The furore surrounding Irish Water and the introduction of water charges rages on.
Today, the Seanad session was halted 3 times in the space of an hour due to an explosive row brought on by remarks made by Fianna Fail Senator Marc MacSharry.
MacSharry said that former Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan ‘lied to the people.’
Such comment provoked uproar among the Government benches, with some Fine Gael members pouring criticism on MacSharry, who refused to withdraw the offending remark. This led to the first stoppage in the chamber.
Fine Gael senator Cait Keane led the charge against MacSharry, criticizing his attitude towards Phil Hogan and interrupting his speaking time.
When it then came to Ms. Keane’s turn to speak, MacSharry began a counter-attack by continuously interrupting her own speech, which led to the second halting of the afternoon session. This time, stoppage time lasted for about 30 minutes.
MacSharry received flak over his behavior from all angles, except his own camp.
Ms. Keane managed to finish her contribution after the chamber returned, with other senators also speaking.
Senator David Norris raised a complaint then, that only senators from the Government side were given speaking time. He left the house in protest.
There was further uproar then among opposition benches when Fianna Fail Senator Brian O’Domhnaill roared abuse across the chamber and saying ‘bloody disgrace by Fianna Fail and Labour.’
This led to a third and final suspension of the session.