianna Fáil would also get a transport police established in Dublin and throughout the country.
Mr O’Brien and Dublin North West TD Paul McAuliffe said the approach on affordable homes at the nearby Glass Bottle site in Ringsend and the Oscar Traynor Road on the northside of the city highlighted the different approach of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Asked if Fianna Fáil could stand over reports that affordable homes on the Glass Bottle site could be priced at €700,000, Mr O’Brien replied: “I think the Glass Bottle site is a really good example of where a previous government made a mess of it. It could actually have purchased a significant portion of that site and delivered affordable housing directly, and they didn’t.”
He said the price had not yet been agreed with the developer but that the Government intended to ensure there were affordable units there.
Harry McGee
The Green Party has been out talking about its election promises for public transport. It has said it will establish a new Office of Punctuality and Reliability to oversee public transport services if returned to government.
The party has also promised a dedicated public transport police, to be known as the Transport Safety Unit, within the Garda and said it would ensure private transport operators were given funding for private security officers.
In addition the Greens revealed plans for high-speed bus corridors; camera enforcement on existing bus lanes; the elimination of so-called ghost buses by introducing online, automatic vehicle location systems; a roll out of quiet carriages on trains and the reintroduction of the food and drinks trolley.
The Greens would also progress an ‘every village every hour’ model for local link bus services in rural areas.
Tim O’Brien
If you are interested in election spending, Liz Carolan has a good opinion piece here on the frustrations of trying to navigate Ireland’s less-than-ideal system of how political spending disclosures are returned and published.
It’s headlined “When it comes to following the money at election time, don’t even try”, and those of us who have grappled with the issue can relate! Liz works on democracy and technology issues, and writes at TheBriefing.ie
A week out from election day it is timely to have another look at how much the three main parties are spending on advertising online.
The Irish Times last week reported that Sinn Féin had spent €91,150 on advertising with online platforms Meta and Google since August – more than eight other political parties combined at that point.
However, with spending by the others ramping up in the first week of the campaign – and Sinn Féin’s expenditure in the same period considerably lower in comparison – Fine Gael is catching up.
Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – and search giant Google have online tools that offer information on political advertising including expenditure.
In the first week of the election campaign – November 8th to 14th – Sinn Féin was still spending – with some €2,500 going on Meta ads. It has spent a total of €200 with Google this month. Since August, Sinn Féin has still spent the most – some €93,700 – on advertising online.
However, Fine Gael is catching up. Fine Gael spent €35,300 with Meta in the first week of the formal election campaign, and it has spent €11,600 on Google ads this month. This brings its total spend since August to €87,900.
In the week after the election was called on November 8th, Fianna Fáil spent €16,300 with Meta. It has spent €3,150 on Google ads this month. In total Fianna Fáil has spent €33,550 on online ads since August.
The figures are for spending by parties and do not include spending on ads that individual candidates are paying for.
Green leader Roderic O’Gorman has said that a €10 billion capital investment in public transport is central to his party’s manifesto.
In an interview On RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland Mr O’Gorman insisted the Green Party was the “key driver” of the success of the outgoing Government.
“We have been able to implement key policies so we have been able to cut the cost of public transport for everybody and add new bus routes. But we have to go further and that is why central to our manifesto is that commitment for a ten billion euro investment in public transport so we can roll out those big projects like Dart+, like Metrolink, like Metropolitan Rail and continue the roll-out of local link services in rural Ireland as well.”
Meanwhile, Mr O’Gorman refuted suggestions that the default position of the Green Party was always to “threaten to walk” if they “don’t get their way”.
He said that the opposite was the case, with the Green Party being part of a four-and-a-half-year “stable Government.”
“I think for a small party to be able to come of four-and-a-half years with that strong track record of delivering the things that we got written in to the programme for government is really important. And that shows what sort of Coalition partner we are.”
Olivia Kelleher
Also from that Newstalk interview Taoiseach Simon Harris has admitted that he was “unnecessarily pedantic and semantic” during Monday night’s TV debate when speaking about his involvement in the national children’s hospital project.
Plagued by delays and spiralling costs, the NCH project set to cost more than €2 billion and it has been a key focus of attacks on the Coalition parties from the Opposition during the election campaign.
During the RTÉ Leaders’ Debate on Monday journalist Katie Hannon put it to Harris that during his time as Minister for Health he “personally signed the contract that brought us the children’s hospital saga.”
The Fine Gael leader replied: “well of course I didn’t, but continue.” When Ms Hannon said that as then-minister for health he was responsible for signing the contract, he said: “The Government of Ireland made a decision to build the national children’s hospital and I was a part of the Government.”
In his radio interview today Mr Harris acknowledged that the “buck stops with him” in relation to the NCH.
He said: “The point I was trying to make is [that] there’s sometimes comments that are a little flippant, like one person signed off on the contract. The point I’m making is these things go through a very deliberative process.
“Lots of departments look at them; lots of bean counters – and I don’t mean that disrespectfully – in different departments.
“There’s a board, a National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, and then the minister of the day, in this case was me, would bring a proposal to Cabinet rather than sign a contract. That kind of missed the point, though.”
Olivia Kelleher
On the topic of Donald Trump the incoming US president’s entrepreneurial zeal has not been diminished by his election – here he is promoting Maga guitars. Perhaps some of our soon-to-be-elected politicians will be inspired to keep up their business interests (so long as they declare them fully of course).
As reported in out lead story today the Cabinet was given a stark warning about potentially damaging economic fallout for Ireland from the unsettled global situation and the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House in the new year.
It was the first thing Taoiseach Simon Harris was asked about during an interview on Newstalk Radio.
He mentioned he had spoken to other European leaders about the expected “policy shift” in the US and that he had spoken to Mr Trump himself.
Harris said it was “appropriate” that he would update Cabinet on preparations “for a reality that there may well be a transatlantic trade shock”.
He said that work is under way in Government departments and it is “absolutely essential” that the next government prepares for those shocks by putting in place a buffer in the form of funds “that can protect us”.
It was put to the Taoiseach that despite the possible economic turbulence ahead, his party, Fine Gael, is “partying like there is no tomorrow” in its election manifesto.
Harris said Fine Gael was the only party promising to keep within the 5 per cent Department of Finance spending rule for budgets.
When it was pointed out that the outgoing Coalition repeatedly broke this rule Harris said there was “good reasons” for this, citing the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation.
Harris also said: “while there are significant headwinds”, Ireland “is in a good shape to withstand it but only if we continue the policy direction in terms of setting aside money in funds to protect us from any future shocks”.
In advance of Aontú’s manifesto launch, leader Peadar Tóibín insists there has been a “wave of support” towards his party as campaigners they go door-to-door canvassing.
Mr Tóibín told Morning Ireland, on RTÉ Radio 1 that the final seat in ten constituencies Aontú is focused on will go down to the wire between a party candidate and a Government TD.
“In places like Cavan-Monaghan, Mayo, Wexford, Dublin West – if people really want change, they have to concentrate their vote on the Aontú candidate in that location.”
Mr Tóibín said Aontú has only ruled out engaging in talks with Fine Gael and the Green Party.
“Even though we are unhappy that Sinn Féin are still not sure of what they stand for we [will talk to them].
He said Tánaiste Micheál Martin needs to be “a bigger man” and not dismiss the possibility of forming a government with the contribution of Aontú.
“I know Micheál Martin ruled it out [going into government) with Aontú], but he also ruled out going into Coalition with Fine Gael before the last election. So I am not sure we can be confident of that red line from Micheál Martin.
Olivia Kelleher
Someone in the snowbound Galway West constituency is making sure Sinn Féin candidate Mairead Farrell’s face is still being seen by voters. Here she is peeking out from a frozen poster.