A SHORTAGE OF speaking rights has not hindered Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) from carrying out her duties as a Clare TD, she maintained.
Of the 22 Independents sitting in the Dáil, Violet-Anne is the only one not part of a technical group. The rural independents, the regional group and the independent group, the latter of which includes Clare TD Michael McNamara (IND) were formed in February 2020.
However, recent weeks have seen Deputy Wynne linked with a move to The Labour Party which she later labelled “a storm in a teacup”.
Chairperson of the Labour branch in Clare, Denis Vaughan said the reports were “speculative and conjectural. Secondly, It is the Clare Labour Party alone that will select candidates for both the Local Elections and the General Election. We do not want this ongoing speculation to divert public opinion from the immediate task we see before us in our county. We will continue to campaign on behalf of all Clare people for decency, justice and equality. We will campaign for proper housing for all and to stop evictions”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Violet-Anne remarked of the speculation, “I can’t tell what’s going to come into in the future but as we stand now at the moment there is no conversation even happening. So nothing has changed from when I spoke about this last week. It’s still very much the same. Ivana was just very approachable and very I suppose she was always kind of looking out for me when I came back especially. And so that’s really all that was about”.
She noted that securing speaking rights has been a difficulty. “I’m happy as an independent for all the reasons I’ve already mentioned before, but I think when it comes to speaking rights, that there is a difficulty there for independents that aren’t aligned, and I suppose, you know, we’ve been coming up or coming or facing that kind of issue every week, but we just made a request. And you know, we’ve been very lucky, I suppose, in the sense that some grouping, most often one in particular, but, you know, there will be groupings that will afford me at least a minute or two minutes. It’s still very restrictive.
“I suppose when you’re trying to get a lot on a particular issue out and contribute to in that way, so that can be a little bit difficult bringing down the information to be in only one or two minutes but other than that, like you know I’m enjoying being an independent and not having I suppose a party almost restricting in some ways, you know, you can, I suppose better look after people’s issues and follow up on them a lot better as well”.
When asked if she would not have been tempted to join any of the independent technical groups, Deputy Wynne responded, “Well, I think, so when I came back, the idea was, I was just going to get my bearings and so for myself, it was going to be independent and nothing else. So, you know, because I’m facing that issue or I’m speaking bids, I have considered aligning myself but that’s as far as I’ve gone, as in considering is because it’s outweighing I suppose being able to raise effectively issues for your constituents, but being able to represent them at the same time, so I suppose it’s just about finding a balance there. But at the moment I am still very much an independent and very happy to stay as an independent”.
Lack of speaking time does not dilute her ability to carry out her duties, she said. “There’s lots of other opportunities. So you would have ministers on a rota and they take oral questions on a weekly basis. And that gives a great opportunity for you to be able to raise the issue properly, because you get so many minutes and then the government minister responds and then you get to go back as well, so it’s a bit of an interaction. So in that way, as far as we’ve tailored our work to focus on, you know those ministers that are present, and when they’re present, and just hoping then that our question does fall on the written paper and will be reached then with the minister but so no, I don’t think it really hinders me in that sense, because there is so many other opportunities and then there’s topical questions as well that we can be submitted and so”.
