By Cillian Sherlock, PA
The Taoiseach has insisted he did not call Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald a liar, instead telling the Ceann Comhairle that he had used an Irish phrase for telling a “falsehood” or “untruth”.
It comes after Ms McDonald complained to Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy about comments that Taoiseach Micheal Martin made during Leaders Questions on Wednesday February 12th.
While speaking Irish, Ms McDonald said the Taoiseach had accused her of telling lies, which she has characterised as a “baseless accusation”.
The exchange occurred during a debate on rent pressure zones. Mr Martin claimed there had been inaccuracies in what Ms McDonald had said about Government policy and said: “Ta an Teachta Dala ag insint breaga aris.”
This can be translated to “the TD is telling lies again”, although the Taoiseach contends that “breaga” can alternatively be translated to “untruths” or “falsehoods”.
Sinn Féin representatives called on the Fianna Fáil leader to withdraw the remarks, while Mr Martin said he had not called Ms McDonald a liar.
At the time, Ms Murphy, who is not a fluent Irish speaker, said she could not rule on something she did not hear.
Under Dáil rules, allegations that a TD was guilty of being deceitful are considered disorderly.
Ms McDonald wrote to Ms Murphy to ask her to formally contact the Taoiseach over the request to withdraw the remark.
When asked to review the comments, Mr Martin said he regrets that the matter had arisen.
However, he said: “She claimed that I called her a liar, which I did not. I cannot withdraw a remark I did not make.”
In what he said was an attempt to clarify his comments, he cited a widely used dictionary which offers supporting translations for “breaga” as “untruth” or “false”.
Mr Martin said it was “somewhat hypocrtical” for Sinn Féin to raise the issue, and cited several examples of representatives of the opposition party making accusations of lying against Government figures.
These included Sinn Fein spokesman Matt Carthy directly saying to Mr Martin on May 29th, 2024: “You are a liar.”
Another example involved Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty stating he was “absolutely, fully accusing” Mr Martin of “deliberately misleading the House”. None of Mr Martin’s examples included Ms McDonald.
The Taoiseach said none of his provided examples had been withdrawn. He said there could not be one rule for Sinn Féin and another for the rest.
He further insisted that he had not used Irish to camouflage his comments from Ms Murphy, calling the suggestion “reprehensible”.
Ms Murphy addressed the Dail before Leaders’ Questions on Tuesday and told deputies that she was referring the matters to the committee in a bid to “avoid any further disorder”.
She said: “We need to get on with the business of administering the affairs of the State, rather than arguing endlessly over how we administer the affairs of this House.”
Ms Murphy said the matter of parliamentary language had to be taken seriously.
“I will bring all correspondence to the Committees on Procedure and privileges for their consideration in the broader context of standards in the use of parliamentary language as reference has been made to the liberal use of the word lie in the previous Dail.
“I’m now also laying the correspondence before the Dail, which effectively is a publication for members.”
Ms Murphy also said she would circulate a 2010 report on parliamentary language to see if needs to be re-examined and “made fit for purpose” for the current Dail.
Sinn Féin chief whip Padraig Mac Lochlainn said Mr Martin was “demeaning his office” and called on the Taoiseach to withdraw the remarks.
Mr Martin said he took issue with “what has happened here today”. He added: “I have not been allowed to address this in any shape or form and I have offered.”
