theirishtimes--2020-06-14--‘The old lady was glaring about’: When Dublin’s Queen Victoria statue was removed

The end , for Victoria , wasn ’ t particularly dignified .
“ As I watched , another workman appeared , clambering over her head , gripping her sometimes by the nose and occasionally sticking a finger into her disdainful eye .
Perhaps it was just the effect of the glistening rain on the bright , green copper , but it seemed to me that the old lady - never exactly pleasant-looking at the best of times - was glaring about with loathing and disgust.
” So reads an account in The Irish Times of the removal of the controversial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that stood for more than 40 years at Leinster House .
The scenes are described in the Irishman ’ s Diary of the following day , July 23rd , 1948 .
She ’ s depicted on the front page , too - suspended by machinery as people look on .
“ Ministers , ex-Ministers and Dáil deputies stood around in the rain , waiting .
There were crowds on the steps of the Museum and the Library and there were cameras everywhere .
Meanwhile the workmen worked away with that maddeningly measured , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they hold stage .
“ Several times we thought the big moment had come - once she did lurch from her pedestal for a second or two and creak back again - but just as everything was adjusted it would start to pour and everyone would have to rush for shelter.
” In the end , Quidnunc missed the finale .
“ For a while longer I watched the men adjust and readjust the girths around Victoria ’ s middle then I had to go up to the Leinster Bowling Club to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ returned , Victoria was missing from her pedestal.
” The statue was later moved to Kilmainham .
The piece - comical , yet dry and straightforward - unflatteringly describes an audience and spectacle much different to that on the day the statue was erected .
Searching for references to Dublin ’ s statue of Queen Victoria throws up a couple of parallels in the archive of The Irish Times .
There ’ s the statue of Victoria erected in 1939 in Menton , France ; pushed into the sea when the Italians came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ replaced .
Further back , in November 1908 , there was the “ outrage ” at the public gardens in the Indian city of Nagpur , where a statue of the queen was “ mutilated ; the face daubed with tar and the nose and fingers broken.
” In the years between Victoria ’ s visit to Ireland in 1900 and the unveiling of John Hughes ’ s statue in 1908 , mentions of a public fund set up for its commission are plentiful .
In the days before the unveiling , tickets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ price of admittance was one shilling , payable at the front hall of Leinster House .
The aim , said one report , was to thin the anticipated crowd .
The day she was unveiled - February 15th , 1908 - was , like the day she came down , punctuated by rain .
“ The ceremony was made the occasion of an imposing military display , but the lustre of the pageant was to some extent marred by a somewhat heavy shower which fell shortly before the formal part of the proceedings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Detachments of soldiers began to arrive from 2pm , for the unveiling at 3pm .
“ About 1,000 troops were on parade and as the various battalions , dressed in review order , with their bands , arrived on the scene they took up their allotted positions with bayonets fixed , forming a wide circle round the greensward , in the centre of which stood the memorial , with the beauty of its magnificently formed bronze figures as yet unrevealed.
” The string would be pulled , the Lord Lieutenant ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out - as far as the report goes .
The Irish Times hailed the statue as “ a noble addition ” to Dublin ’ s monuments , praising the sculptor John Hughes .
As the years wore on , the lauded aesthetics of the piece would be repeatedly called into question .
As Randolph Churchill wrote in an article published on the front page in November , 1945 : “ The largest and ugliest statue in Dublin is outside the Dáil , and is of Queen Victoria - denounced throughout Ireland in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The statue and the merit of keeping it in situ quickly became a topic of debate .
In line with the struggle for Irish independence and rejection of imperialist Britain , the controversy crept into news coverage - particularly following the conclusion of the War of Independence and signing of the Anglo Irish Treaty in 1921 .
The arguments for and against removing the statue will be familiar .
On the latter point , a letter writer in 1933 - when the statue was 25 years old - said : “ At one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and , defacing all the monuments of an earlier age , earned the universal condemnation of all historians .
It is to be hoped that we are more enlightened.
” Another - a decade later - pondered whether it would be better to keep it in place , owing to its potential as a tourist attraction .
In the latter part of 1943 , the issue again hit the pages of The Irish Times when the Dublin Corporation passed a resolution requesting the government to remove the statue .
The story was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morning , on September 7th .
Proposing the resolution , Councillor Micheál Ó Maoláin said it was odd that “ the effigy of a lady whose name stank in the nostrils of past generations of Irishmen ” should stand in front of Ireland ’ s Parliament House , while Lord Edward Fitzgerald had been forgotten .
Every generation , he warned , would rise and revolt at the sight of it .
On the same day , the leader in The Irish Times took a more moderate view compared to “ the heat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” , yet gave the councillor credit on two counts .
“ Firstly the city would not be any poorer for a monument to Lord Edward , who was a patriot in a sense which is hardly understood nowadays .
Secondly , if the Old Queen must be removed , Mr Ó Maoláin will have it done by law and not by dynamite.
” The piece mentioned the explosion at Stephen ’ s Green in 1937 that brought a large statue of George II and his horse to the ground .
The article @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remove the statue than allow it to endure further neglect .
“ If it is true that the statue has never been cleaned since the signing of the Treaty - and certainly its musty green hue gives credit to the story - the joke is rather a poor one and reflects more discredit upon the House of Windsor.
” The same “ green hue ” would catch the eye of Myles na gCopaleen ( Brian O ’ Nolan/Flann O ’ Brien ) the following month - albeit , he had a much different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not overly bothered with its removal - her statutes were more harmful than her statues , as he put it .
“ Besides , look at it this way , ” he wrote on October 2nd .
“ Time has given the mere Irish their revenge .
The fact is that Victoria has turned green .
Of hue she approaches our decent Irish letterbox .
And it is the price of her.
” In the days after the resolution was passed , cold water was thrown over the project .
A story @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported that Victoria would be removed , just not yet .
Costs were blamed .
On November 1st , members of Ailtirí na hAiséirghe - a minor fascist party described then as a Gaelic revival organisation - crashed a Dublin Corporation meeting and shouted from the public galleries : “ Get rid of all the symbols of slavery in the streets.
” The episode made the front page of the paper and was reported in the British press .
It would take until July 22nd , 1948 , before the statue came down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off , bar one or two concerning potential Canadian buyers - the cities of London and Peterborough sought to purchase the statue in 1949 , by which point it had “ lain on its back in a field in Kilmainham ” .
But that fell through .
In the end , it would be sent to Australia .
The Irish Times reported the move ahead of time in a report on October 2nd , 1986 , headlined : “ Statue of Victoria given to Sydney.
” Not quite the ending predicted by The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the structure would be removed “ possibly to some new and friendly site , more probably to the scrapheap ” .

The end, for Victoria, wasn’t particularly dignified.
“As I watched, another workman appeared, clambering over her head, gripping her sometimes by the nose and occasionally sticking a finger into her disdainful eye. Perhaps it was just the effect of the glistening rain on the bright, green copper, but it seemed to me that the old lady - never exactly pleasant-looking at the best of times - was glaring about with loathing and disgust.”
So reads an account in The Irish Times of the removal of the controversial statue of Britain's Queen Victoria that stood for more than 40 years at Leinster House.
The scenes are described in the Irishman’s Diary of the following day, July 23rd, 1948. She’s depicted on the front page, too - suspended by machinery as people look on. “Ministers, ex-Ministers and Dáil deputies stood around in the rain, waiting. There were crowds on the steps of the Museum and the Library and there were cameras everywhere. Meanwhile the workmen worked away with that maddeningly measured, deliberate air of men who know that they hold stage.
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STATUE REMOVED: The front page of The Irish Times on July 23rd, 1948
“Several times we thought the big moment had come - once she did lurch from her pedestal for a second or two and creak back again - but just as everything was adjusted it would start to pour and everyone would have to rush for shelter.”
In the end, Quidnunc missed the finale. "For a while longer I watched the men adjust and readjust the girths around Victoria's middle then I had to go up to the Leinster Bowling Club to see the South African match. When I returned, Victoria was missing from her pedestal." The statue was later moved to Kilmainham.
The piece - comical, yet dry and straightforward - unflatteringly describes an audience and spectacle much different to that on the day the statue was erected.
‘Mutilated’
Searching for references to Dublin’s statue of Queen Victoria throws up a couple of parallels in the archive of The Irish Times. There’s the statue of Victoria erected in 1939 in Menton, France; pushed into the sea when the Italians came during the second World War and later replaced. Further back, in November 1908, there was the “outrage” at the public gardens in the Indian city of Nagpur, where a statue of the queen was “mutilated; the face daubed with tar and the nose and fingers broken.”
In the years between Victoria’s visit to Ireland in 1900 and the unveiling of John Hughes’s statue in 1908, mentions of a public fund set up for its commission are plentiful. In the days before the unveiling, tickets for the ceremony were advertised - the price of admittance was one shilling, payable at the front hall of Leinster House. The aim, said one report, was to thin the anticipated crowd.
The day she was unveiled - February 15th, 1908 - was, like the day she came down, punctuated by rain. “The ceremony was made the occasion of an imposing military display, but the lustre of the pageant was to some extent marred by a somewhat heavy shower which fell shortly before the formal part of the proceedings commenced,” reported The Irish Times.
Detachments of soldiers began to arrive from 2pm, for the unveiling at 3pm. “About 1,000 troops were on parade and as the various battalions, dressed in review order, with their bands, arrived on the scene they took up their allotted positions with bayonets fixed, forming a wide circle round the greensward, in the centre of which stood the memorial, with the beauty of its magnificently formed bronze figures as yet unrevealed.”
‘A noble addition’
The string would be pulled, the Lord Lieutenant’s speech made and the applause would ring out - as far as the report goes. The Irish Times hailed the statue as “a noble addition” to Dublin’s monuments, praising the sculptor John Hughes.
As the years wore on, the lauded aesthetics of the piece would be repeatedly called into question. As Randolph Churchill wrote in an article published on the front page in November, 1945: “The largest and ugliest statue in Dublin is outside the Dáil, and is of Queen Victoria - denounced throughout Ireland in the last century as the famine queen.”
A view of the military parade at the unveiling of the statue, February 15th, 1908. Photograph: The Irish Times
The statue and the merit of keeping it in situ quickly became a topic of debate. In line with the struggle for Irish independence and rejection of imperialist Britain, the controversy crept into news coverage - particularly following the conclusion of the War of Independence and signing of the Anglo Irish Treaty in 1921. The arguments for and against removing the statue will be familiar.
On the latter point, a letter writer in 1933 - when the statue was 25 years old - said: “At one time a new dynasty arose in Egypt, and, defacing all the monuments of an earlier age, earned the universal condemnation of all historians. It is to be hoped that we are more enlightened.” Another - a decade later - pondered whether it would be better to keep it in place, owing to its potential as a tourist attraction.
In the latter part of 1943, the issue again hit the pages of The Irish Times when the Dublin Corporation passed a resolution requesting the government to remove the statue. The story was carried on the front page the next morning, on September 7th.
Proposing the resolution, Councillor Micheál Ó Maoláin said it was odd that “the effigy of a lady whose name stank in the nostrils of past generations of Irishmen” should stand in front of Ireland’s Parliament House, while Lord Edward Fitzgerald had been forgotten. Every generation, he warned, would rise and revolt at the sight of it.
On the same day, the leader in The Irish Times took a more moderate view compared to “the heat of Mr Ó Maoláin’s feelings”, yet gave the councillor credit on two counts. “Firstly the city would not be any poorer for a monument to Lord Edward, who was a patriot in a sense which is hardly understood nowadays. Secondly, if the Old Queen must be removed, Mr Ó Maoláin will have it done by law and not by dynamite.” The piece mentioned the explosion at Stephen’s Green in 1937 that brought a large statue of George II and his horse to the ground.
A sculpture of George II lies destroyed by an explosion in Stephen’s Green, May 13th, 1937 (inset: the statue as it previously stood). Photograph: The Irish Times
Neglect
The article also suggested it would be better to remove the statue than allow it to endure further neglect. “If it is true that the statue has never been cleaned since the signing of the Treaty - and certainly its musty green hue gives credit to the story - the joke is rather a poor one and reflects more discredit upon the House of Windsor.”
The same “green hue” would catch the eye of Myles na gCopaleen (Brian O’Nolan/Flann O’Brien) the following month - albeit, he had a much different take. Over all, the writer was not overly bothered with its removal - her statutes were more harmful than her statues, as he put it. “Besides, look at it this way,” he wrote on October 2nd. “Time has given the mere Irish their revenge. The fact is that Victoria has turned green. Of hue she approaches our decent Irish letterbox. And it is the price of her.”
In the days after the resolution was passed, cold water was thrown over the project. A story on the front page on September 8th reported that Victoria would be removed, just not yet. Costs were blamed.
On November 1st, members of Ailtirí na hAiséirghe - a minor fascist party described then as a Gaelic revival organisation - crashed a Dublin Corporation meeting and shouted from the public galleries: “Get rid of all the symbols of slavery in the streets.” The episode made the front page of the paper and was reported in the British press.
It would take until July 22nd, 1948, before the statue came down. Reports about the monument soon died off, bar one or two concerning potential Canadian buyers - the cities of London and Peterborough sought to purchase the statue in 1949, by which point it had “lain on its back in a field in Kilmainham”. But that fell through.
In the end, it would be sent to Australia. The Irish Times reported the move ahead of time in a report on October 2nd, 1986, headlined: “Statue of Victoria given to Sydney.” Not quite the ending predicted by The Irish Times in 1943, when it said the structure would be removed “possibly to some new and friendly site, more probably to the scrapheap”.


theirishtimes--2020-06-14--Leaders set to sign off on government deal as agreement reached on transport and 7% target

The leaders of Fianna Fáil , Fine Gael and the Greens are expected to formally sign off on a draft programme for government between their parties later on Sunday .
The negotiating teams from each of the potential partners in a new coalition government met until the early hours of Sunday morning as they largely settled a new policy framework for next five years .
It is not yet clear what time Micheál Martin , Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan will meet today to formally sign off on the deal , which will then be subject to the approval of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Minister for Health Simon Harris said he was “ very hopeful ” that the party leaders would be in a position to finalise the agreement when they meet although there was “ some serious talking left to be done ” by his party leader Mr Varadkar , Fianna Fáil leader Mr Martin and Green Party leader Mr Ryan .
Speaking to RTÉ ’ s The Week in Politics , he added that there was “ a clear expectation that this agreement can be brought to finality .
“ It ’ s been a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s been a long 127 days since the general election , so I think it ’ s getting to a point now where we need to get on with it .
It think the public want and need a government ” .
Among the issues expected to be settled by the three leaders are pensions policy , Fine Gael ’ s desire for tax cuts at some point in the lifetime of the next government if economic circumstances allow , and social welfare policy .
Another issue to be settled by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imports from occupied territories .
Sources involved in the talks overnight however said that , on some of those issues , a “ pathway ” towards a solution had been worked on by the negotiating teams for the leaders .
Mr Martin , Mr Varadkar and Mr Ryan will be expected to agree and sign off on the wording of such policy areas in the new programme for government , with one source suggestion that the leaders had the most work to do in the areas of pensions and tax .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the carbon tax will rise to €100 a tonne by 2030 as requested by the Greens , and that the construction of fossil fuel infrastructure , including the planned liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) plant earmarked for the Shannon estuary area , will be halted - another key demand for the party .
It has also secured its main policy aim of accelerating Ireland ’ s carbon emissions reduction to an average of 7 per cent a year to 2030 .
One of the main issues of contention in Saturday ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dublin city centre was around transport policy but a deal was struck which will see future capital investment split on a 2:1 basis in favour of public transport over roads .
Further policy concessions to the Greens include the banning of further exploration of gas in the waters off Ireland and an annual spend of €360 million on walking and cycling infrastructure .
Fianna Fáil priorities in the document are said to include improved access to health services ; affordable and social housing ; a referendum on the right to housing ; 10,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increased funding for agriculture ; expanding a mooted a commission on taxation into a tax and social welfare commission ; the announcement of education funding for third level to be announced next month ; a united Ireland division within the Department of the Taoiseach ; ; a citizens ’ assembly on drug use ; an increase in the home carer tax credit ; and increased regional development .
Fine Gael sources said the party ’ s election commitments which will be included in the government deal include increased homecare hours and a statutory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new carer ’ s strategy ; an expansion of respite services ; continued extension of free GP care for children and “ more flexible childcare options ” .
A new “ Total Contributions Approach ” for pensions is also said to be included to align “ a person ’ s contributory pension more closely with the contributions they make , including credited contributions , ensuring consideration for people who take time off work to care ” .
If , as is widely anticipated , the deal is signed off by the leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely be sent to each of the respective parliamentary parties on Monday .
It is likely that meetings of Fianna Fáil , Fine Gael and Green parliamentary parties will take place then to discuss and assent to the deal .
One of the key elements which will be watched out of those meetings will whether there is opposition to the deal from any TDs and senators in each party .
Sources in both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are increasingly confident that Catherine Martin , the Green Party deputy leader who is challenging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back the deal , although Ms Martin has not said anything publicly .
Each party will also have to engage in a wide internal ratification process to approve the deal .
Both Fianna Fáil and the Greens will hold a one member , one vote postal ballot of all their members .
Internal Fine Gael ratification is through an electoral college .
TDs , Senators and MEPs make up 50 per cent of the voting strength , followed by 25 per cent for constituency delegates , 15 per cent for councillors and 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After leaving the talks on Sunday morning , Green Party Dún Laoghaire TD Ossian Smyth , a member of his party ’ s negotiating team , tweeted shortly after 4.30am : “ The three negotiating teams agreed most of a programme for government this morning .
A small number of issues have been left to the party leaders to decide later today .
A lot of good stuff in there !
” A negotiating team member from another party said : “ There is nothing left for the negotiators .
Across all sides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done .
”

Tánaiste Simon Coveney (left) and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe (right) greet Green Party leader Eamon Ryan as he arrives at Government Buildings. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
The leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens are expected to formally sign off on a draft programme for government between their parties later on Monday.
The lengthy document - negotiated over more than a month of talks - outlines changes in key environmental and transport policies for the five-year term of an administration.
It addresses a number of policy areas of particular concern to the Green Party, including extra funding for public transport and cycling infrastructure, an increase in carbon tax and an acceleration of Ireland’s carbon emissions reduction to an average of 7 per cent a year to 2030.
The three negotiating teams agreed most of a programme for government this morning. A small number of issues have been left to the party leaders to decide later today. A lot of good stuff in there! — Ossian Smyth TD (@smytho) June 14, 2020
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin of Fianna Fáil and Eamon Ryan of the Green Party were in talks in Government Buildings since 3.30pm on Sunday afternoon to hammer out some final unresolved issues including the pension age, Occupied Terrirtories Bill and indexation of taxes.
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By late Sunday evening, the talks had been curtailed and were due to resume on Monday morning.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the three party leaders will meet on Monday morning and he was confident the final Programme for Government document would be fully signed off by then.
Negotiating teams stayed in talks in Agriculture House in Dublin city centre until about 4am on Sunday. Photograph: Screenshot/RTE
‘Good for the country’
The negotiating teams from each of the potential partners in a new coalition government met until the early hours of Sunday morning as they largely settled a new policy framework for next five years.
Once the party leaders formally sign off on the deal, it will then be subject to the approval of each of the wider party organisations.
Tánaiste and Fine Gael lead negotiator Simon Coveney said the draft coalition government deal is “good for the country”.
“We did a lot of good work last night and we effectively have a text for a government with a need for the leaders to finalise a very small number of issues,” he said on his way into a party meeting.
“Negotiating teams have done their job. I think the text that will be going to the leaders today is good for the country and I hope and I am confident that the three leaders will be able to sell it within their parties and to the public.”
Minister for Health Simon Harris told RTÉ’s The Week in Politics programme it had been “a long intense five weeks of negotiation and it’s been a long 127 days since the general election, so I think it’s getting to a point now where we need to get on with it. It think the public want and need a government”.
Among the issues expected to be settled by the three leaders are pensions policy, Fine Gael’s desire for tax cuts at some point in the lifetime of the next government if economic circumstances allow, and social welfare policy. Another issue to be settled by the leaders is a mooted ban on imports from occupied territories.
Sources involved in the talks overnight however said that, on some of those issues, a “pathway” towards a solution had been worked on by the negotiating teams for the leaders.
Mr Martin, Mr Varadkar and Mr Ryan will be expected to agree and sign off on the wording of such policy areas in the new programme for government, with one source suggestion that the leaders had the most work to do in the areas of pensions and tax.
What has the Green party secured?
It is understood that it has been agreed that the carbon tax will rise to €100 a tonne by 2030 as requested by the Greens, and that the construction of fossil fuel infrastructure, including the planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant earmarked for the Shannon estuary area, will be halted - another key demand for the party. It has also secured its main policy aim of accelerating Ireland’s carbon emissions reduction to an average of 7 per cent a year to 2030.
Further policy concessions to the Greens include the banning of further exploration of gas in the waters off Ireland and an annual spend of €360 million on walking and cycling infrastructure.
One of the main issues of contention in Saturday’s marathon talks session in Agriculture House in Dublin city centre was around transport policy but a deal was struck which will see future capital investment split on a 2:1 basis in favour of public transport over roads.
An annual spend of €360 million on walking and cycling infrastructure was also agreed. This €360 million spend will be allocated before the 2:1 split in favour of public transport.
The Greens have also secured the rollout of BusConnects in Cork, Galway Limerick and Waterford. The Dublin BusConnects plan, which aims to improve bus services in the capital, has proved controversial because of the changing of existing services and in some cases the removal of trees to create new bus lanes.
There will also be a significant expansion of offshore wind energy across the west coast, which Green Party figures say will massively benefit communities in the west of Ireland.
There will be an economic evaluation of high speed rail links between major cities and a tripling of local link bus services in rural Ireland.
Overseas Development Aid will be increased to 0.7 per cent of GDP and a floor will be put in place to ensure that the aid budget does not fall below the level of recent years in cash terms.
Those who opt for the retrofitting scheme will be able to pay for the work to their homes through utility bills. Sources suggested the scheme will be modelled on a pilot for a district heating project.
There will also be an emphasis on the microgeneration of electricity through greater use of solar panels and greater emphasis on waste and circular energy.
A new media division will also be established within govermment with responsibility for broadcast, print and online media. There will also be a review and reform of the defamation laws.
Micheál Martin, leader of Fianna Fáil arrives at Government Buildings on Sunday. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
And Fianna Fáil?
Fianna Fáil priorities in the document are said to include improved access to health services; affordable and social housing; a referendum on the right to housing; 10,000 apprenticeships; roads and transport projects; increased funding for agriculture; expanding a mooted a commission on taxation into a tax and social welfare commission; the announcement of education funding for third level to be announced next month; a united Ireland division within the Department of the Taoiseach;; a citizens’ assembly on drug use; an increase in the home carer tax credit; and increased regional development.
In housing, 50,000 social homes will be provided over the next five years, with an emphasis on new builds.
The Land Development Agency will provide affordable purchase home, affordable rental homes and social housing on State owned land.
The Part V provision, under which developers must set aside 10 per cent of their projects for social housing, will be expanded to include affordable, although the exact level has not yet been set.
The current cap on the amount of money local authorities can spend on social housing developments will increase from €2 million to €6 million.
Fianna Fáil housing spokesman Darragh O’Brien said: “This is a radical plan on housing which will be transformative for the Irish housing sector. It will mean that young couples who are now renting will be able to get a home they can afford.”
It is understood a new scheme will seek to retrofit 500,000 homes by 2030 on a “aggregated” model - which means certain towns or areas will be retrofitted at the same time to achieve economies of scale.
Another Fianna Fáil priority is a new commission on the future of the Defence Forces, with a permanent pay review body for the Defence Forces also expected.
And what about Fine Gael?
Fine Gael sources said the party’s election commitments which will be included in the government deal include increased homecare hours and a statutory homecare scheme; reduced prescription charges; a new carer’s strategy; an expansion of respite services; continued extension of free GP care for children and “more flexible childcare options”.
A new “Total Contributions Approach” for pensions is also said to be included to align “ a person’s contributory pension more closely with the contributions they make, including credited contributions, ensuring consideration for people who take time off work to care”.
Other Fine Gael measures said to be outstanding and not yet agreed include a jobs and stimulus package in July; a package for farmers to encourage sustainable use of land and protection of heritage; and a “new care deal for Ireland from cradle to grave” that improves care from childcare to old age.
Taoiseach’s position
Some sources suggested that the overwhelming majority of work has been completed on the policies contained in the programme for government.
It was suggested that a large amount of the work left to the leaders will be on an understanding of how the three party government will work - particularly with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as equal partners and with Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar set to rotate the position of Taoiseach.
It is understood a second document on how the new government will function is also being worked on by the party leaders. This final drafting of this document will likely follow agreement on the programme.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan waits for the gates of Government Buildings to open after arriving by bike for talks on Government formation. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
What happens next?
If, as is widely anticipated, the deal is signed off by the leaders on Sunday, the final document will likely be sent to each of the respective parliamentary parties on Monday.
It is likely that meetings of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green parliamentary parties will take place then to discuss and assent to the deal. One of the key elements which will be watched out of those meetings will whether there is opposition to the deal from any TDs and senators in each party.
Sources in both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are increasingly confident that Catherine Martin, the Green Party deputy leader who is challenging Eamon Ryan to be leader, will back the deal, although Ms Martin has not said anything publicly.
Each party will also have to engage in a wide internal ratification process to approve the deal. Both Fianna Fáil and the Greens will hold a one member, one vote postal ballot of all their members.
Internal Fine Gael ratification is through an electoral college. TDs, Senators and MEPs make up 50 per cent of the voting strength, followed by 25 per cent for constituency delegates, 15 per cent for councillors and 10 per cent for the executive council.
After leaving the talks on Sunday morning, Green Party Dún Laoghaire TD Ossian Smyth, a member of his party's negotiating team, tweeted shortly after 4.30am: "The three negotiating teams agreed most of a programme for government this morning. A small number of issues have been left to the party leaders to decide later today. A lot of good stuff in there!"
A negotiating team member from another party said: “There is nothing left for the negotiators. Across all sides there was a willingness to get it done.”


theirishtimes--2020-06-14--Prohibitive costs stalling widespread retrofitting of homes, energy firm finds

Prohibitive costs associated with retrofitting houses and lack of information about the process are major obstacles to widespread uptake of this energy saving option across Ireland , according to Tipperary Energy Agency ( TEA ) .
Homeowners have “ real desire to radically improve their homes ’ energy efficiency and to adopt renewable energy ” , analysis of attitudes among 761 householders who applied for its “ SuperHomes ” scheme shows – TEA is a social enterprise operating in the midlands for the past 20 years .
If a programme for government is agreed between Fianna Fáil , Fine Gael @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a major deep retrofitting programme and is expected to increase ambition on the proposal to retrofit 500,000 dwellings by 2030 under the Government ’ s climate action plan .
Overcoming the prohibitive cost of retrofits and the lack of information about the process including available technology and grants were key to enabling widespread uptake of retrofitting across Ireland , the TEA analysis concludes .
Half of all applicants under its “ SuperHomes Scheme ” between 2015 and 2019 said the high up-front cost of the energy retrofit – typically between €30,000 and €80,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ahead with improving their home .
The second biggest barrier to uptake of deep retrofits was poor information , with homeowners confused about the process of retrofitting and the best technologies .
The main reasons why people said they wanted to go ahead with a deep retrofit were comfort – “ a warm , well ventilated home , and the financial savings that having an energy-efficient home would bring ” .
The main barriers centred around “ market failures and human behaviour , all of which can be rectified or manipulated to incentivise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” , the TEA finds .
In total , 156 homes completed a deep retrofit through SuperHomes from 2015-2019 .
It accesses funding for homeowners under different Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland ( SEAI ) programmes and currently can offer a maximum of 35 per cent .
A 50 per cent deep retrofit grant was available under the SEAI ’ s trial deep retrofit programme from 2017 to June 2019 .
“ The number of people who wish to do this renovation is clearly evidenced from this report , ” said TEA chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dream of a comfortable , affordable and green home can ’ t come true due to the lack of approved financial institutions offering low-interest finance , the stop start nature of the grant aid , and confused and unclear information.
” The AIB green mortgage was a good example of the kind of financing which could help increase retrofitting , he said .
It offers a 2.45 per cent fixed rate for all A1 to B3 energy-rated homes .
“ When you consider the energy savings that come from retrofitting , and interest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find that the retrofit won ’ t cost you any money , ” he added .
On concerns about technicalities casting doubt on whether a deep retrofit could be done in particular houses , he said , there were “ no technical issues that can ’ t be solved ” though solutions could sometimes be cost prohibitive , he accepted .
Likewise concerns about time and lifestyle disruption , could be minimised by having a well-organised contractor , in particular for the works inside the house .
Under the SuperHomes scheme the agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the contractors .
TEA has secured significant EU funding recently to further the development of its domestic retrofit scheme , which is supported by the EU Horizon 2020 programme .
Other project partners are the ESB ; Limerick Institute of Technology , Sustainability Works and the European Heat Pump Association , who are committed to addressing challenges in scaling up domestic deep retrofit in Ireland .

Prohibitive costs associated with retrofitting houses and lack of information about the process are major obstacles to widespread uptake of this energy saving option across Ireland, according to Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA).
Homeowners have “real desire to radically improve their homes’ energy efficiency and to adopt renewable energy”, analysis of attitudes among 761 householders who applied for its “SuperHomes” scheme shows – TEA is a social enterprise operating in the midlands for the past 20 years.
If a programme for government is agreed between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens, it will including a major deep retrofitting programme and is expected to increase ambition on the proposal to retrofit 500,000 dwellings by 2030 under the Government's climate action plan.
Overcoming the prohibitive cost of retrofits and the lack of information about the process including available technology and grants were key to enabling widespread uptake of retrofitting across Ireland, the TEA analysis concludes.
READ MORE
Half of all applicants under its “SuperHomes Scheme” between 2015 and 2019 said the high up-front cost of the energy retrofit – typically between €30,000 and €80,000 – was the main barrier to going ahead with improving their home.
The second biggest barrier to uptake of deep retrofits was poor information, with homeowners confused about the process of retrofitting and the best technologies.
The main reasons why people said they wanted to go ahead with a deep retrofit were comfort – “a warm, well ventilated home, and the financial savings that having an energy-efficient home would bring”.
The main barriers centred around “market failures and human behaviour, all of which can be rectified or manipulated to incentivise consumers to invest in energy efficient technologies”, the TEA finds.
In total, 156 homes completed a deep retrofit through SuperHomes from 2015-2019. It accesses funding for homeowners under different Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) programmes and currently can offer a maximum of 35 per cent. A 50 per cent deep retrofit grant was available under the SEAI’s trial deep retrofit programme from 2017 to June 2019.
"The number of people who wish to do this renovation is clearly evidenced from this report," said TEA chief executive Paul Kenny. "But their dream of a comfortable, affordable and green home can't come true due to the lack of approved financial institutions offering low-interest finance, the stop start nature of the grant aid, and confused and unclear information."
The AIB green mortgage was a good example of the kind of financing which could help increase retrofitting, he said. It offers a 2.45 per cent fixed rate for all A1 to B3 energy-rated homes. "When you consider the energy savings that come from retrofitting, and interest savings over a long time you may find that the retrofit won't cost you any money," he added.
On concerns about technicalities casting doubt on whether a deep retrofit could be done in particular houses, he said, there were “no technical issues that can’t be solved” though solutions could sometimes be cost prohibitive, he accepted.
Likewise concerns about time and lifestyle disruption, could be minimised by having a well-organised contractor, in particular for the works inside the house. Under the SuperHomes scheme the agency offers a professional engineer to work with the contractors.
TEA has secured significant EU funding recently to further the development of its domestic retrofit scheme, which is supported by the EU Horizon 2020 programme. Other project partners are the ESB; Limerick Institute of Technology, Sustainability Works and the European Heat Pump Association, who are committed to addressing challenges in scaling up domestic deep retrofit in Ireland.


theirishtimes--2020-06-13--Coronavirus: Five more dead and 46 new cases, but spike blamed on lab delay

A further 5 people have died in the Republic from coronavirus , the Department of Health said on Saturday .
The daily update by the National Public Health Emergency Team ( NPHET ) reported 46 new cases bringing the total number of cases to 25,295 .
However , it said 22 of the 46 samples were taken on Monday and Tuesday and would normally have been reported on Thursday and Friday but , for technical reasons as part of normal laboratory practice at the National Virus Reference Laboratory ( NVRL ) , are being reported on Saturday .
“ Contact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ majority of these cases ” , it added .
A total of 1,705 number of people have died of Covid-19 .
Dr Tony Holohan , Chief Medical Officer , Department of Health , said ; “ Today ’ s increase in notifications of Covid-19 is not an increase in the daily incidence of the disease .
When the cases are analysed according to the date the samples were taken , it shows that they were spread out over a number of days .
All the indicators of the disease are stable or reducing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these every day.
” Of the total cases of the virus so far , 57 per cent are female and 43 per cent are male , the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years , 3,276 cases ( 13 per cent ) have been hospitalised .
Of those hospitalised , 416 cases have been admitted to hospital intensive care .
A total of 8,123 cases are associated with healthcare workers .
Dublin has the highest number of cases at 12,179 ( 48 per cent of all cases ) followed by Cork with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then Kildare with 1,426 cases ( 6 % ) .
Of those for whom transmission status is known : community transmission accounts for 37 per cent , close contact accounts for 60 per cent , travel abroad accounts for 2 per cent .
Two further coronavirus-linked deaths were reported in Northern Ireland on Saturday , taking the total recorded by the Department of Health there to 541 .
There were three new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the North , bringing the total to 4,841 since the pandemic began .
Meanwhile , people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their families in Northern Ireland on Saturday after three months of coronavirus lockdown .
They were able to meet with one other household to combat loneliness caused by the social-distancing restrictions , First Minister Arlene Foster said .
It means an isolated grandparent were able to see and hug their grandchildren again , and partners separated by the pandemic since March could meet up without needing to observe a two-metre distance .
People can also stay overnight if they wish under the new rule .
- additional reporting PA

Shoppers in Belfast after all shopping centres and retailers were given the green light to reopen in a significant relaxation of coronavirus lockdown restrictions in Northern Ireland. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
One more person has died in the Republic from coronavirus, the Department of Health said on Sunday
The daily update by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) reported eight new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 25,303.
There have now been a total 1,706 Covid-19 related deaths in the Republic of Ireland.
On Saturday Nphet reported a further 5 people had died in the Republic from coronavirus and 46 new cases.
READ MORE
However, it said 22 of the 46 samples were taken on Monday and Tuesday and would normally have been reported on Thursday and Friday but, for technical reasons as part of normal laboratory practice at the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), are being reported on Saturday.
“Contact tracing has already been undertaken for the majority of these cases”, it added.
A total of 1,705 number of people have died of Covid-19.
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “Today’s increase in notifications of Covid-19 is not an increase in the daily incidence of the disease. When the cases are analysed according to the date the samples were taken, it shows that they were spread out over a number of days. All the indicators of the disease are stable or reducing. We will continue to closely monitor these every day.”
Of the total cases of the virus so far, 57 per cent are female and 43 per cent are male, the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years, 3,276 cases (13 per cent) have been hospitalised. Of those hospitalised, 416 cases have been admitted to hospital intensive care.
A total of 8,123 cases are associated with healthcare workers. Dublin has the highest number of cases at 12,179 (48 per cent of all cases) followed by Cork with 1,533 cases (6%) and then Kildare with 1,426 cases (6%).
Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 37 per cent, close contact accounts for 60 per cent, travel abroad accounts for 2 per cent.
Northern Ireland
On Sunday the North’s Department of Health, in its daily bulletin, reported that there were no deaths in Northern Ireland from coronavirus. This was the fifth time in the past eight days that it recorded zero deaths. The death rate remains at 541.
On Sunday the department also reported just seven new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland taking the number of cases to 4,848. Two further coronavirus-linked deaths were reported in Northern Ireland on Saturday, taking the total recorded by the Department of Health there to 541.


theirishtimes--2020-06-13--Man to appear in court following stabbing incident in Darndale

A man in his 20s arrested following a stabbing incident in Dublin is due to appear in court on Monday @ @ @ @ @ occurred at a house in the Darndale area of Dublin 17 at about 7.30am on @ @ @ @ @ a woman , aged in their 40s and 50s respectively , both received stab wounds @ @ @ @ @ Hospital .
The man ’ s condition is described as stable and the woman ’ @ @ @ @ @ be not life-threatening .
A man in his 20s was arrested at the scene and @ @ @ @ @ station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 .
Gardaí said the man @ @ @ @ @ .
He is expected to appear before a sitting of Dublin District Court at 10.30am @ @ @ @ @ in connection with the investigation .

Gardaí said investigations into the incident are ongoing. Photograph: Frank Miller/File
A man in his 20s arrested following a stabbing incident in Dublin is due to appear in court on Monday.
Gardaí said the incident occurred at a house in the Darndale area of Dublin 17 at about 7.30am on Saturday.
A man and a woman, aged in their 40s and 50s respectively, both received stab wounds and were taken to Beaumont Hospital. The man’s condition is described as stable and the woman’s injuries are understood to be not life-threatening.
A man in his 20s was arrested at the scene and was being held Coolock Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
READ MORE
Gardaí said the man remained in custody on Sunday. He is expected to appear before a sitting of Dublin District Court at 10.30am on Monday to face charges in connection with the investigation.


theirishtimes--2020-06-15--Maternity hospital relocation dispute may go before agm

The dispute over the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital to St Vincent ’ s University Hospital looks set to come before the NMH ’ s annual general meeting next month .
Former NMH master Dr Peter Boylan has written to the board of the hospital seeking to have his objection to the relocation plan put on the agenda of the agm in June .
As reported by The Irish Times on Saturday , Dr Boylan has called for the resignation of deputy chairman Nicky Kearns over his handling of the project .
The call , made in a lengthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the board , which accused Dr Boylan of attempting to “ obstruct or derail this vital project for women and their babies ” .
Dr Boylan has now sent a further letter to the board seeking to have his earlier communication placed on the agenda for the agm and circulated to governors in advance .
He alleges neither the deputy chairman nor the board has engaged with the “ substantive issues ” he has raised , and therefore “ it is now appropriate ” the governors are given the chance to consider @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also objects to the assertion he is trying to obstruct or derail the relocation project .
“ I wholly support a move to Elm Park but only if the hospital maintains completely independent clinical and corporate governance in the interests of safe care for women.
” The relocation project is backed by both the NMH and St Vincent ’ s , but has been beset by controversy , in particular relating to concerns over ethos .
While the Sisters of Charity are withdrawing from all involvement with St Vincent ’ s , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the project is well behind schedule .
Under legislation dating back to the early 20th century , control of the maternity hospital lies with it 79 governors , who include Dr Boylan .
However , its affairs are managed by an executive committee ( board ) .
By law , the Archbishop of Dublin is the chairman of the maternity hospital , but the incumbent , Diarmuid Martin , plays no role in the running of the NMH , so that Mr Kearns as deputy chairman is effectively the chair .
Dr Boylan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ due to the non-completion of the order ’ s transfer of their shareholding in St Vincent ’ s , which required Vatican permission ; the failure of St Vincent ’ s to form a new holding company ; and the failure of the NMH to formulate a legal agreement to be put to the governors for agreement .
“ Clearly I am not responsible for any of the above.
” An NMH spokesman said : The progress towards the new hospital was always going to be discussed at the agm .
Of course @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in advance ” .

Dr Peter Boylan alleges neither the National Maternity Hospital’s deputy chairman nor the board has engaged with the ‘substantive issues’ he has raised. File photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
The dispute over the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital to St Vincent's University Hospital looks set to come before the NMH's annual general meeting next month.
Former NMH master Dr Peter Boylan has written to the board of the hospital seeking to have his objection to the relocation plan put on the agenda of the agm in June.
As reported by The Irish Times on Saturday, Dr Boylan has called for the resignation of deputy chairman Nicky Kearns over his handling of the project. The call, made in a lengthy letter sent last week, was rejected by the board, which accused Dr Boylan of attempting to "obstruct or derail this vital project for women and their babies".
Dr Boylan has now sent a further letter to the board seeking to have his earlier communication placed on the agenda for the agm and circulated to governors in advance.
READ MORE
‘Substantive issues’
He alleges neither the deputy chairman nor the board has engaged with the “substantive issues” he has raised, and therefore “it is now appropriate” the governors are given the chance to consider them.
In the letter, he also objects to the assertion he is trying to obstruct or derail the relocation project. "I wholly support a move to Elm Park but only if the hospital maintains completely independent clinical and corporate governance in the interests of safe care for women."
The relocation project is backed by both the NMH and St Vincent’s, but has been beset by controversy, in particular relating to concerns over ethos. While the Sisters of Charity are withdrawing from all involvement with St Vincent’s, this process has yet to be completed and the project is well behind schedule.
Under legislation dating back to the early 20th century, control of the maternity hospital lies with it 79 governors, who include Dr Boylan. However, its affairs are managed by an executive committee (board).
No role
By law, the Archbishop of Dublin is the chairman of the maternity hospital, but the incumbent, Diarmuid Martin, plays no role in the running of the NMH, so that Mr Kearns as deputy chairman is effectively the chair.
Dr Boylan says in the letter the delays are due to the non-completion of the order's transfer of their shareholding in St Vincent's, which required Vatican permission; the failure of St Vincent's to form a new holding company; and the failure of the NMH to formulate a legal agreement to be put to the governors for agreement.
“Clearly I am not responsible for any of the above.”
An NMH spokesman said: The progress towards the new hospital was always going to be discussed at the agm. Of course the correspondence will be circulated to governors in advance”.


theirishtimes--2020-06-15--Peter Kelly: Fearless legal force for half a century

Mr Justice Peter Kelly retires this week as president of the High Court , the first time the word retiring has been marked against his name in a career spanning half a century .
Fearless , forthright , formidable , yes , but never retiring .
He was the judge who slammed the lack of secure places for at-risk children as a “ scandal ” and made an unusual order requiring the government to stick to its own pledges to build a secure unit .
He was the judge who threatened contempt charges over three government ministers until a place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ girl and the one who told developer Liam Carroll he was a “ disgrace ” after a young worker died on site .
He was the one who awarded damages to Ryanair ’ s one-millionth passenger after rejecting Ryanair boss Michael O ’ Leary ’ s sworn evidence he was not bullying towards her when she phoned him about promised free flights .
That was just in Kelly ’ s early years on the bench .
Much more followed .
Born in 1950 , Kelly was brought up on Dublin ’ s northside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and John Kelly ’ s four children .
He attended O ’ Connell Christian Brothers School .
He was just 12 when his father , a senior clerk in the Chief State Solicitor ’ s office , took him to the Four Courts .
Instantly smitten by the drama and characters , Kelly paid more visits in his teenage years .
He witnessed prominent senior counsel Ernest Wood closing the case against a famous singer being sued for damages by his partner over an assault on her when pregnant .
Her leg was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thrown over her .
Decades later , Kelly , an excellent mimic , could cite Wood ’ s closing words from memory : “ Gentlemen of the jury , it is customary for an advocate to have in their vocabulary words one would use to describe different types of person .
“ As an advocate of over 40 years standing , having looked over the panorama of Mr X ’ s life , I can find no word in my vocabulary to describe a creature as base as he.
” Kelly was hooked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expensive .
Lacking the family wealth and network available to many aspiring lawyers , he pursued a less traditional route .
After the Leaving Cert , he entered the Civil Service and went to the High Court Central Office , where he studied for the Bar exams , learning the law and its habits .
He pursued a law degree through UCD and the King ’ s Inns and got first-class honours in the Bar exams .
The next step would normally involve unpaid work of devilling with a barrister , but Kelly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pensionable job .
Instead , he won promotion to administrative officer in the Civil Service and asked to be allocated to the Department of Justice which sent him to Amsterdam to do a university summer course in European law .
It was 1973 , Ireland had just joined the EEC and 23-year-old Kelly was flying to Brussels and Luxembourg on a regular basis .
Exciting times , and it seemed glamorous but he still hankered for the Bar .
In 1975 , he took the plunge and resigned his Civil Service job .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tom Smith , he was a junior counsel working for himself and quickly built up a busy practice , doing mainly chancery work .
His sharp legal mind quickly made an impression .
Just a year into his career , he made new law here when he got a judgment in Dutch guilders for a Dutch client arising from a bad debt here .
He became a senior counsel in 1986 and was much in demand .
Ken Murphy , director general of the Law Society , who often briefed Kelly , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as an advocate and the clarity of his mind ” .
He represented the Stardust families , he was on the winning side in the row over the takeover of Irish Distillers by Pernod Ricard and successfully represented the Aga Khan in the high-profile dispute over ownership of the Gilltown stud .
He represented , too , businessman Ben Dunne in bitter litigation over control of the Dunne family ’ s retail empire and acted in several major liquidations , including of the PMPA and Insurance Corporation of Ireland .
When Des Hanafin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kelly , who like Hanafin was regarded as socially conservative , represented the Fianna Fáil politician .
Hanafin lost , but established a right to challenge a referendum petition .
The Supreme Court appointed Kelly to make arguments on behalf of the unborn when the Information ( Termination of Pregnancies ) Bill was referred to it by President Mary Robinson , where it was later deemed constitutional .
He was asked to represent the interests of a ward of court , a woman in a persistent vegetative state , and opposed ending nutrition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proceedings in 1996 that she be allowed to die .
Having become a High Court judge at just 46 , Kelly ran a tight ship .
Papers had to be in proper order and Kelly , a committed Roman Catholic , expected those who swore to tell the truth to do so and insisted on absolute silence when the oath was being sworn .
Just a year after his appointment , Kelly granted injunctions to the Health and Safety Authority closing a site of prominent developer Zoe Developments following the death of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boss Liam Carroll to come to court to give sworn undertakings , Kelly told him : “ You are entitled to make profits on the sweat of your workers but you are not entitled to make profits on the blood and lives of your workers.
” He encouraged Carroll to make a donation to charity as a mark of “ contrition ” .
St Vincent de Paul benefited by €100,000 and Kelly ’ s orders were widely welcomed within the labour movement .
By the late 1990s , Kelly increasingly dealt with cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced to send children to Garda cells or the Central Mental Hospital despite years of pledges by governments to provide secure places .
Having criticised the State ’ s failures as a “ scandal ” , he ordered in 1999 that the State should comply with the government ’ s own plan to provide a secure care unit within timescales it had set for itself .
That order was not appealed .
A similar order a year later in a case known as the TD case prompted mutterings in government about judges interfering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the executive .
A State appeal later was a “ colossal waste of taxpayers ’ money ” , he declared .
In another case , after he warned the ministers for health , justice and education could all find themselves in contempt unless a place was found for an extremely disturbed suicidal girl who had absconded from a therapeutic unit , a place was found .
In 2001 , the Supreme Court allowed the State ’ s appeal against Kelly ’ s TD order .
Four of its five judges found that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rule laid down by the Constitution .
However , Susan Denham , later a chief justice , sided with Kelly as did several legal academics who maintain judicially enforceable socio-economic rights can be read into the Constitution .
The secure care units were ultimately built .
In 2003 , Kelly drafted the rules for the Commercial Court , designed to speed up settlements in big business cases .
Within a few years , as the property bubble burst , the vast bulk of its work was debt collection .
On July 31st , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal year , Kelly refused an urgent petition to appoint an examiner to Zoe Developments , describing as “ fanciful ” assertions that the Zoe companies , insolvent with bank debt of more than €1 billion , could survive .
The survival scheme was “ envisaged to help shareholders whose investment has proved to be unsuccessful ” and required “ extraordinary ” forbearance from banks which was “ remarkably absent ” when banks were dealing with smaller borrowers .
Despite appeals by Zoe , the refusal of protection was twice endorsed by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ developers went the same way as Zoe .
During these years , Kelly kept on top of a crippling workload , dealing with weekly Monopoly-style judgments against some of the country ’ s biggest developers , business people , politicians , lawyers , sporting and showbiz personalities , and others .
Consistently , Kelly , who was incredulous that banks had loaned and people borrowed such enormous sums , condemned “ shoddy ” lending practices and the abandonment of traditional rules based on the “ three Cs ” – credit , collateral and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shell on Dublin ’ s north quays , intended as Anglo ’ s showy new HQ before the bank ’ s collapse , as a “ fitting tombstone ” to the so-called Celtic Tiger .
Cases were processed speedily .
If money was loaned , it should be repaid .
He rejected what he called “ cod ” defences , often advanced on behalf of many desperate personal litigants on “ advice ” from self-styled lay “ experts ” .
Those with an arguable defence got a hearing .
Marathon litigation involving Anglo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his family took years , seeing Kelly handing out a record €2.2 billion summary judgment against a bankrupt Quinn , once Ireland ’ s richest man .
When Quinn briefly appeared in court saying he was a “ simple farmer ’ s son ” , Kelly responded “ I ’ m a simple man myself ” before ruling Quinn could not defend the judgment application .
Kelly , ferociously independent , was central to establishing the Association of Judges in 2011 , becoming its first chair .
Just weeks before it was set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ pay had been overwhelmingly approved .
Seeking a voice to speak for them following a rift with the government , Kelly and many judges had regarded the efforts to cut pay as an intrusion on judicial independence .
There was no love lost between them and then minister for justice Alan Shatter .
Tensions simmered .
Speaking at a private dinner in 2013 to senior business figures , Kelly accused the government of “ demolishing judicial independence brick by brick ” .
His words brought headlines .
Shatter swiftly hit back , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
The Association of Judges of Ireland ( AJI ) strongly supported Kelly .
However , both sides quickly realised that the dispute could not continue .
Ultimately , relations improved considerably after Shatter ’ s resignation .
Some Cabinet members had admired Kelly ’ s AJI negotiating skills .
The pay row did not stop them promoting Kelly , first as a judge of the Court of Appeal in October 2014 and , in late 2015 , as president of the High Court , the third most senior judicial position in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ High Court president , Kelly has overhauled the wards of court system as best he could with a Victorian-era system being phased out pending the delayed implementation of the 2015 Assisted Decision Making Capacity Act .
Cases have been reviewed that had not been looked at for years , while he brought back independent medical visitors to conduct capacity assessments , involved geriatricians and took steps to ensure wards had their voices heard .
Some critics argue that this approach involves an over-reliance on medical evidence and an under-recognition of individual autonomy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ or death concerns and was hampered by a lack of State support for the elderly .
His decisions have generally withstood appeal but the Supreme Court found last year , in a complex case , more notice of the wardship process should have been given to the elderly woman involved in the case with the effect her fair procedure rights were not vindicated .
Several wards , including young people battling chronic anorexia and their families , have thanked Kelly down the years .
One woman deemed to have temporarily lost capacity as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for whom Kelly permitted surgery against her wishes , came to court with chocolates afterwards to thank him .
When she said she should have brought champagne , Kelly laughed and said : “ I ’ m a teetotaller.
” Kelly , who is unmarried and lives in south Dublin , is unlikely to be inactive in retirement .
He is heading a review of the civil law justice system , expected to report later this year .
He is chairman of St Francis Hospice and the Edmund Rice Schools Trust , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christian Brothers , and a member of the board of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland .
A former member of the Bar Council choir , he is a lover of classical music , opera and Italian culture and is a frequent visitor to Rome , where he has an apartment .
Socially , he is described as good fun and “ up for a laugh ” .
“ He has an excellent singing voice and a sharp , sometimes wicked , wit .
He can take off anyone , ” one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the sharpest legal minds of his generation , Kelly leaves a legacy of many important judgments .
He wrote the High Court Abbeylara judgment of 2001 declaring the Oireachtas had “ no inherent power ” to inquire into the shooting dead by gardaí of John Carthy in Abbeylara or any matter likely to lead to adverse findings against citizens who are not members of the Oireachtas .
He authored landmark judgments concerning the right to civil legal aid and the sanctity of legal professional privilege , and was part of divisional High @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by former Rehab chief executive Angela Kerins and United Left TD Joan Collins .
He has an impressive work ethic and excellent administrative skills .
The Commercial Court , under his stewardship , was marked by the European Commercial Judges Forum as the most efficient commercial court in the EU .
Several of his decisions over the years demonstrated determination to have the State meet its constitutional obligations to vulnerable citizens .
His early judicial career involved vindicating the rights of at-risk children and his later years saw him advocating for wards .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mirror to Ireland ’ s treatment of its most vulnerable citizens and exposed glaring deficiencies .
The improved treatment of wards may be his most enduring legacy .
“ Before Kelly , people didn ’ t know wards existed , they were a forgotten people , ” one solicitor said .
He has done the State , but more particularly the people , some service .

Mr Justice Peter Kelly retires this week as president of the High Court, the first time the word retiring has been marked against his name in a career spanning half a century. Fearless, forthright, formidable, yes, but never retiring.
He was the judge who slammed the lack of secure places for at-risk children as a “scandal” and made an unusual order requiring the government to stick to its own pledges to build a secure unit.
He was the judge who threatened contempt charges over three government ministers until a place was found for a very disturbed suicidal girl and the one who told developer Liam Carroll he was a “disgrace” after a young worker died on site.
He was the one who awarded damages to Ryanair’s one-millionth passenger after rejecting Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s sworn evidence he was not bullying towards her when she phoned him about promised free flights.
READ MORE
That was just in Kelly’s early years on the bench. Much more followed.
Born in 1950, Kelly was brought up on Dublin’s northside in Clontarf, the eldest of Margaret and John Kelly’s four children. He attended O’Connell Christian Brothers School.
He was just 12 when his father, a senior clerk in the Chief State Solicitor’s office, took him to the Four Courts. Instantly smitten by the drama and characters, Kelly paid more visits in his teenage years.
He witnessed prominent senior counsel Ernest Wood closing the case against a famous singer being sued for damages by his partner over an assault on her when pregnant. Her leg was fractured and a pot of stew was thrown over her.
Decades later, Kelly, an excellent mimic, could cite Wood’s closing words from memory: “Gentlemen of the jury, it is customary for an advocate to have in their vocabulary words one would use to describe different types of person.
“As an advocate of over 40 years standing, having looked over the panorama of Mr X’s life, I can find no word in my vocabulary to describe a creature as base as he.”
Civil Service
Kelly was hooked, but a Bar career was prohibitively expensive. Lacking the family wealth and network available to many aspiring lawyers, he pursued a less traditional route.
After the Leaving Cert, he entered the Civil Service and went to the High Court Central Office, where he studied for the Bar exams, learning the law and its habits.
He pursued a law degree through UCD and the King’s Inns and got first-class honours in the Bar exams. The next step would normally involve unpaid work of devilling with a barrister, but Kelly worried about giving up a permanent, pensionable job.
Instead, he won promotion to administrative officer in the Civil Service and asked to be allocated to the Department of Justice which sent him to Amsterdam to do a university summer course in European law.
It was 1973, Ireland had just joined the EEC and 23-year-old Kelly was flying to Brussels and Luxembourg on a regular basis. Exciting times, and it seemed glamorous but he still hankered for the Bar.
In 1975, he took the plunge and resigned his Civil Service job. After a year devilling with senior counsel Tom Smith, he was a junior counsel working for himself and quickly built up a busy practice, doing mainly chancery work.
His sharp legal mind quickly made an impression. Just a year into his career, he made new law here when he got a judgment in Dutch guilders for a Dutch client arising from a bad debt here.
He became a senior counsel in 1986 and was much in demand. Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society, who often briefed Kelly, was deeply impressed by his “remarkable fluency as an advocate and the clarity of his mind”.
He represented the Stardust families, he was on the winning side in the row over the takeover of Irish Distillers by Pernod Ricard and successfully represented the Aga Khan in the high-profile dispute over ownership of the Gilltown stud.
He represented, too, businessman Ben Dunne in bitter litigation over control of the Dunne family’s retail empire and acted in several major liquidations, including of the PMPA and Insurance Corporation of Ireland.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly: A lover of classical music, opera and Italian culture, he is a frequent visitor to Rome, where he has an apartment. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Socially conservative
When Des Hanafin challenged the 1995 pro-divorce referendum result, Kelly, who like Hanafin was regarded as socially conservative, represented the Fianna Fáil politician. Hanafin lost, but established a right to challenge a referendum petition.
The Supreme Court appointed Kelly to make arguments on behalf of the unborn when the Information (Termination of Pregnancies) Bill was referred to it by President Mary Robinson, where it was later deemed constitutional.
He was asked to represent the interests of a ward of court, a woman in a persistent vegetative state, and opposed ending nutrition and hydration for her in Supreme Court proceedings in 1996 that she be allowed to die.
Having become a High Court judge at just 46, Kelly ran a tight ship. Papers had to be in proper order and Kelly, a committed Roman Catholic, expected those who swore to tell the truth to do so and insisted on absolute silence when the oath was being sworn.
Just a year after his appointment, Kelly granted injunctions to the Health and Safety Authority closing a site of prominent developer Zoe Developments following the death of a young worker.
Having later directed Zoe boss Liam Carroll to come to court to give sworn undertakings, Kelly told him: “You are entitled to make profits on the sweat of your workers but you are not entitled to make profits on the blood and lives of your workers.”
He encouraged Carroll to make a donation to charity as a mark of “contrition”. St Vincent de Paul benefited by €100,000 and Kelly’s orders were widely welcomed within the labour movement.
By the late 1990s, Kelly increasingly dealt with cases involving at-risk children, where he was forced to send children to Garda cells or the Central Mental Hospital despite years of pledges by governments to provide secure places.
Having criticised the State’s failures as a “scandal”, he ordered in 1999 that the State should comply with the government’s own plan to provide a secure care unit within timescales it had set for itself.
That order was not appealed. A similar order a year later in a case known as the TD case prompted mutterings in government about judges interfering in matters that were the preserve of the executive. A State appeal later was a “colossal waste of taxpayers’ money”, he declared.
Separation of powers
In another case, after he warned the ministers for health, justice and education could all find themselves in contempt unless a place was found for an extremely disturbed suicidal girl who had absconded from a therapeutic unit, a place was found.
In 2001, the Supreme Court allowed the State’s appeal against Kelly’s TD order. Four of its five judges found that it was inconsistent with the separation of powers rule laid down by the Constitution.
However, Susan Denham, later a chief justice, sided with Kelly as did several legal academics who maintain judicially enforceable socio-economic rights can be read into the Constitution. The secure care units were ultimately built.
In 2003, Kelly drafted the rules for the Commercial Court, designed to speed up settlements in big business cases. Within a few years, as the property bubble burst, the vast bulk of its work was debt collection.
On July 31st, 2009, the last day of the legal year, Kelly refused an urgent petition to appoint an examiner to Zoe Developments, describing as “fanciful” assertions that the Zoe companies, insolvent with bank debt of more than €1 billion, could survive.
The survival scheme was “envisaged to help shareholders whose investment has proved to be unsuccessful” and required “extraordinary” forbearance from banks which was “remarkably absent” when banks were dealing with smaller borrowers.
Despite appeals by Zoe, the refusal of protection was twice endorsed by the Supreme Court. A parade of high-profile developers went the same way as Zoe.
During these years, Kelly kept on top of a crippling workload, dealing with weekly Monopoly-style judgments against some of the country’s biggest developers, business people, politicians, lawyers, sporting and showbiz personalities, and others.
Consistently, Kelly, who was incredulous that banks had loaned and people borrowed such enormous sums, condemned “shoddy” lending practices and the abandonment of traditional rules based on the “three Cs” – credit, collateral and character.
He described the unfinished concrete shell on Dublin’s north quays, intended as Anglo’s showy new HQ before the bank’s collapse, as a “fitting tombstone” to the so-called Celtic Tiger.
‘Cod’ defences
Cases were processed speedily. If money was loaned, it should be repaid. He rejected what he called “cod” defences, often advanced on behalf of many desperate personal litigants on “advice” from self-styled lay “experts”. Those with an arguable defence got a hearing.
Marathon litigation involving Anglo Irish Bank and businessman Sean Quinn and his family took years, seeing Kelly handing out a record €2.2 billion summary judgment against a bankrupt Quinn, once Ireland's richest man.
When Quinn briefly appeared in court saying he was a “simple farmer’s son”, Kelly responded “I’m a simple man myself” before ruling Quinn could not defend the judgment application.
Kelly, ferociously independent, was central to establishing the Association of Judges in 2011, becoming its first chair. Just weeks before it was set up, a referendum to cut judges’ pay had been overwhelmingly approved.
Seeking a voice to speak for them following a rift with the government, Kelly and many judges had regarded the efforts to cut pay as an intrusion on judicial independence. There was no love lost between them and then minister for justice Alan Shatter.
Tensions simmered. Speaking at a private dinner in 2013 to senior business figures, Kelly accused the government of “demolishing judicial independence brick by brick”. His words brought headlines.
Shatter swiftly hit back, prompting talk of a “constitutional crisis”. The Association of Judges of Ireland (AJI) strongly supported Kelly. However, both sides quickly realised that the dispute could not continue. Ultimately, relations improved considerably after Shatter’s resignation.
Some Cabinet members had admired Kelly’s AJI negotiating skills. The pay row did not stop them promoting Kelly, first as a judge of the Court of Appeal in October 2014 and, in late 2015, as president of the High Court, the third most senior judicial position in the State.
Wards of court
During his tenure as High Court president, Kelly has overhauled the wards of court system as best he could with a Victorian-era system being phased out pending the delayed implementation of the 2015 Assisted Decision Making Capacity Act.
Cases have been reviewed that had not been looked at for years, while he brought back independent medical visitors to conduct capacity assessments, involved geriatricians and took steps to ensure wards had their voices heard.
Some critics argue that this approach involves an over-reliance on medical evidence and an under-recognition of individual autonomy. Others argue that Kelly has faced life or death concerns and was hampered by a lack of State support for the elderly.
His decisions have generally withstood appeal but the Supreme Court found last year, in a complex case, more notice of the wardship process should have been given to the elderly woman involved in the case with the effect her fair procedure rights were not vindicated.
Several wards, including young people battling chronic anorexia and their families, have thanked Kelly down the years. One woman deemed to have temporarily lost capacity as a result of a brain tumour, for whom Kelly permitted surgery against her wishes, came to court with chocolates afterwards to thank him. When she said she should have brought champagne, Kelly laughed and said: “I’m a teetotaller.”
Kelly, who is unmarried and lives in south Dublin, is unlikely to be inactive in retirement. He is heading a review of the civil law justice system, expected to report later this year. He is chairman of St Francis Hospice and the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, which took over schools formerly run by the Christian Brothers, and a member of the board of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. A former member of the Bar Council choir, he is a lover of classical music, opera and Italian culture and is a frequent visitor to Rome, where he has an apartment. Socially, he is described as good fun and “up for a laugh”. “He has an excellent singing voice and a sharp, sometimes wicked, wit. He can take off anyone,” one barrister said.
Abbeylara judgment
Widely respected as one of the sharpest legal minds of his generation, Kelly leaves a legacy of many important judgments. He wrote the High Court Abbeylara judgment of 2001 declaring the Oireachtas had “no inherent power” to inquire into the shooting dead by gardaí of John Carthy in Abbeylara or any matter likely to lead to adverse findings against citizens who are not members of the Oireachtas. He authored landmark judgments concerning the right to civil legal aid and the sanctity of legal professional privilege, and was part of divisional High Courts that rejected separate important constitutional actions by former Rehab chief executive Angela Kerins and United Left TD Joan Collins.
He has an impressive work ethic and excellent administrative skills. The Commercial Court, under his stewardship, was marked by the European Commercial Judges Forum as the most efficient commercial court in the EU. Several of his decisions over the years demonstrated determination to have the State meet its constitutional obligations to vulnerable citizens. His early judicial career involved vindicating the rights of at-risk children and his later years saw him advocating for wards. In both lists, he held up a mirror to Ireland’s treatment of its most vulnerable citizens and exposed glaring deficiencies. The improved treatment of wards may be his most enduring legacy. “Before Kelly, people didn’t know wards existed, they were a forgotten people,” one solicitor said. He has done the State, but more particularly the people, some service.


theirishtimes--2020-06-15--Passport office staff redeployed to Covid-19 roles

At the start of March hundreds of staff in the Passport Office were gearing themselves up for another busy season processing applications from tens of thousands of Irish people keen to travel off the island when – overnight – everything was turned on its head .
Panicked Irish citizens suddenly desperate to return home from overseas before the world went into an unprecedented lockdown started making frantic calls to the office on Dublin ’ s Mount Street while applications from holiday makers just stopped .
Within days the entire operation was reconfigured .
Some staff were diverted to work with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information to the public on emergency welfare payments ; others switched focus towards the provision of emergency passports and getting people home ; while dozens were reassigned to complex contact tracing and charged with finding the connections of people too sick with Covid-19 to provide much by way of detail of their next of kin .
“ There has been a huge reduction in the number of passports being processed so we are supporting other aspects of government , ” says director of the Irish Passport Office , Fiona Penollar .
At the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ redeployed to work with the Department of Social Protection answering queries and helping people to process applications for Covid-19 benefits while 150 others did crisis consular work , helping people who need to get home and helping people who need supports while overseas .
There were also 35 people working in the contact tracing area .
“ The way we have adapted has made me very proud , we have jumped from passport processing to something completely different and everyone did that without question or complaint because they knew it was for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She suggests that some elements of the jobs done now are “ very different ” while in other respects they are similar to what was done before .
She cites the example of complex contact tracing : “ We have had the experience of following threads , ” she says .
“ Sometimes when we are processing a passport application , we have to work out a story and link people to somebody whose grandmother may have been born in Ireland at the turn of the 20th century .
Today some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been too ill to provide details of next of kin and we use our skills to try to find out who they are and who needs to be contacted next.
” She says that when it came to dealing with social welfare queries , the skills passport office staff have in managing people with elevated stress levels has helped .
“ Sometimes what you need to do is calm somebody down so they can hear what you ’ re saying and understand it.
” And , in terms of providing consular assistance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was all about repatriation with passport office staff working 18 hours a day , seven days a week .
However , in more recent times , the focus has shifted towards the welfare of Irish people overseas ; people who have lost their jobs or can ’ t pay the rent and need to find out where the supports are ; or those who are in a foreign country and need medical intervention and don ’ t know how to contact a doctor .
“ For people on the front line it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twee but knowing you are doing something that is helping other people really makes a difference .
We know we don ’ t go into the civil service for favour or for fortune but you know getting a child out of this country so she can have cancer treatment in a European country during this crisis , well , that ’ s something to be proud of and that ’ s something that will change somebody ’ s life.
” Catherine Bannon looks after the Covid crisis line in the passport office and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ team was dealing with about 1,000 queries .
It handles about 200 a day now .
“ In the beginning most calls were from overseas from citizens who needed to come home before borders shut , ” Bannon says .
“ We had to work out ways to get them back .
There is also medical emergencies and deaths and while they are always a challenge , they are much more because of the restricted travel so finding people a route home became quite complex.
” The calls now are from people wondering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then there are people who are calling us to see if they will be able to go on holidays in Lanzarote during the summer ; we call those the crystal ball calls ” .
Siobhán Byrne is responsible for managing the emergency passports with the most important category those who need a passport for medical treatment in another country and those who have suffered a bereavement and need to travel .
There have also been “ lots of newborns born overseas to Irish parents and sometimes they ’ re living in countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; we have seen about 20 of those .
Who knew so many Irish births were happening around the world ?
” Her team also pulled out all the stops to get an emergency passport to a pilot flying PPE equipment back from China .
“ He only had three months left on his passport and the Chinese authorities require that there is it least six months left on the passport before they will allow a person to travel , ” she says .
“ There has to be a very genuine reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over backwards to help people in those situations .
”

At the start of March hundreds of staff in the Passport Office were gearing themselves up for another busy season processing applications from tens of thousands of Irish people keen to travel off the island when – overnight – everything was turned on its head.
Panicked Irish citizens suddenly desperate to return home from overseas before the world went into an unprecedented lockdown started making frantic calls to the office on Dublin’s Mount Street while applications from holiday makers just stopped.
Within days the entire operation was reconfigured. Some staff were diverted to work with the Department of Social Protection to provide information to the public on emergency welfare payments; others switched focus towards the provision of emergency passports and getting people home; while dozens were reassigned to complex contact tracing and charged with finding the connections of people too sick with Covid-19 to provide much by way of detail of their next of kin.
"There has been a huge reduction in the number of passports being processed so we are supporting other aspects of government," says director of the Irish Passport Office, Fiona Penollar.
READ MORE
At the height of the crisis 250 staff were redeployed to work with the Department of Social Protection answering queries and helping people to process applications for Covid-19 benefits while 150 others did crisis consular work, helping people who need to get home and helping people who need supports while overseas. There were also 35 people working in the contact tracing area.
“The way we have adapted has made me very proud, we have jumped from passport processing to something completely different and everyone did that without question or complaint because they knew it was for the greater good,” Penollar says.
She suggests that some elements of the jobs done now are "very different" while in other respects they are similar to what was done before. She cites the example of complex contact tracing: "We have had the experience of following threads," she says. "Sometimes when we are processing a passport application, we have to work out a story and link people to somebody whose grandmother may have been born in Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. Today some of the cases come to us if people have been too ill to provide details of next of kin and we use our skills to try to find out who they are and who needs to be contacted next."
Elevated stress levels
She says that when it came to dealing with social welfare queries, the skills passport office staff have in managing people with elevated stress levels has helped. “Sometimes what you need to do is calm somebody down so they can hear what you’re saying and understand it.”
And, in terms of providing consular assistance, in the early stages of the crisis it was all about repatriation with passport office staff working 18 hours a day, seven days a week. However, in more recent times, the focus has shifted towards the welfare of Irish people overseas; people who have lost their jobs or can’t pay the rent and need to find out where the supports are; or those who are in a foreign country and need medical intervention and don’t know how to contact a doctor.
“For people on the front line it can be very stressful and this sounds twee but knowing you are doing something that is helping other people really makes a difference. We know we don’t go into the civil service for favour or for fortune but you know getting a child out of this country so she can have cancer treatment in a European country during this crisis, well, that’s something to be proud of and that’s something that will change somebody’s life.”
Catherine Bannon looks after the Covid crisis line in the passport office and, in the early stages, her team was dealing with about 1,000 queries. It handles about 200 a day now.
“In the beginning most calls were from overseas from citizens who needed to come home before borders shut,” Bannon says. “We had to work out ways to get them back. There is also medical emergencies and deaths and while they are always a challenge, they are much more because of the restricted travel so finding people a route home became quite complex.”
The calls now are from people wondering when they can travel for work “and then there are people who are calling us to see if they will be able to go on holidays in Lanzarote during the summer; we call those the crystal ball calls”.
Emergency passports
Siobhán Byrne is responsible for managing the emergency passports with the most important category those who need a passport for medical treatment in another country and those who have suffered a bereavement and need to travel.
There have also been “lots of newborns born overseas to Irish parents and sometimes they’re living in countries that require them to have a passport; we have seen about 20 of those. Who knew so many Irish births were happening around the world?”
Her team also pulled out all the stops to get an emergency passport to a pilot flying PPE equipment back from China. "He only had three months left on his passport and the Chinese authorities require that there is it least six months left on the passport before they will allow a person to travel," she says. "There has to be a very genuine reason and if there is we will bend over backwards to help people in those situations."


theirishtimes--2020-06-15--More than 30,000 passport applications to be processed

There are more than 30,000 passport applications waiting to be processed by officials working within the Department of Foreign Affairs but the Passport Service has expressed confidence the backlog will be cleared within weeks .
The service processed 12,000 passports last week alone and while there are still 32,000 applications in the system , a spokeswoman said most of them would be issued by early next month .
The passport office drastically curtailed its normal services from the middle of March as hundreds of its staff were diverted to work in other departments including Covid-19 contact tracing within the HSE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Social Protection .
It did not , however , completely stop issuing passports and , alongside emergency travel documents which had to be issued , the office also processed thousands of adult renewal applications received online which required minimum staff intervention .
“ Once the potential impact of Covid-19 became obvious , contingency planning commenced to minimise the impact of restrictions on the delivery of passport services , ” a spokeswoman for the Passport Service said .
“ In particular , plans were put in place to ensure that the Passport Service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the issuance of passports in cases of serious illness or death abroad.
” She said that while staff were on-site processing urgent applications , they had also produced about 6,000 additional passports .
However , tens of thousands of passports would normally be processed each month in the run-up to the summer , and the lockdown and the diversion of resources to other areas has led to the significant backlog .
The spokeswoman said it was “ at an advanced stage of planning for the return to full operation ” and she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plans which started last Monday , the processing of non-essential online applications started to ramp up .
“ There are currently 32,000 passport applications in the system to be processed , ” she said .
“ The Passport Service has a great deal of experience in dealing with peaks in demand and we believe that we are well placed to ensure the online service will be meeting its usual turnaround times of approximately two weeks for simple applications by phase three ” which is now set to start at the end of this @ @

Tens of thousands of passports would normally be processed each month in the run-up to the summer.
There are more than 30,000 passport applications waiting to be processed by officials working within the Department of Foreign Affairs but the Passport Service has expressed confidence the backlog will be cleared within weeks.
The service processed 12,000 passports last week alone and while there are still 32,000 applications in the system, a spokeswoman said most of them would be issued by early next month.
The passport office drastically curtailed its normal services from the middle of March as hundreds of its staff were diverted to work in other departments including Covid-19 contact tracing within the HSE and manning information lines for the Department of Social Protection.
It did not, however, completely stop issuing passports and, alongside emergency travel documents which had to be issued, the office also processed thousands of adult renewal applications received online which required minimum staff intervention.
READ MORE
“Once the potential impact of Covid-19 became obvious, contingency planning commenced to minimise the impact of restrictions on the delivery of passport services,” a spokeswoman for the Passport Service said.
“In particular, plans were put in place to ensure that the Passport Service continued to provide an emergency service for the issuance of passports in cases of serious illness or death abroad.”
She said that while staff were on-site processing urgent applications, they had also produced about 6,000 additional passports.
However, tens of thousands of passports would normally be processed each month in the run-up to the summer, and the lockdown and the diversion of resources to other areas has led to the significant backlog.
Full operation
The spokeswoman said it was “at an advanced stage of planning for the return to full operation” and she said that in phase two of the Government plans which started last Monday, the processing of non-essential online applications started to ramp up.
“There are currently 32,000 passport applications in the system to be processed,” she said.
“The Passport Service has a great deal of experience in dealing with peaks in demand and we believe that we are well placed to ensure the online service will be meeting its usual turnaround times of approximately two weeks for simple applications by phase three” which is now set to start at the end of this month.