The Dáil and Seanad return today from recess for what will be a very different opening day.
The appalling death of Ashling Murphy has left a pall over the country. People are grieving the loss of somebody who during the course of her short life made such a positive and full contribution to her family, those who knew her and wider society.
So many people identified with those qualities and saw a part of themselves in this admirable young woman.
Women also understood the horror of her senseless death, because they themselves had experienced similar moments when they became victims of gender-based violence, albeit not with the extreme and tragic outcome that befell the young teacher from Co Offaly.
Miriam Lord’s piece on the funeral is rendered beautifully. She writes: “In the middle of the unimaginable, at a minor intersection in a rural Irish village, bewildering reality and a crushing sadness merged in memory of a shining spirit cruelly cut short.
“Mourners gathered from early at this little junction where Idle Corner Road runs down to the main street, ending at the gates of St Brigid’s Church in Mountbolus. They waited quietly in the January cold and intermittent morning rain, still coming to terms with the awful circumstances which brought them to this crossroads in Co Offaly.
“How could this be happening?”
Miriam’s question finds the nub. Ms Murphy’s death has shaken society to its foundations and restoked questions about men inflicting violence on women in this State. It demands a political response and the unsettling questions raised by the young woman’s death will dominate proceedings in the Dáil today.
There will be statements on violence against women in the afternoon. In the evening a Private Members’ motion, tabled by Sinn Féin, will discuss gender based violence.
Expect it to be raised also during Leaders’ Questions.
The opening day of a session can often involve rambunctious exchanges between party leaders. That is unlikely to happen today. The atmosphere will be subdued and if criticisms are made of shortcomings in policy, they will be couched in proportionate language and with a low-key mood.
Covid -19
There could well be a neat symmetry to the end of the Covid-19 restrictions but one that took longer than anyone anticipated.
Senior Government Ministers gave heavy hints that we may have reached the peak of Omicron and it might pave the way for the rapid removal of restrictions, with everything possibly back to a pre-Covid status by the end of March. If that happens it will be more or less two years since the very first restrictions were announced.
Our lead news story by Jack Horgan-Jones and Pat Leahy reports on what Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar had to say yesterday.
Varadkar said he expects a rapid de-escalation of restrictions, and expressed his hope that March 31st would become a deadline for almost all measures to lapse.
The sequencing will also move quickly this week. There is a routine weekly Cabinet meeting today. Nphet will meet tomorrow to assess the Omicron situation and make recommendations.
The Cabinet is then expected to meet for a second time on Friday to effect the recommendations. We could see restrictions beginning to ease from early next week, although the process will be phased.
Best reads
Miriam Lord's evocative piece on the funeral of Ashling Murphy is here.
In a powerful reflection on the events of the past week, Kathy Sheridan remembers a shocking and deplorable incident that happened to her as a teenager.
Jennifer Bray has an interesting piece identifying all the major political events and issues that she expects during 2022.
Here is a report on the environment committee's examination of the proposed carbon budgets, which again reminded us of the almost impossible task ahead to reduce emissions by 51 per cent by 2030.
Playbook
The Cabinet is meeting this morning. It will be meeting again on Friday.
In the Dáil, Leaders’ Questions are at 2pm followed by statements on violence again women. Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman’s key piece of legislation, the Bill on Information and Tracing, is before the Dáil for second stage debate.
The Higher Education Authority Bill is also before the Dáil. The Sinn Féin motion on gender-based violence will be debated this evening.
The Seanad also returns today.
At committees, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe will discuss Covid-19 expenditure, as well as the Government decision to sell AIB shares when he appears before the finance committee.
Minister of State Frank Feighan will be discussing the national drugs strategy at the health committee.
The agricultural committee will be discussing the sharp increases in the price of fertiliser with the deputy head of the EU unit responsible for governance of agri-food markets.
