Hugh O'Connell
@oconnellhugh
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👨💻 Political Editor 📰 The Sunday Times ( @ST__Ireland ) 📕 Pandemonium: Power, Politics and Ireland's Pandemic 📧 DMs open
Dublin, Ireland
Joined December 2008
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Last Seen Profiles
Pinned Tweet
🚨 The big read on a tense week
💥Asylum arrivals hit new record - 600 arrivals in a week
💥The meme circulating in government
💥 Dublin waits for “serious” Keir Starmer and a Labour government
Inside the latest Anglo-Irish spat 👇
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This man just stopped on his scooter to tell Simon Harris that he was the best health minister the country has ever had and is a future Taoiseach
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Extraordinary speech from Leo Varadkar.
I'd say that was the defining moment of his political career except, as he said himself, this is the calm before the storm.
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A text from a Fine Gael TD: "She can make another personal injury claim now, for a fucking car crash."
#TodaySOR
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Some result.
Poll shows 86 per cent of people in the Republic opt for a united Ireland over a hard border
#cblive
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Unbelievable. No fada on RTÉ.
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🚨Gardaí have upgraded their initial inquiries into Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s leaking of a confidential Government document to a friend into a full investigation.
More in tomorrow’s Sunday Independent
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NEW: Taoiseach confronted in Mallow by this man who says his "Tory boy" policies make him the "reincarnation of Margaret Thatcher".
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Breaking: May secures crucial endorsement from the Healy-Raes
I believe that at this critical juncture in the Brexit process, Theresa May is the right person to deliver on the neogtiated deal with the EU and I hope that today’s events will reflect this.
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Leo Varadkar today: "What we do not do is post on Facebook pictures of our Ministers visiting them and handing out food to the poor."
Eoghan Murphy yesterday:
Our new volunteer
@MurphyEoghan
wasted no time after being trained in our delivery process to deliver our Woodstock
#MealsOnWheels
in
#Ranelagh
- today we cooked and served 44 meals. 🌟 Some
#Over70
residents enjoyed getting out to walk in the sunshine
📸
#TomMaherMultiMedia
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Fine Gael PP has unanimously agreed to readmit three Senators who lost the whip over their attendance at the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner last year.
Decision made around the same time Mother and Baby Homes report was published.
Good day to bury bad news, you might say...
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Ireland to receive ‘several billion euro’ as part of an EU plan to redistribute profits from energy providers
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Eoghan Murphy needs the barbers open more than any other member of the Government
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I asked the Chief Medical Officer three times how many people are still waiting for tests.
No answer.
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Taoiseach takes a walk through the lingerie section
Unclear if it’s the largest in Ireland or not.
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As a former resident of Portobello this is without question one of the stupidest things I've ever seen and a completely unacceptable way for a local authority to behave in the midst of a pandemic where the very clear public health advice is for people to meet outdoors.
Unfortunately Portobello Plaza is closed this weekend & we appeal to the public not to come here. We are aware of the importance of public spaces but some behaviour at this location in recent weeks has been completely unacceptable.
#Portobello
#Dublin
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Justice Minister Heather Humphreys, who has yet to hold a full press conference on the biggest cyber attack in the history of the State, will hold an event tomorrow...
... to make an announcement regarding the 2021 SuperValu TidyTowns Competition.
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Holly Cairns kicks off her term as leader of the Social Democrats by telling the Taoiseach: "I am a member of the first ever generation that will be worse off than our parents."
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"I am not a public health expert," says the Taoiseach towards the end of a press conference that has arguably been the most confusing from the Government so far.
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Flowers and tributes at a Savita Halapannavar mural on South Richmond Street in Portobello
#8thRef
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Alan Kelly to Stephen Donnelly just now: "Simon Harris is going around like an Emeritus Minister for Health... he’s not giving you too much space, but I’m sad to say it I'm actually in a way glad he is, because at least there's some projection of confidence and consistency."
🔥
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Great scoop by
@maevemctaggart
here 👇
Revealed: Fine Gael devotes more of its Twitter time to digs at Sinn Féin than any other issue, including housing and healthcare
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NEW: Robert Troy said all his properties are compliant with all regulations, including fire.
But we can reveal that a property he co-owns, where one-beds are being let for over €1,500, is being investigated by Dublin City Council for alleged unauthorised development
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The ESRI effectively backs Sinn Féin housing policy
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Back to work today after some extended leave.
Had a very good reason to be off these last few weeks.
Thanks to
@meogan
and all the amazing
@RotundaHospital
staff for ensuring our beautiful baby girl arrived safely into the world. She is thriving, as they say.
What’d I miss?
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He has resigned but today we reveal that Robert Troy sought tax breaks for landlords who rent property to local authorities.
He was one such landlord at the time
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President Michael D Higgins, sat in front of a Starry Plough monument to socialist workers, suggesting that frontline workers are not being paid enough 👀
#LateLateShow
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Michael Healy Rae to Leo: "Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, it makes no difference because you're both now.
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Taoiseach announcing €530m from EU to allow Ireland and France to connect electricity markets. Varadkar says it's important with Brexit.
"We didn't expect to get quite this much," he says. "€530m is pretty huge."
750MW interconnector to be completed by the end of 2020s.
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Earlier
@jerrybuttimer
and
@AlanFarrell
said I was wrong to report Fine Gael delegates had clapped when the DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson called for Ireland to rejoin the Commonwealth
Well here's the video from
@aoifegracemoore
of
@PA
that proves otherwise
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NEW: Peter Casey says he will running for president again in 2025 and calls for a temporary ban on all immigration, including from EU.
He calls for tighter controls on immigration more generally as “open borders” are “totally destroying Irish culture”.
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The Taoiseach pulling out a massive sheet of paper as he tries to explain lifting the lockdown doesn't inspire confidence...
#LateLateShow
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SOR: Did you have items in both hands?
Bailey: "That would have been a case for a judge to adjudicate on."
Oh christ
#todaysor
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Former Fine Gael mayor Darren Scully, who once said he wasn't going to represent black Africans in his constituency, has lost his council seat in Naas
#LE19
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A DUP source says they do not see how the party can support the deal following Cox legal advice.
Game over, it would seem.
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Go on then. How many times have you watched this today?
Things I’d never thought I’d see on the BBC - a stirring rendition of ‘Come Out, Ye Black and Tans’. Watch until the end for the punchline
#ThisTime
#Partridge
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Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said the delivery of Easter eggs is not an essential journey
This would appear to contradict Simon Harris's claim yesterday that the Easter Bunny had clearance to deliver eggs this weekend.
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An example, perhaps, of campaigning in poetry, and governing in prose
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Sinn Féin has deleted thousands of media statements that go back nearly two decades from its website in recent days
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Richard Boyd Barrett suggests junior ministers at Cabinet should get a round of applause instead of a €16k pay increase
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Sinn Féin calls for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador to Ireland.
Worth noting this comes less than four years after McDonald herself condemned the Irish government for expelling a Russian diplomat after the Salisbury poisonings.
It is clear that significantly strenthened sanctions on Russia are needed. The situation has now reached a point where this must include the expulsion of the Russian Amabassador to Ireland.
#russianinvasion
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The very best of luck to all the politicians who’ll be wishing students the very best of luck in their Junior and Leaving Cert exams today and tomorrow
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Bad journalism has real consequences 👇
Special security put in place for Algerian man wrongly identified as suspect for Parnell Square stabbings
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Sinn Féin leader
@MaryLouMcDonald
has announced plans for a series of public rallies over the next two weeks to bring the conversation about a Government for Change to the people".
Events taking place in Cork, Dublin, Newry, Cavan and Galway.
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🚨Some personal news: After three brilliant years at the
@sundaybusiness
I am finishing up there in the next few weeks.
I am delighted to say that I will be joining the fantastic political team at
@Independent_ie
next month.
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“A Health Minister who is overly sensitive to criticism, lacking in empathy, and whose condescending approach has alienated and annoyed party and Coalition colleagues, Department officials and Opposition TDs.”
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Fine Gael ministerial doorstep ends as Cork water service workers begin a protest outside the think-in venue in Kilkenny
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In tomorrow’s Sunday Independent we reveal details of a Fine Gael politician calling to a constituent’s home at night to confront them over a social media post.
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Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald says the Taoiseach and Tánaiste's backing of Mr Troy in recent days "casts very serious questions on their judgement and those are questions that will not go away as a result of this action".
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So the AG has been drafted in to retrospectively green light Katherine Zappone's 50-person Merrion Hotel party attended by the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
Omnishambles doesn't quite cover it...
Re: Zappone/Varadkar party - The Government has now issued a statement saying outdoor social events can have up to 200 people in attendance.
Which seems odd after all this time... because that suggests you can have 200 at your wedding so long as it's outdoors!
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Extraordinary stuff: Fine Gael Minister Damien English resigns within 24 hours of a story by The Ditch which showed he did not disclose his ownership of a house when applying to build another house 14 years ago.
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BREAKING: Chief medical officer Tony Holohan will not take up a new academic position at Trinity College Dublin and is to leave the public service
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John Delaney texting his mates to say he's stepping down rather than telling the rest of us is the most John Delaney thing ever
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This ‘Sinn Féin should take their Westminster seats’ stuff is getting very tiring.
The bottom line is they don’t have a mandate to do it. People in the North knew what they were voting for last year and it wasn’t for SF to oppose Brexit and vote in the House of Commons.
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🚨 RTÉ has used its controversial barter account system for €1.6 million in client entertainment and corporate hospitality over the last decade - nearly €400,000 more than previously disclosed.
This information just landed in from RTÉ at 11.16pm.
Chaos.
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My 66-year-old father, who lives in the UK and has no underlying health conditions, is getting his first vaccine dose on Thursday.
According to our current, very unclear timetable, it will be April, May or June before people in same cohort in Ireland will get their first jab 😐
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This is pretty extraordinary
Amidst a major housing crisis, nearly €500m or around a third of the housing budget for first nine months of 2022 wasn't spent
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In his interview with Pat Kenny, Leo Varadkar coins a new term for Sinn Féin: "Spin Féin"
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Brendan Howlin tells
@morningireland
that Take Back The City is "not something I'd associate myself with".
That really does sum up why Labour are where they are right now...
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CONFIRMED: Phase 5 of reopening roadmap is being scrapped. Country will reopen on July 20.
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Doctor quits Twitter after PR consultant claiming to be ‘close confidante’ of Health Minister said he was undermining his clinical role
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Stephen Donnelly paid Conor Dempsey €3,800 for working on his breakthrough election campaign – despite repeatedly claiming the PR consultant was working for him “completely free”.
He has refused to clarify the nature of his relationship with Dempsey
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🚨Holohan on the events of last Sunday: "Whoever was responsible for that leak did not share our objective to deal with the disease in the way that we think appropriate."
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An Irishman, a Cork man, an Oscar winner, but more importantly Cillian Murphy is a Red 🔴
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Shane Ross on Newstalk confuses Shane Long with Shay Given and calls Stephen Kenny 'Shane Kenny'
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BREAKING: Labour leader Alan Kelly apologises after being pictured on the Luas not wearing a face mask last night.
He says he was distracted while watching Man United's Champions League exit
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In the Dáil, Danny Healy-Rae notes that the Taoiseach thanked the Chinese government for the delivery of PPE equipment earlier this week.
"I would have thanked the Chinese as well if they'd have kept their virus," he adds.
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🚨Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll shows major gains for SocDems - but Sinn Féin at 18-month low.
Behold, the Holly Cairns effect 👀
SF 29 (-2)
FG 21 (-1)
FF 19 (+1)
SD 9 (+5)
GP 4 (-)
S-PBP 2 (-1)
Aontú 3 (-1)
Lab 3 (-1)
Ind/Oth 10 (-)
Poll taken Friday
MoE: 2.9%
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This is acceptable under the current circumstances, yes?
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Éamon Ó Cuív says Fianna Fáil needs a change of leader.
So it begins.
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Takes the Germans to ask the former Taoiseach questions he has managed to avoid in Ireland for most of the last six years
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Boris on the border: “It’s so small and there are so few firms that actually use that border regularly, it’s just beyond belief that we’re allowing the tail to wag the dog in this way. We’re allowing the whole of our agenda to be dictated by this folly.”
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Leo Varadkar tells Pearse Doherty: "You're not a stupid man... you say those things because you think other people are stupid."
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Fine Gael has spent the past week dissing the recommendations of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare.
Turns out the party never even made a submission for the commission to consider
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The Fianna Fáil mayor of Donegal benefited from a €41,000 county council grant to build a driveway up to his house after an application was submitted in his mother’s name
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Holly Cairns — who said ministers don’t understand the cost-of-living crisis because they can “pay for everything” — has sought planning permission to build a home twice the size of an average 3-bed house
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Justice Minister Helen McEntee has announced she is expecting a baby next year.
She will be the first Cabinet minister in the history of the State to be pregnant while in office
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Text from a Fine Gael TD: "You’ll be able to fit our parliamentary party in one of these 'trendy boutique hotel rooms' if Murphy keeps this up."
🎬:
#COLIVING
:
"It's like staying in a trendy boutique hotel," Minister for Housing
@MurphyEoghan
describes co-living to
@KieranCuddihy
.
Full interview here:
@FineGael
@RebuildingIRL
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Taoiseach meeting voters in Cavan.
A civilised exchange with childcare workers was followed by this
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Having been out covering a canvass this evening I have decided that I will throw my full support behind whichever party enshrines in law that elections can only take place between the months of May and August
🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶
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This one slipped out quietly yesterday👇
Roderic O’Gorman rules out ‘dual use’ of D Hotel in Drogheda for asylum seekers and tourists over child safety concerns
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BREAKING: Errors have been discovered with the Leaving Certificate calculated grades system with Minister for Education Norma Foley to make a significant announcement later on Wednesday
Government sources say an emergency helpline is being set up
Statement due at 4pm.
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Alan Shatter throwing a serious amount of shade at Leo Varadkar
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Robert Troy resigns, saying he won't apologise for being a landlord and launches an attack on the media coverage of his property interests.
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NEW: Delighted to be appointed Deputy Political Editor with the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and
@Independent_ie
It's an absolute pleasure to work with the best in the business
@Philip_Ryan
@gataveckaite
@SenanMolony
@JohnDowning2
and all the
@MediahuisIRL
team
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After Google’s
#8thRef
ad ban the No side claimed a conspiracy and told journalists to FOI the Department of Health for any records of correspondence with Google and Facebook about the referendum campaign.
So, I did.
Today the Department told me no such records exist.
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Tense scenes in the Dáil as Leo Varadkar compares Sinn Féin to disastrous Truss regime
He claims it would take only one budget for “Kwasi Doherty” to wreck the economy.
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Good line from Liadh Ní Riada to Sean Gallagher: "Ireland is not a start-up business, Sean."
#Aras18
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This is the letter of congratulations
@WynneTd
got from Leo Varadkar after the birth of her baby girl.
But from her party leader Mary Lou McDonald?
Silence.
“I was in effect ignored,” the ex-SF TD says. “This was something that was making me consider my future in the party.”
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