Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

She was acting as the Government's Ceann Comhairle, signed, sealed and delivered by Michael Lowry. What we witnessed was an unrivalled partisan display.

The Ceann Comhairle forced through the Government agenda, showing blatant disrespect and contempt for the mandate of the combined Opposition. In forcing through the Government's plan, Verona Murphy took a wrecking ball to the long-established democratic procedures of the Dáil and ripped up the rule book that underpins its functioning. This marked a fundamental departure from established practice, making a mockery of the oath taken by the Ceann Comhairle on assuming office.

Political clashes, robust debate and raised temperatures are all part and parcel of parliamentary politics. We are all used to such battles in this Chamber. However, the Dáil has always functioned through agreement by ensuring that Opposition views, objections or dissent to the content of Dáil business is respectfully given its rightful place. This is not a mere technicality. This is fundamental to how Opposition holds the Government to account for its priorities, legislative agenda and its failures and shortfalls in addressing public need. It is also, crucially, how we endeavour to ensure political balance so that the Dáil does not become a token platform for the Government to railroad through its agenda but rather a place where those elected by the people exercise our duty to keep those in power in check through fair, honest and open debate. It is how accountability is ensured and the interests of the people are protected.

Last Tuesday, the Ceann Comhairle not only undermined that democratic understanding, she demolished it. In quick succession, she made three decisions exposing bias, doing things in her power and, frankly, outside of her power, to ram through the Government's objective of changing the rules of the Dáil to suit themselves. First, she failed to hold a vote to agree Dáil business when a vote was called. The call of "Vótáil" is clearly audible in the Oireachtas footage of proceedings, and a division should have been called as a result. However, the Ceann Comhairle ignored this call, dug in and proceeded to shut down the Opposition.

Second, the Ceann Comhairle chose to cancel Questions on Policy or Legislation. The claim that this decision was made because of continued disruption in the Dáil is demonstrably not true. The claim is clearly contradicted by the official Oireachtas video, which shows that at the resumption of business following a 30-minute suspension, there was no disruption in the Dáil. The Ceann Comhairle was simply hell-bent on rushing ahead to get the Government's plan over the line. Dáil business was dispensed with to achieve the Government's desired outcome.

Third, the Ceann Comhairle failed to put the Government motion to change Dáil rules to a vote. Such was the haste to pass the Government motion, the Ceann Comhairle inadvertently moved the Opposition amendment only. At no point did she put the Government's substantive motion to a formal vote. In her eagerness to get the job done for Micheál Martin, Simon Harris and Michael Lowry, the Ceann Comhairle declared the Government motion to be passed - a motion on which there was no vote. That is astonishing. All of this was done to cheers of approval and a chorus of encouragement from the Government benches. The only holy show on display was the shameless co-ordination and co-operation between the Ceann Comhairle and the Government. It was brazen, arrogant and on display for all to see.

All of this is very serious. Such behaviour was not seen in any previous Dáil. It is change for the worse and deeply destructive. It is a change designed and orchestrated by the Taoiseach and the Government. The failures of the Ceann Comhairle last week raised questions about the legitimacy and legal standing of the business conducted in the Dáil because the rules of the House have not been legitimately changed. Therefore, the farce of Other Members' Questions, scheduled to commence tomorrow, has no standing. The credibility of the Dáil and the democratic underpinnings of this Parliament have been undermined by the actions of the Ceann Comhairle at the behest of the Government. To ignore this reality would make a mockery of our mandate and take the people for fools.

The Ceann Comhairle's position is untenable. Surviving a vote on this motion will not change that fact. The role of Ceann Comhairle demands that whoever occupies the office be impartial, fair and independent. You cannot be a fair, impartial, independent chairperson of the Dáil, having thrown out the democratic rule book to force through whatever Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil want. If you cast aside the need for balance and the rights of the Opposition and our mandates, to do the bidding of Government, we in opposition would be doing the people of Ireland a grave disservice were we to lie down and accept such a farce. The actions of the Ceann Comhairle have been neither impartial nor independent; quite the opposite. The credibility of the Ceann Comhairle lies in tatters. She has lost the confidence of the Opposition. For the Ceann Comhairle to fulfil their duties, they must enjoy the confidence of both the Government and the Opposition. An Teachta Murphy does not and must go. Tá an Ceann Comhairle tar éis a léiriú lena gníomh nach bhfuil sí cothrom, neamhchlaonta nó neamhspleách. An tseachtain seo caite, chuir sí rialacha daonlathacha na Dála faoina cosa chun plean an Rialtais a chur i gcrích chun an socrú suarach leis an Teachta Lowry a chosaint. Tá praiseach déanta aici de mhuinín an Fhreasúra go léir. Caithfidh sí imeacht.

Cui bono? Who benefits? It must be remembered that all of this is rooted in the grubby deal struck between Micheál Martin, Simon Harris and Michael Lowry, a deal in which Deputy Lowry led and marshalled a group of so-called Independent TDs into the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael camp to form a Government. The Lowry group of TDs negotiated, helped to write and agreed the programme for Government. Four of their number assumed ministerial office. They designated themselves as Government TDs by their own actions. The dogs on the street know that they are in the Government camp. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste sought to orchestrate a delusion that they were members of the Opposition. We have said many times - I will say it again - that you simply cannot be in government and in opposition at the same time. However, this is the very farce that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want to ram through to protect their grubby deal with Michael Lowry. What is in this deal? The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have been very coy on this point, so we have to rely on Deputy Lowry himself to tell us, in his own words. This is what he had to say in an interview with Tipperary Livein January. He makes it clear that putting Verona Murphy in as Ceann Comhairle was key to the deal. He said:

I felt it was a good political move to make to put forward Verona Murphy as Ceann Comhairle, and that was really an important and decisive moment because I felt that once she was elected as Ceann Comhairle, and there had to be a lot of political manoeuvring to make that happen but once she was elected as Ceann Comhairle, then that put our regional group in the driving seat for discussions on the formation of a Government.

He went on to say:

I've been working, first of all to get Verona Murphy elected [as Ceann Comhairle], and then to prepare our group's policy position and policy platform in readiness for negotiations, and then we started negotiations, I was the lead negotiator with relation to that. I think we achieved a fantastic result for our group, in that we had a Ceann Comhairle, two Super Junior Ministers, and two Junior Ministers.

There you have it, direct from the horse's mouth. The grubby deal.

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