LAST UPDATE | 4 May 2023
TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has said he stands by comments he made in the Dáil last week about The Ditch website and one of its backers Paddy Cosgrave, after Cosgrave, Web Summit founder, claimed Martin‘s comments were an abuse of Dáil privilege and in breach of Dáil standing orders.
Cosgrave shared a submission online which he said he had filed to the Clerk of the Dáil, claiming Martin breached Standing Order 71 and 72 when he addressed the Dáil last Thursday.
I have sent the below submission to the Clerk of the Dáil concerning the Tánaiste’s breach of Standing Order 71 last Thursday. pic.twitter.com/mVKrpWKLBe
— Paddy Cosgrave (@paddycosgrave) May 3, 2023
Martin described The Ditch as “a political organisation” that wanted to attack and undermine confidence in the government; that he didn’t see the website as an “independent media platform at all”; and that the website was conducting a “political campaign” against the Government, claims refuted by The Ditch.
In his submission, Cosgrave said the Tánaiste’s comments were “entirely false”, and he claimed the comments had “adversely affected” his reputation.
In a statement, Cosgrave said: “I understand the Ceann Comhairle is considering my submission to the Clerk concerning the Tánaiste’s breach of standing order 71. I look forward to the outcome of this process.”
When asked for his reaction to Cosgrave’s submission, Martin replied: “I’d ask him (Cosgrave) to read what I said in the Dáil, and there’s nothing there that’s not factual. In respect of what I said in the Dáil, he’s now doing that classic thing of saying I said things that I didn’t actually say in the Dáil.”
Martin sad he was “surprised” by Cosgrave’s submission, “because he (Cosgrave) is able to dish it out to a fair degree himself”.
“It’s a bit rich of him to be attacking me for what I said in the Dáil, because the Dáil is a fundamental cornerstone of our parliamentary democracy, where things need to be said, and said with respect and consciousness of the responsibilities that we have when we’re saying things in the Dáil as I do as a long-term parliamentarian,” the Tánaiste said.
“I said what I feel needed to be said, in respect of ‘On the Ditch’, and its work and so on, and these are views I hold, these are views I believe in, it’s my opinion, and I strongly hold to those those views,” Martin said.
“The Ditch themselves have acknowledged that Paddy Cosgrave is a strong supporter financially, to the tune of €1 million, that’s €200,000 a year, €1 million over five years, so, it confirms what what was said in the Dáil,” he added.
Martin’s comments come after Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins last week told the Dáil he had “no doubt” that his actions in relation to the sale of land in Co Limerick in 2008 were legally correct.
That statement came after it was revealed by The Ditch that his wife purchased land from Limerick County Council in 2008, after he attended a meeting of the Bruff Area Committee where the sale was proposed.
Collins said the process was “all done in full transparency” and the sale occurred when he was no longer a member of the council.
There has been criticism that the minister was permitted to give a statement to the Dáil rather than take questions from the opposition.
In a statement to The Journal last week, a spokesperson for The Ditch described Martin’s comments about its site as an “hysterical, paranoid attack”.
“The Ditch has never paid for advertising or attacked any Irish media for not covering our stories. Many do – Martin questioned both these outlets’ judgement, as well as all the readers who consider our stories to be in the public interest”, they said.
“The Ditch has two directors, Eoghan McNeill and Roman Shortall, who are two of the company’s three shareholders, the third being a holding company for lawyer Adam Connon.”
The spokesperson added that the site is funded by subscribers, as well as Web Summit, a multi-million euro international tech conference, “as part of the company’s support for Irish media”.
“The Ditch’s investigative reporting has led to the resignations of two ministers in Martin’s government, as well as the ex-deputy chairperson of An Bord Pleanála – these consequences explain Martin’s conspiracism in the Dáil today”, they concluded.
With reporting by Christina Finn, Tadgh McNally and David Raleigh
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