Love & solidarity to those who gave their hearts, minds, energy, sincerity & personal vulnerability while campaigning for a better life for all. Please don’t despair & don’t lose hope. You have friends who care right across UK & wider world. There WILL be another better day ❤️🌺
Myself &
@SenLynnRuane
leaving Seanad after 8 hours of debate on Mother & Baby Homes Commission Bill, some small steps forward including re index & database but more to be done especially re people’s access to their own information.
If Ireland does go on to Level 5 that needs to include moving people out of direct provision, closing meat factories & lowering class sizes with a remote-learning option for high risk teachers/students/families. We also need increased testing & tracing & better isolation supports
Honoured to be re-elected to Seanad Éireann! So grateful to all who supported me 💚I promise to be a strong voice for equality, sustainability, rights, care & public services in the challenging times ahead. Best wishes also to other great candidates not successful this occasion
After a very brief committee and final stage - the
#FossilFuels
Divestment Bill has passed the Seanad to make Ireland the first country in the world to divest from fossil fuels! Well done to all who worked so hard to see its swift passage!
The far-right harassment of Mayor
@hazechu
& her family is unacceptable & dangerous. Ireland must resoundingly reject these aggressive attempts to shrink & poison our shared democratic spaces. We need more women in politics & more strong, diverse decision-makers!
I am so proud of the authentic, caring, emancipatory, courageous, person
@MichaelDHiggins
has been all my life. He is, and always was, motivated by a depth of thought, clarity of vision & love for humanity. These qualities also make him a good President
We won! The Government withdrew counter motion &
#Seanad
has passed my motion calling on Ireland to publicly support a
#TRIPSwaiver
!! Huge thanks to cosponsors & all who contributed to a passionate & powerful debate, including the gov Senators who spoke up for a
#PeoplesVaccine
Watch a short clip of Senator Alice-Mary Higgins
@aliceeire
proposing our motion in the Seanad this evening, calling on the Irish government to officially support a TRIPS waiver. This would allow countries in the Global South to access life-saving vaccines.
Ireland can & must do more on human rights in Palestine & Israel. If Gov won’t publish AG advice being used to justify blocking our
#OccupiedTerritoriesBill
then he should come to debate tonight ready to explain it AND outline specific national, EU & UN actions Ireland will take
Well that’s a lovely surprise! I really am honoured & delighted to be chosen as ‘Senator of the Year’ by the wise, witty & watchful Miriam Lord in her
@IrishTimes
end of year review!
@JoeLeogue
Revenue must not be allowed to introduce outrageous widening of already too wide loopholes for very wealthy at a time when our country need revenue. Those ‘forced’ to spend more time here are benefiting from the existence of a public health system - they should contribute to it.
Amongst the many lessons to be learnt & changes to be made after this crisis -> Everyone should have access to nature & green shared public spaces within 2km of their home. Let’s remember that in all future planning for our towns and cities 🌱🐝🌳(also important for pollinators)
#Metaverse
seems like dated & desperate attempt to keep pretending internet is some ‘other realm’ when we all know it relies on minerals & data centres & operates in real places with real consequences & requires serious public ethical,environmental, financial & energy regulation
"The State's job is not simply to regard itself as sitting inside that market. When we talk about the real world, let us be clear, the market sits inside the State. It is not the real world to have prices like we have them in Ireland. It's not the weather!"
I am urging Government not to make a historic mistake by handing control of
@OurMatHosp
to a private company. Approving this bad decision will not allow us to “move on”it will tie state to decades more of power wrangling over women’s health in boardrooms & create unnecessary risk
Our state has failed pregnant women in past, it must not make bad compromises on the future of maternal & reproductive care. In
#Seanad
I pressed Gov to review outdated plans re new National Maternity Hospital & ensure full public control & ownership of both hospital & land
#IWD
Politics is not ‘like a drug’, it’s not sport, not business & not about scoring points or personal highs. Time to move past these outdated takes & recognise that politics is about representing people, having an impact on decisions that matter & shaping how we all live together.
Very very honoured to be included in the brilliant Miriam Lord’s ‘Dáilympic parade of champions’ today! Legislative scrutiny may sometimes lack the grace of eurythmic ribbon twirling but I do try to give it my all! Actually blushing all day...😊
20yrs ago I lived in New York.We saw the towers fall from our rooftop.Even in the immediate shock & confusion we thought ‘please let them not use this to start war’. Just weeks later, surrounded by missing posters & heartache, thousands of us were on NY streets marching for Peace
executive summary is disappointing reading -excuses, equivocations & strange repeated use of “no evidence” phrase which seems dismissive of direct testimony from women themselves. Their voices are most important part of
#motherandbabyhomes
Report! They must get justice & redress!
We are lucky that the west of Ireland has factories that manufacturer Ventilators + other companies producing nebulisers & antiviral wipes. State should now be looking at ways to help scale up production - both for ourselves & for other countries
So sorry it didn’t work out electorally for the wonderful
@saoirse_mchugh
on this occasion, but know she will continue to be an important and dynamic and voice in our national conversation🌻
Unfortunately, the fact that tracing & testing of close contacts was suspended for most of January (just resumed on 29th) mean the data on that graph isn’t really consistent or full picture. And there is no turn-around for over 1000 people who lost their lives in the last month.
I know many friends on here are busy with
#GE2020
but right after that comes
#Seanad2020
! & I will be running again on the NUI panel. I bring passion & thought to my work as a progressive Senator making real change. If you like what I do, I hope you will support me & my campaign!
"What we were told would never happen and could never happen.."
For the first time, Ireland will have a single tier health service.
Private hospitals to go public for
#COVID19
.
🛌 2,000 more beds.
🧪 9 more labs.
🏥 Critical care facilities
Huge moves
Time to put the public into Republic & Separate Church & State by making sure
#OurMaternityHospital
is fully publicly owned & publicly run on public land! We should not be having these bad old arguments in 2021 & must not condemn future generations to another 100 years of them!
We’re going to hear a lot about ‘hard choices’ in months ahead- so let’s choose to NOT use public money to underwrite large speculative commercial property developers a la Johnny Ronan etc Instead let’s support construction sector by actually building social & affordable housing!
In Scotland loans to SME house builders are capped at £1m (€1.12m), this is far less risky, fairer & more pro-SME than in Ireland where loans to a single developer can go up to €75m 🏴 🇮🇪
An interesting reminder of Noel Browne’s historic attempt to introduce proper medical maternity care for women in Ireland & how it was blocked by religious forces. They opposed the mother & child scheme, while supporting the appalling mother & baby homes.
#OnThisDay
1951 Dr Noel Browne resigned as Minister for Health as his proposed Mother and Child Scheme for the health service failed to get introduced.
Listen back to Noel Browne speaking about the scheme in 1950
For those rightly outraged at insurance companies being let off hook for payouts despite high premiums - a reminder that many insurance companies are part of REITS property investment schemes, benefiting from substantial public tax relief. Maybe we reconsider that next budget?
Bad news for many Irish firms.
The Central Bank has said most insurers won’t have to pay out on business interruption cover.
“It warned insurers could collapse if they had to pay for pandemics, even though some policies provide cover for Covid-19.”
22 years ago, my birthday was on Good Friday & I remember being so very happy at the amazing hopeful news of a peace agreement in Belfast - Today the anniversaries of date (April 10th) & day (Good Friday!) align again!!And I get to share another birthday with the
#GFA
🎂
I am extremely concerned about rapid acceleration of reopening. Essential needs like childcare & medical care including cancer screening should take priority over adhoc scrambling of rules to allow opening of pub. I believe lowering of 2m to 1m rule particularly dangerous 1/2
“This virus is highly infectious and, as a result, the return of widespread community transmission remains a very real risk...”
@CMOIreland
#COVID19ireland
@MariaWalshEU
• 2 years ago
@GraceOSllvn
, myself &
@SeanadCEG
proposed legislation to ban microbeads & it was blocked by
@FineGael
• 2 months ago FG issued new offshore oil licenses • 2 days ago FG voted down my amendment to ban commercial cutting on previously protected bogs
#ClimateAction
Polls have CLOSED! Thank You Thank you Thank you to all those who nominated me, supported me, campaigned for me & voted for me in this strange election! And best wishes to all for the
#Seanad2020
count
The multiple breaches of international human rights law by Israeli government this week include military attacks on civilian & media targets & violation of UNDHR Article 18 right to manifest faith through military raids on Al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan & families during Eid 1/2
Worth noting that in previous Seanad the Taoiseach nominated 5 independent voices from across civil society, business, diaspora etc. The Seanad before that also had 5 independent nominees. A real pity there is only one this time but I’m VERY glad it is the wonderful Eileen Flynn!
On the 16th Oct and again last Friday in the
#Seanad
, I spelled out to the Minister that he will be a data controller for all the documents he gets from Commission, and must respond to GDPR requests for personal information. Glad to see the Govt now come to that understanding.
Breaking: Government expected to announce that under GDPR rules, survivors of Mother and Baby Homes will be access to their records after clarification from Attorney General
50% of Travellers don't make it past the age of 38.
Which means that for half of all Travellers, 19 is 'middle aged'.
Just 19.
Sweet 19.
Wonderful 19.
Youthful full of the dreams of life 19.
19.
How does that 'settle' with you?
With
@amyward82
The death of this young girl is so incredibly sad & such a shameful indictment of our society - Going into what will be a really tough winter, we need to see far more resources & political will directed to
#movethevulnerablein
& better supports for those in homelessness.
Myself,
@SenLynnRuane
& others have called on all in government formation talks to reject racist rhetoric & ensure the next programme for government includes law on hate crimes,
#EndDirectProvision
, Traveller Equality & more. 👇
I first marched for Repeal as a teenager,, shocked by what happened to another teenager, the X case. (I'm in the hat & long hair!) 26 years later I finally got to
#VoteYES
for
#Repealthe8th
& for an Ireland that will love & support young women & all women!
#Together4Yes
South Africa (& 100 other countries) have been calling for a
#TRIPSwaiver
for at least ten months, The
@EU_Commission
, UK & others have, by shamefully blocking the waiver & limiting global manufacture & rollout of vaccines, contributed to the emergence of this kind of new variant
THREAD on the new variant B.1.1.529 summarising what is known from the excellent South African Ministry of Health meeting earlier today
TLDR: So much uncertain but what *is* known is extremely worrying & (in my opinion) we should revise red list immediately.
This is why: 1/16
#postponetheCETAvote
It would be utterly disastrous & stupid for Ireland to gratuitously (no one is making us) sign up to investor courts which allow corporations to sue states for billions if they introduce better health, environment or equality laws. This is not about trade 1/n
This vote is shameful and cruel - particularly when so many of us remember with pride how our Irish Navy saved over 17,000 lives in the Mediterranean before this Gov changed policy a couple of years ago
@StephenKing
When the art that gets promoted only draws from one small pool in the wonderful rich sea of humanity & experience then we have an inadequate measure of quality - one based on a limited palate of possibilities.
Tonight in
#Seanad
I will be introducing a motion calling on Ireland & EU Commission to support a
#TRIPSWaiver
. Only 5.8% of people in Africa are fully vaccinated. It’s time to put public health ahead of short term profits & to ensure that vaccination is available to everyone.
When we get to the other side of this difficult dark time, it won’t be business as usual. We need to emerge with a society & economy more sustainable & resilient to future challenges. The €750 billion released by ECB must go first to public services & must be climate proofed!
Even more to the point some of the countries hardest hit by coronavirus Italy & Spain are among the 10 EU countries recognising & demanding that any recovery is climate proofed and aligned with
#GreenNewDeal
- there is no acceptable excuse for Ireland not to add our voice to this
France and Germany have joined a group of 10 EU countries that called for green recovery last week.
Ireland is not among the countries reaffirming support for the
#GreenNewDeal
@newschambers
Now Irish Government must step up & do their part by joining
@WHO
& 100 other countries in support of a temporary
#TRIPSwaiver
to allow massive scale up global manufacture & access to vaccines! A few EU countries including Ireland blocking essential emergency action to save lives
I for one will be very disappointed if church & specific congregations involved not held morally, financially & if necessary, criminally, responsible for role they played in both running
#motherandbabyhomes
& pushing women into them. Church & State both carry responsibility.
This is disingenuous. The Minister already has the power to order inspections under Article 8 of the 1973 and 1989 regulations and he needs to use those powers immediately.
I want to see random checks on civil aircraft and I will sit down with my officials and with legal experts over the coming months to make sure that new legislation is developed that is watertight, is workable, and is compliant with international aviation law.
Ivan: "What has the Seanad ever done for a mother of three in Tallaght?"
Gary: "Such as
@SenLynnRuane
, who's a mother of two in Tallaght, who's been an amazing addition to the Seanad."
@1GaryGannon
with the answer of the night on the topic of Seanad reform.
#TonightVMTV
@oconnellhugh
@MichealMartinTD
@Paul_S_Clarkson
No it’s not & TBH those self-indulgent takes on politics are well past sell by date. It’s not sport, not business & not about scoring points or personal highs. It should be about representing people, having an impact on decisions that matter & shaping how we all live together
@1GaryGannon
I tried to reduce tax breaks for golf in finance bill in last Seanad & fought pretty intensely against rezoning of heritage areas as golf courses...so don’t think I’m membership material! Happy enough to stick to the swimming & hula-hooping & occasional hill rolling for now!
Any & every political representative should be concerned about proposal to introduce Investor Courts because it’s a radical move that attaches new legal & financial liabilities to our future political decisions. Will mean a lots more ”Can’t be done because AG advice/legal advice”
The language in Mother & Baby Homes Report “is not ‘legalistic’, it is defensive”. I spoke in
#Seanad
about State & Church accountability, absence of human rights approach (highlighted by
@IHREC
) & need now for action led by voices of survivors This must be end of old excuses 1/3
Ireland just elected to non-permenant seat in the UN Security Council! A huge honour & responsibility, We must to be a strong independent voice for peace, human rights & multilateralism over big power politics. Well done
@irishmissionun
& congrats also to
@UnKenya
#UNSCelections
I called for an urgent debate on Shannon LNG terminal in the Seanad today. The project, which would provide for import of fracked gas, is totally at odds with climate targets & ban on fracked gas in Ireland. The gov have until tomorrow to remove it from the list of European PCIs.
This week myself and
@SeanadCEG
colleagues wrote to the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste urging the Government to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
You can read the letter below 👇
The Wildlife Bill debate is about to resume in the Seanad. I have many amendments in to the bill and will be pressing for protection for our bog habitats so they can continue to play an essential role in carbon sequestration, biodiversity, climate action and cultural heritage.
Right decision to pull this from schedule but it really doesn’t seem clear that Eamon Ryan has mandate to iterate, let alone reiterate, support for CETA given his party’s clear historic policy & fact it was taken out of PFG.
Confirmed that the CETA debate is being pulled from tomorrow’s Dáil schedule - but coalition leaders say they “reiterated” their support for CETA and are only putting off the debate so that a longer one can take place in the New Year
@gavreilly
97% of AstraZeneca-Oxford development publicly funded. Moderna almost all public funding, Pfizer-BionTech development got €500,000 from German Gov - WHO initiatives like GAVI COVAX & ACTAccelerator were key to coordination. Myth that innovation on vaccines must be profit-driven
Important to know - if we don't get a Yes to
#RepealThe8th
then legislators like me can do absolutely nothing to help women & families needing terminations for tragic medical reasons - no matter how our heart might break for them.
Just won my amendment to Social Welfare Bill by 1 vote! (19-18) Requires Dept to produce report on supports for one parent families where child over 14. Teenagers cost more & need support yet those families can become invisible in system & face huge €100 drop in income disregard
Officially a candidate for re-election in
#SE2020
! Nomination papers lodged with Attracta Halpin of
@NUI
I’m running as a progressive, independent Senator with strong voice on equality, environment, public services & record of driving debate & shaping laws!
Plinth launch of my
#QualityPublicProcurement
Bill. Ireland spends €12 billion on goods, services & works contracts each year & too often awards them on ‘price only’ without proper thought for standards, sustainability or track-record. We need to put quality at heart of process!
In the last Seanad, I fought hard to keep 6 months of year free from hedgecutting & safe for nesting birds/pollinators. It looks like we may face the same battle again in the next Oireachtas. - I’m asking NUI voters for their
#1
vote & in meantime, if you see cutting, report it!
A timely reminder from Birdwatch Ireland - if you witness hedge cutting or scrub burning after 1st March, video it, get reg. no. of any vehicles & call Gards / NPWS - Hedge-cutting and scrub-burning prohibited from 1st March
In
#Seanad
today I highlighted a number of serious problems with the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes BIll - on Friday I will be proposing over 20 amendments on right to information for adopted people & right to justice for survivors of institutional abuse
Brilliant brilliant news! The United States will support a
#TRIPSwaiver
-there can no longer be any excuse for EU to block this measure to support urgent global scaling-up of vaccine manufacture & access. Ireland &
@EU_Commission
MUST support
#TRIPSwaiver
&
#CTAP
#PeoplesVaccine
!
These extraordinary times and circumstances of call for extraordinary measures.
The US supports the waiver of IP protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help end the pandemic and we’ll actively participate in
@WTO
negotiations to make that happen.
👇 Important👇This is far from over, these files cannot be sealed & will remain subject to GDPR including Article 15 requests for personal information. The Gov & Minister as data controller will need to either demonstrate they understand that or they will face litigation & lose
Now, you may or may not know, I don’t tend to go for Care Bears and rainbows.
But, if I may cautiously advance it, with all the usual caveats, I would like to say to people upset at the final vote on the Mother & Baby home Bill-
This is neither finished nor as dark as it seems
“We’re leaving people on this planet - with hundreds of times more likelihood of dying from COVID - unvaccinated.”
Dr Mike Ryan of the World Health Organisation with an impassioned call on vaccine inequality.
@VirginMediaNews
#COVID19
Two COVID-19 cases in two different Direct Provision centres this evening + multiple reports of overcrowding & management companies blocking residents attempts at social distancing. Minister
@CharlieFlanagan
can & should start to
#MoveThemOut
- starting with the most vulnerable!
Doctor describes direct provision centres as “powder kegs for Covid-19” and says Government cannot not call for social distancing while centres for asylum seekers remain “hopelessly overcrowded”.
Delighted to see Jacinta Arden returned with such an incredible mandate for compassionate, imaginative, leftwing, leadership that prioritises public services, social solidarity & long term thinking!
So government want Land Development Agency gathering up public land & giving lots of it away to private developers to ‘help supply for aspiring homeowners’. Yet NAMA, a state-established body with stockpile of already-built homes, continuing to pass them on to investment funds!
The State’s National Asset Management Agency (Nama) is close to signing off on the bulk sale of 69 apartments in Malahide, Co Dublin, to a UK-based investment fund.
The motion on annexation in Palestine has PASSED!! All parties supported!! I’m over the moon!! Ireland is the first country in the world to label Israel’s illegal settlements and land grab as a de facto annexation of Palestinian land. Thank you 🙏 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
In last Oireachtas myself &
@SenLynnRuane
won amendments to put vet on greyhound board & require rehoming. But greyhound racing still has indefensibly cruel industrial breeding & killing of 1000s of dogs. I strongly support
@HollyCairnsTD
call to reduce massive public subsidies!
Disgraceful that EU joined forces with USA to actively block
#TRIPSWaiver
at
@wto
meeting. That temporary waiver would have allowed massive scale up of vaccine production, saved millions of lives & protected healthcare workers on the global front line. Shameful & heartbreaking 💔
In the 5 months that the US, EU, UK & others have blocked wider vaccine production globally, some 1.5 million people have died of COVID-19.
How many more will die because of this unconscionable policy?
Quarantine for those arriving at airports, often in designated hotels, has been a key feature in most countries which have managed to suppress the virus - urge government to listen to
@ISAGCOVID19
on this.
Case outlined in detail by
@ISAGCOVID19
for strict quarantine... combined with compliance on other measures it's the quickest way to some normality and to avoid 4th Covid surge via
@IrishTimes
One of the most important achievements of the outgoing Seanad was our collective work in cooperation with NGOs to ensure Coercive Control got recognised as an offence in the Domestic Violence Act - this week saw the first conviction under that offence.
The first conviction for
#Coercivecontrol
in Ireland: “Coercive Control involves an abusive person gaining or maintaining influence over another person by subjecting them to psychological, physical, sexual or financial abuse.”
@CoCoAwareness
Opposing the 27th amendment was one of my first campaigns when I moved back to Ireland in 2004 from the US (where so many Irish had citizen children) The result was so depressing & diminished us as a republic. As predicted, it has created fear & distress for so many families.
And like them, so many other kids living in limbo... This is the legacy of the 27th amendment.
There are many possible solutions to prevent Irish children being deported. It only takes political will.
If you haven’t voted yet & now it’s rainy & miserable...wrap up well & get to that polling station anyway!! Think of the canvassers who faced into the weather every evening & the decisions that are going to matter in the next few years. Use your VOTE &
#TransferLeft
-
#GE2020
My
#MandateForNature
Bill just passed 2nd stage in Seanad!🍃It empowers ambitious climate & biodiversity action from Coillte & Bord na Mona who control 8% of State land. I’ll be pushing Bill to Committee soon, Time now for Gov to act & avoid locking-in narrow commercial approach
On this
#InternationalWomensDay
women in Poland are fighting a dangerous rollback on reproductive rights. Myself & other members of All-Party group on Reproductive Rights took stand in solidarity. Women in Ireland know the impact of these cruel laws
@EPF_SRR
#IWD21
#StrakjKobiet
Interview makes it very clear, they have no intention of giving sick pay unless we legislate to make them. Also a reminder of why government MUST legislate to implement sectoral employment orders, tackle insecure hours & false/forced self employment & ensure union recognition
This is from the horse's mouth. Agencies that supply the meat factories don't have to pay sick pay because it is not the law. The meat factories don't do it either because they don't have to. This has to change.
Bill has unfortunately just passed 22-16 & Minister did not accept amendments from myself &
@SenLynnRuane
to address need to ensure access to personal information under GRPR & ensure witnesses get copies of their own statements.
#Stand4Truth
I managed to submit a few last ‘amendments to amendments’ before final
#MotherAndBabyHomes
debate in
#Seanad
today- would require 1)Minister to arrange for processing of GDPR information requests & 2)Commission to offer witnesses copies of their own statements before it dissolves