January 22, 2025: Hildegarde Naughton, Simon Harris, and Micheal Martin speaking to Meida after the first sitting of the new Dail Eireann was suspended.RollingNews.ie

Micheál Martin will have to wait another day to become Taoiseach again after the first sitting of the new Dáil Éireann descended into chaos today, Wednesday, January 22.

Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy was forced to suspend the sitting of the Dáil three times on Monday - first for 15 minutes, then for 30 minutes, and ultimately suspended the sitting until tomorrow morning, January 23.

Rows erupted after Independent TDs, who are supporting the incoming coalition Government, were set to be afforded the same speaking rights in the Dáil as members of the Opposition.

The proposed arrangement was rinsed by TD Mary Lou McDonald, head of Sinn Féin, who accused coalition partners Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of placing their "Independent cronies" on the Opposition benches "to afford to them the same speaking rights as genuine parties of Opposition who, remember, are elected here by hundreds of thousands of voters to keep this Government to account."

According to The Journal, Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton said that at the meetings of party whips on Wednesday, there had been an agreement to pass a motion tonight to form a Dáil Reform Committee that would meet for the first time tomorrow and to resolve the issue of the speaking rights row.

However, “all bets were off," she said, when the Dáil resumed and the Opposition once again protested the proceedings.

According to RTÉ News, Opposition leaders and their party whips are due to meet this evening to discuss the suspension of the Dáil and their strategy for Thursday.

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In normal circumstances, the Taoiseach is nominated and elected on the day of the first sitting of a new Dáil.

In Ireland's General Election in November, Fianna Fáil won the most seats in the Dáil, followed by Sinn Féin and then Fine Gael.

No one party ran enough candidates to win an outright majority of the Dáil seats that were up for grabs.

As such, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - who both previously vowed not to go into coalition with Sinn Féin - teamed up to form a coalition. However, the two parties still needed support from Independent TDs to claim a majority of Dáil seats and control of the Government.

As leader of the the party that won the most seats, Micheál Martin is set to become Taoiseach. The outgoing Tánaiste and Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs, who previously served as Taoiseach from June 2020 through December 2022, reportedly had enough support to win the role.

However, the rows that erupted in the Dáil on Wednesday prevented the nomination and election from going forward.

After being elected, the Taoiseach then nominates a deputy (the Tánaiste) and a cabinet of ministers who take charge of the departments of government.

"Farcical"

Speaking after the final suspension of the day, Simon Harris, the outgoing Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, described the day as "utterly farcical."

"The people's representatives gathered to start their Constitutional duty and obligation to elect a Taoiseach and to elect a Government," he told reporters.

"There was a clear majority of the people's representatives ready, willing to elect Micheál Martin as Taoiseach and to elect the next Government and get on with the people's work, and there is much work to do.

"Instead, what we saw was an effort to obstruct, an effort to shout down, an effort to disrespect the Ceann Comhairle and her Constitutional office, and ultimately preventing a majority of the democratically-elected representatives of Dáil Eireann to discharge their duty and their mandate to elect a Taoiseach.

"Today was unprecedented, unseemly, and tomorrow, Dáil Eireann must reconvene and must elect a Taoiseach and get on with the urgent work."

Harris later added: "What happened today was stunt politics, on speed, led by Mary Lou McDonald."

"Subversion"

Micheál Martin, who is poised to become the next Taoiseach, said: "What we witnessed today was the subversion of the Irish Constitution.

"The most fundamental obligation of the Dáil is to elect a Taoiseach and, indeed, to elect a Government.

"That opportunity was denied today by premeditated, coordinated, and choreographed position by the opposition, and particularly by Sinn Féin party.

"There was numerous attempts to facilitate agreement. At various times, people thought agreements had been arrived at, and it became very clear to us that there was no intention, ever, to reach agreement on the nomination of a Taoiseach or a Government today.

"This is the first time I think in over 100 years that the Dáil has failed to elect a Government, to fulfill its Constitutional obligation.

"There is nothing more fundamental that the Dáil has to do - is obliged to do - than elect a Government. Any other issues pale in significance in comparison to that fundamental obligation.

"The people have voted in a general election. There was a majority of the people's representatives in Dáil Eireann today prepared to elect a Government. They were denied the opportunity to vote.

"That is a fundamental subversion of our Constitution and of our democracy. And it is unacceptable and unprecedented."