Attendees at one of UCD's Literary and Historical Society's recent debates overwhelmingly voted No Confidence in the current Government, as representatives of all the major parties convened in the Fitzgerald debating chamber.
On Thursday 10 October, 250 somewhat-politically-active UCD students descended on the hallowed benches of the Fitzgerald Chamber to debate the motion put forward by the Literary and Historical Society, ‘This House Has No Confidence in The Government’.
Representatives of all the major political parties in the country were present; Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward, Fianna Fáil Minister Thomas Byrne, and Green Party Minister Ossian Smyth opposed the motion, whilst Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly, Labour Councillor and UCD Lecturer Martha Fanning, Aontú candidate Mairéad Tóibín, and Hugo Mills of The Social Democrats argued in favour of the ‘No Confidence’ motion.
Chairing the night’s debate was former RTÉ Journalist and Broadcaster Sean O’Rourke, who opened proceedings by recounting to the audience an early experience of his as a Political Reporter, whereby he interviewed then Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald. He told the audience that after conducting the interview, he realised that his dictaphone “was blank, not a word”. Not a problem for us here at The University Observer with our ‘Voice Memos’ app.
The three main issues that arose during the debate were housing, the cost-of-living crisis, and the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
Speaking first in support of the motion, Hugo Mills of the Social Democrats argued that the Government’s response to the housing crisis was “nothing short of catastrophic”, whilst arguing that
The Government continues to ignore calls by opposition members and citizens to pass the Occupied Territories Bill.”
Labour councillor Martha Fanning, one of five Dun Laoghaire General Election candidates present at Thursday’s debate, echoed much of Mills’ comments. She opened her speech by declaring, “Is this government failing? Yes, it absolutely is”, before continuing to cite “surplusses the envy of Europe, but public services and infrastructure that should shame us.” Fanning, who lectures in UCD, argued that “Housing-for-all is failing” and that “Labour would invest €7bn of the Apple Tax in housing.” She called for education to be “fully publicly funded; early years all the way up to third-level”, before closing with the statement, “On Gaza, we need to pass the Occupied Territories Bill.”
Speaking in defence of the Government, opposing the motion, former L&H Auditor and Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward took to the podium. Ward argued that, “If you measure Ireland by any International metric, we’re doing incredibly well, and that includes housing” before claiming that “every European country that has a functioning economy has a problem with housing.” He put the question to the room, “If the Government isn’t working for you and that’s what you think, what’s the alternative?” before arguing that the current government has “served this country well.”
After all had delivered their speeches, Senator Ward was asked by The University Observer why Taoiseach Simon Harris doesn’t directly lobby U.S President Joe Bideon to “do more about Palestine?” to which the Senator replied, “He is. He absolutely is.”
When pushed further, Ward interjected,
“I don’t know if you think that Simon Harris can go into the oval office and somehow twist Joe Biden’s arm behind his back and tell him he’s got to do it. We aren’t america, we can’t force america to do what they should do.”
After fifteen minutes of questions, the motion was put to a vote. The 250 students crammed into the chamber overwhelmingly voted in favour of the motion, that the House ‘Has no confidence in The Government.’
Chair Sean O’Rourke thus called the evening’s debate to a close.