McEntee to face vote of no confidence

Sinn Féin have confirmed they will table a vote of no confidence in Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.

The move, first floated in the immediate aftermath of the riots on November 23rd, was officially confirmed by party leader Mary Lou McDonald today.

In a video posted on social media, McDonald said “we cannot have a Justice Minister who refuses to acknowledge the political failures that allowed our communities to become unsafe.”

“Sinn Féin has been forced to put down a motion of no-confidence in the Minister for Justice because this Government is not listening.”

She said that McEntee not removing Garda Commissioner Drew Harris from office was a factor in her party tabling the vote of no confidence.

Minister of State Neale Richmond told RTÉ said the move came as “no surprise,” claiming that Sinn Féin had no confidence in McEntee or Harris before they took up their roles.

A scramble will ensure in the coalition parties to ensure that there are no rebels voting against the Government, as the Irish Independent have widely reported Fianna Fáil backbenchers do not have confidence in McEntee’s performance.

It is understood that some in Fianna Fáil do not wish to be tied to the unpopularity of McEntee, and they fear that being tied to an unpopular member of Government would affect their chances of re-election.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was bullish in his defence of McEntee in the Dáil during the week, saying “Minister McEntee has seen how much work she can get done as Minister for Justice and she’ll be doing plenty more.”

He said that while a vote of no confidence in a Minister is within the democratic playbook and normal, calling for the removal of the Garda Commissioner is not something that would be within the realms of electoral politics.

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan, who had Green Party membership removed from her after voting against the coalition on numerous occasions, said she had no confidence in McEntee or Harris.

Hourigan is a TD for Dublin Central, and the constituency covers Parnell Square and O’Connell Street.

Social Democrats and Labour have stated they will vote no confidence in McEntee should Sinn Féin be the ones to propose a vote of no confidence, and People Before Profit’s Bríd Smith said she would also be voting no confidence in the Minister, which implies the rest of her party would also do the same.

Combined, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, Labour, People Before Profit – Solidarity, Right2Change and Aontú have 56 seats, well below the current Government majority of 79.

Therefore opposition parties can’t rely on their own numbers to remove McEntee from her position, and would need Government defections as well as rural Independents to vote against Govermnent.

Rural independents have typically voted with Government on most issues in the current Dáil, meaning that McEntee is likely to survive.

Should McEntee be removed from her position, alarm bells would surely ring for Government, bringing back unpleasant memories of the heave against then-Minister for Health Simon Harris in 2020.

On that occasion, knowing that defeat was imminent after Fianna Fáil members told Varadkar they would break their confidence and supply agreement set out in 2016, Varadkar opted to dissolve the Dáil and call a general election.

The crime issue has become prevalent in Irish politics over the last few months, with most parties now making crime a feature of their election campaign policies, with the likes of health and transport taking a backseat.