The 79 TDs who voted in favour of Ireland’s opt-in to the EU Migration and Asylum Pact have been revealed, following a vote in the Dáil last night.
A total of 72 TDs voted against Ireland’s opt-in to the legislation – meaning it passed by a narrow seven votes. A total of 151 TDs voted, meaning nine elected representatives did not cast a vote.
They were Deputies Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Féin), Duncan Smith (Labour), Jennifer Whitmore (Social Democrats), John McGuinness (Fianna Fáil), Josepha Madigan (Fine Gael), Joe Carey (Fine Gael), Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour), and Joan Collins (Independents 4 Change) and Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Ceann Comhairle – who does not vote).
Members of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party voted in favour of the pact, which means Ireland will now accept a set number of asylum seekers or face financial penalties from the EU.
All 12 members of the Green Party – Patrick Costello, Francis Noel Duffy, Neasa Hourigan, Brian Leddin, Catherine Martin, Steven Matthews, Malcolm Noonan, Joe O’Brien, Roderic O’Gorman, Eamon Ryan, Ossian Smyth, and Marc Ó Cathasaigh voted in favour of opting in to the pact.
Of Fianna Fáil’s 36 TDs, all voted for the pact, apart from two – John McGuinness and Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Ceann Comhairle – who does not vote) – who did not vote. All members of Fine Gael, bar two – Deputies Joe Carey and Josepha Madigan – who did not cast a vote, voted in favour of opting in.
Meanwhile, Peadar Tóibín, Party leader of Aontú, Independent Ireland’s three TDs, 35 members of Sinn Féin, and a large number of Independent TDs voted against opting in to the legislation, which was subject to heated debate this week and last. All five of People Before Profit’s TDs – Mick Barry, Richard Boyd Barrett, Paul Murphy, Gino Kenny, and Brid Smith, also voted against the pact, along with the Social Democrats’ five TDs. Jennifer Whitmore was the only Soc Dems TD who did not vote against the pact, with a vote for her unrecorded.
Of Labour’s seven TDs, five voted against the pact – Ivana Bacik, Brendan Howlin, Alan Kelly, Ged Nash, and Sean Sherlock. Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who is now an MEP for Dublin, but remains a TD until mid-July, did not vote, along with his Labour Party colleague Deputy Duncan Smith.
A vote is not recorded for Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, despite McDonald voicing opposition to the Pact in the Dáil recently.
All 18 Independent TDs voted against the pact. They were Cathal Berry, Sean Canney, Michael Collins, Catherine Connolly, Michael Fitzmaurice, Peter Fitzpatrick, Noel Grealish, Marian Harkin, Danny Healy-Rae, Michael Healy-Rae, Michael Lowry, Marc MacSharry, Mattie McGrath, Michael McNamara, Verona Murphy, Denis Naughten, Carol Nolan, Richard O’Donoghue, Thomas Pringle, and Matt Shanahan.
Deputy Joan Collins, an Independents 4 Change TD, did not vote.
Deputy John McGuinness of Fianna Fáil, along with Party colleague Seán Ó Fearghaíl, did not vote.
There were no abstentions.
‘A POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’
In a press statement on Thursday, Laois Offaly TD Carol Nolan, one of the TDs who opposed the pact, described the narrow margin of the vote as “the crack through which chaos will enter.”
The Independent TD described the Dáil’s approval of the controversial EU Asylum and Migration Pact by a vote of 79 to 72 as “a political earthquake that will escalate the breakdown in social cohesion and trust by further removing national decision-making capacity on the issues to the European Union.”
Deputy Nolan went on to say that the close nature of the vote also “highlighted the absurdity of recent ministerial and Government rhetoric to the effect that anyone opposing the approval of the Pact was motivated by a racist or so-called far right agenda.”
“By the narrowest of margins this Government has embarked upon a policy agenda that does not have the meaningful consent of the Irish people and which has at all times lacked even the appearance of public consultation. That kind of democratic deficit cannot be smoothed over or wished away by a vote in the Dáil,” said Deputy Nolan.
“I and indeed the handful of my colleagues who have consistently worked to change the narrative on these issues, so that it reflects the views of ordinary people, remain dedicated to exposing these shivering sell-outs who have now conceded one of the greatest transfers of national sovereignty to the EU in a generation,” she said.
Meanwhile, another firm opponent of the pact, leader of Independent Ireland, Deputy Michael Collins, said that the voting through of the pact was “against the will of the Irish people, kicking democracy in the teeth.”
Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR said in a statement on Thursday that it welcomed the vote in favour of opting in to the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.
“The Government has committed to a fair and efficient asylum process,” it said on Thursday.