A LONG NIGHT (and morning) in the Dáil ended with a surprise move from Labour TD Michael McNamara, who appeared to vote against the government on an amendment regarding fatal foetal abnormalities.
With just three seconds to spare during voting time, the Clare deputy’s dot turned green, signalling that he had voted for Catherine Murphy’s amendment which looked to include fatal foetal abnormalities as a grounds for a lawful termination.
The green light in the midst of red government benches was startling and, following the vote, a number of his party colleagues gathered around him before leaving the chamber. Within minutes, chief whip Emmet Stagg informed onlookers that it was a genuine, technical mistake.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie in the early hours of this morning, the Kildare TD said he was convinced it was a technical error and that McNamara fully supports the government.
Although McNamara will not face party discipline, the vote will remain on record in the Dáil.
But some were not convinced by his explanation, insisting that he had performed a U-turn on the vote. Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín tweeted that he “refused to change his mind despite Labour colleagues’ efforts”.
At the end of this video, he can be seen gesturing and talking to a number of other TDs from the Labour party, including Minister Joan Burton.
Earlier, the deputy had made an impassioned speech in support of the Bill in its entirety.
He told the House that people on both sides of the debate will vote with their conscience.
"...There is something hanging in the air that somehow only those who oppose either section nine of this Bill or the Bill in its entirety are voting with their conscience and the rest voting somehow in political expedience," he continued. "Nothing could be further from the truth."
(YouTube: SineadOCarrollTJ)
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