Live BlogLAST UPDATE | 48 mins ago
PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins has agreed to dissolve the 33rd Dáil, kicking off the general election.
The dissolution of the parliament will trigger the start of a short three-week election campaign ahead of polling day on 29 November.
After a speech on the steps of Government Buildings this afternoon, the Taoiseach headed over to Áras an Úachtaráin to request that President Higgins dissolve the Dáil.
TDs rose and the 33rd Dáil was suspended for the final time yesterday evening, marking the end of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party’s four-year coalition.
Reporting by Rónán Duffy (earlier) and Lauren Boland (now).
With the election looming, various parties have already been setting out their stalls.
Labour’s Director of Elections Brendan Howlin today said the party’s candidates “have been preparing for this election for some months now”.
“Too many people feel utterly left behind by this Government,” said Howlin.
“The two main parties of this Government have governed together since 2016 yet they have squandered the last 8 years of prosperity.”
He added that Labour “will be offering a clear alternative to the public over the next three weeks. We’re fighting this election to build a better Ireland, to build better together”.
“We’ll contest this election on a positive platform – on the issues that matter to people – housing, climate, children’s rights,” said Howlin.
“Our dedicated candidates are fired up and ready to hit the ground running.”
Some more images of President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Simon Harris officially dissolving the Dáil ahead of the general election.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin, the leader of Fianna Fáil, has kicked off his party’s campaign with a statement this afternoon.
“This is an election about Ireland’s future. It’s about how we can protect our many strengths and overcome deep challenges,” he said, promising that the Fianna Fáil campaign will put “policy before politics” and “substance before soundbite”.
“We will offer new policies on tackling high prices, on helping people to buy or rent a home, on expanding health services, supporting education, tackling crime, and on many other areas and we will lay out plans for leading Ireland through any new international turmoil which may arise,” Martin said.
“It will be a short three-week campaign, but the issues at stake could not be more serious.
We’ll campaign in every constituency and every community. Fianna Fáil will be focused on our positive message of policies which can both protect progress and move Ireland forward for the benefit of all of its people.”
Our reporter Muiris Ó Cearbhaill is outside Government Buildings now, where Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is expected to make remarks shortly.
The media gathering outside Government buildings waiting for Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/nZBkwUHxR4
— Muiris Ó Cearbhaill (@muirisoc) November 8, 2024
In pictures: Taoiseach Simon Harris speaking outside Government Buildings and arriving at Áras an Uachtaráin ahead of his meeting with President Michael D Higgins, which saw the President agree to dissolve the Dáil.
Dissolving the Dáíl: The Taoiseach and President have emerged from their meeting and are signing the necessary papers to formally dissolve the Dáil.
And the second half of his short speech:
"If you give me your trust, I will give you my all"
— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) November 8, 2024
Taoiseach Simon Harris appeals to voters before heading to Áras an Uachtaráin #GE2024 pic.twitter.com/spq1wXCblz
As the Taoiseach and President Michael D. Higgins hold a meeting in the Áras, here’s a clip of Harris’s speech:
"The time is now right to ask the Irish people to give a new mandate"
— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) November 8, 2024
The Taoiseach has officially confirmed that he will travel to Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon to ask President Higgins to dissolve the Dáil to allow an election to be held on the 29 November #GE2024 pic.twitter.com/70u7BjeNZE
The Taoiseach’s car is now pulling up outside the Áras – quick progress from Merrion Square to the Phoenix Park.
While he was speaking outside Government Buildings, Harris made a brief appeal for support from voters as he summarised what he sees as the successes of the Fine Gael – Fianna Fáil – Green coalition.
He said the coalition delivered progressive budgets that brought the country through the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the cost of living crisis and that it is “delivering new homes across our country”.
Opposition parties will no doubt have plenty to say about how they feel the government has fared on those issues.
Alluding to recent verbal attacks on politicians, Harris said that “this election must be a safe and respectful campaign for all politicians and all of their teams”, adding that he wishes all candidates luck.
“I believe that this government has made real progress for our country,” Harris said, thanking members of the three coalition parties – his own Fine Gael as well as Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.
“We did not agree on every issue but we did always work hard and together for the good of the Irish people.”
The Taoiseach has officially confirmed that he will travel to Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon to ask President Michael D. Higgins to dissolve the Dáil to allow an election to be held on the 29 November.
Happening now: Simon Harris is walking down the stairs of Leinster House to the plinth.
Our reporter Muiris Ó Cearbhaill has the latest from Labour’s first election event.
The Labour Party published it’s housing policy this morning in the first election event of this campaign, promising to build 250,000 homes over five years, established a State construction company and introduce a number of new measures for renters.
The party would also prop up new residential projects with public funds, so developers can build homes and establish a state construction company to end the “boom-and-bust” cycle.
Leader and party spokesperson for housing Ivana Bacik said the public building firm would boost the housing supply and, in turn, decrease prices.
She added that it would also incentivise tradespeople to leave the commercial sector and begin helping to build homes and claimed that it will be enough to persuade Irish builders abroad to come home.
Labour believe that it is “feasible”, according to its leader, to increase housing supply and the number of tradespeople so that house prices will have fallen enough by 2026, when the party plans to phase out the First Home Scheme.
Bacik also proposed that Labour would phase out the Help to Buy scheme by the end of its term and replace it with a fairer, more targeted plan. It would also establish a Rent to Buy scheme, using the cost rental sector.
The party intend to revamp the Residential Tenancies Board role so it can establish a Rent Register Index for prospective tenants to compare and contrast the prices of previous dwellers.
The no-fault eviction ban would be reinstated under a Labour government, local councillor Darragh Moriarty said, and a rent freeze would be introduced for a minimum of three years.
Labour would also ban all no-fault evictions, unless a landlord is seeking to rent to personal family – not extended – or if the home is determined an unsafe dwelling.
Asked if these measures would make the housing market less attractive for landlord and institutional investors, Labour TD Duncan Smith said he didn’t believe so.
“We’re making the market more safe on one factor, this boom of bus cycle needs to end,” he said, adding that the state construction company would be “transformational, if done properly”.
Smith said the construction company would”stabilise the market. “Any market that stable is good for investors,” he added.
Media are waiting for the Taoiseach to speak.
Our Politics Editor Christina Finn is at Leinster House.
Some pictures from the first few hours of campaigning.
Some election briefs here.
Fianna Fail has added Austin Stack to the party’s ticket in the Laois constituency.
Stack is a former prison officer and is best known as the son of Portlaoise Chief Prison Officer Brian Stack, was shot by the Provisional IRA in 1983 and died in hospital in 1984.
Stack will be running alongside Fianna Fail’s Seán Fleming in the constituency, which is now a three-seater and has become particularly interesting since Brian Stanley TD announced he would be running as an independent after leaving Sinn Féin.
Also, in Dublin Bay North, a campaign group for the victims of the Stardust nightclub fire has recognised the “real pain” caused by survivor Antoinette Keegan’s announcement that she would run as a candidate for the far-right National Party, a decision she has since reversed.
Keegan withdrew as an election candidate for the National Party yesterday, just days after announcing she would run, admitting it was “an error in judgement”.
She apologised to members of the public and said her principles did not align with the National Party.
There’s always controversy about the formation of debates during election season. Remember 2020 when RTÉ initially left Sinn Féin out of a leaders’ debate they scheduled with Fianna Fáil and Fine gael before being forced into a u-turn?
What we know so far is that while RTÉ has not yet officially announced all of its election coverage, we understand that the public broadcaster has the usual two debates planned.
It’s understood that kicking things off will be a ten-way leaders debate on Monday 18 November under the Upfront with Katie Hannon banner.
RTÉ is then set to hold another debate on PrimeTime, hosted by Miriam O’Callaghan and Sarah McInerney on Tuesday 26 November with just the leaders of the three largest political parties.
In what is largely viewed to be an act of protest by Virgin Media over what it deems to be the government’s failure to support its public service broadcasting, there will be no debates hosted by the Ballymount broadcaster.
A jet flying from Budapest has just landed at Baldonnel, the military airbase in south-west Dublin. Taoiseach Simon Harris is believed to be on board.
Once he’s on the road, it’ll take him about 15 minutes to get to Government Buildings with his garda escort, and we’ll expect to see him talk to the media shortly after that before he heads off to the Áras.
Meanwhile, Labour is launching what it’s calling its “radical” housing policy.
The plan includes a proposal for a State construction company but the party acknowledges that it needs to train more tradespeople to implement it.
Labour also wants to phase out the government Help To Buy scheme by 2029. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael want to keep the scheme but the opposition claim it merely adds more money to the market and inflates prices.
Labour Party is out the traps with its housing policy announcement, promising a ‘radical, strategic reset’ of current action. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/mav1mVlQKf
— Muiris Ó Cearbhaill (@muirisoc) November 8, 2024
We promised you we’d have reporters running about the place today and here’s the proof.
Our Political Correspondent Jane Matthews is near her usual territory around Leinster House where Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is out with some of his party’s candidates.
And so it begins… Micheál Martin rules out coalition with Sinn Féin as GE2024 gets underway.
— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) November 8, 2024
“They don’t get the economic model”.
He adds that housing will be a core pillar of Fianna Fáil’s campaign, claiming they have been the “agent of change” in housing. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/TahYP7TtuH
Martin sat down with our Political Editor Christina Finn yesterday to outline some of his party’s promises ahead of the election.
An Tánaiste said that Fianna Fáil will “at a minimum” double the Rent Tax Credit, expand the First Home Scheme, and look at increasing the Help-to-Buy grant to get money into the hands of people who are renting or buying homes.
When asked about the Help-to-Buy grant, which offers a tax rebate of up to €30,000 to people looking to buy new builds, Martin said “it may have to be increased”.
“We can look at that, but I think it’s quite generous as it is,” he said, adding the next government can look at the scheme on an ongoing basis.
Election posters are already springing up around the country ahead of the expected formal launch of the campaign today.
Posters are permitted to be put up on the day the writ is moved by the Minister for Housing and Local Government, so erecting them after midnight is allowed as long as the minister signs the order at some point today.
If the minister doesn’t sign the writ today though, they’ve put the posters up early. It’s slightly uncharted waters though because we’ve rarely had an election that was so signposted, pardon the pun.
The latest on Taoiseach Simon Harris by the way is that he’s currently on board a private flight from Budapest to Dublin that is currently over the Irish Sea and should therefore be landing in the next 30 minutes or so.
While Harris’ movements are going to be closely watched today, there’s plenty of pre-election photocalls and press launches happening today.
Fianna Fáil, Labour, People Before Profit and Sinn Féin are all out today. We have reporters criss-crossing Dublin city to keep tabs on them.
PBP’s Paul Murphy meanwhile has his party’s banner straddling the city.
Our message is clear pic.twitter.com/x2mNaFTugs
— Paul Murphy 🏳️⚧️ (@paulmurphy_TD) November 8, 2024
Well, good morning!
Rónán Duffy here for what promises to be a busy day of formalities and photocalls as Taoiseach Simon Harris heads to the Áras to finally call time on the 33rd Dáil.
We don’t know exactly what time Harris will meet President Higgins but we are expecting him to make a speech at Government Buildings before hot footing it across the city to Phoenix Park.
Speaking this morning, Harris said:
“I intend to approach this campaign with determination, with humility, with a real hope that it doesn’t descend into tit for tat.
“It needs to really look at the issues that matter to Irish people; whether that is housing – not just who can shout the biggest number they are going to build – but credibly how can they fund them, how they can deliver them, how they can afford them, what supports are in place.”
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