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Richard Boyd-Barrett (left) leaves the Dáil chamber after being ordered to do so by Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett.

Boyd-Barrett becomes first TD kicked out of new Dáil

Richard Boyd-Barrett is asked to leave the chamber by Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett – the first ejection of the 31st Dáil.

RICHARD BOYD-BARRETT has become the first TD to be asked to leave the Dáil by its new Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett, after the two deputies exchanged heated words in the chamber this afternoon.

The People Before Profit TD was asked to leave after refusing to withdraw a remark made off-microphone about Barrett’s handling of Dáil procedures, alleging that he was being unfairly singled out for more strict application of the Dáil’s rules than other TDs.

“You are not entitled to question the Chair, please resume your seat. You will not get any explanation from me,” Barrett declared. “You will withdraw that remark or else leave the chamber.”

Refusing to apologise for his apparent allegation, Boyd-Barrett then left the chamber – deciding to leave via the door immediately beside Barrett’s dais – as government backbenchers bayed, “You may write 100 lines aswell.”

The request for Boyd-Barrett to leave came minutes after heated words were changed between the two, when the Ceann Comhairle ordered Boyd-Barrett to stop asking questions unrelated to the visit of Barack Obama, which was being discussed at that time.

Boyd-Barrett – who shares his Dún Laoghaire constituency with Barrett – has persistently being on the receiving end of rebukes from Barrett in the chair, over the former’s attempts to deviate from the agreed agenda in asking questions of government ministers.

Listen to Richard Boyd-Barrett being asked to leave (MP3) >

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    Mute Mike Chang
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    Jun 4th 2012, 8:09 PM

    Richard Boyd Barrett supports central planning, a Soviet style system of economic organization that impoverished countless millions, that is incompatible with democracy and economic prosperity. Why does Mr Barrett think that out of the millions of economists in the world, not even a handful agree with the ‘learned analysis’, of this secondary school left wing English teacher? It irrelevant to Mr Barrett that capitalism and private enterprise has improved the standard of living of the ordinary man more than anything else; its relevant to Mr Barrett that the most capitalistic country in Latin America is the most rich, has the lowest corruption level, has the highest GDP, highest real income per capita, lowest amount living below the poverty line, lowest infant mortality rate, etc its irrelevant to Mr Barrett that Hong kong and Singapore are among the richest countries in the world with higher incomes that Sweden, Germany, France, the Uk etc etc; its irrelevant to Mr Barrett that millions have been taken out of ineffably atrocious poverty in China with the implementation of free-market capitalistic reform, its irrelevant to Mr Barrett that the poor is capitalistic countries are wealthier than the average people in state socialist countries or that obesity is more of a problem among the poor in capitalistic countries than among the rich. Barrett doesn’t care that prices don’t allocate resources in a socialist economy, that they don’t reflect supply and demand, that they don’t reflect scarcity; Barrett doesn’t care that socialism kills incentives to innovate, and for economic growth, kills the right to set up a business, and creates endless waste and dead weight loss, monumental shortfalls in total surplus; in fact he doesn’t care about facts, or the truth, he knows what he likes and doesn’t want to hear anything else; don’t little little things like the evidence or truth get in the way of his endless inarticulate regurgitation of yesterdays fallacies of central planning, soviet nostrums, erroneous assumptions and emotion-laden invective. A backbench ranter with laughable views.

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