Dáil to reconvene after unprecedented row over speaking time

The Dáil is to reconvene a day after a chaotic row over how speaking time should be allocated to government-affiliated independents.

A meeting of opposition party leaders is expected to be held early on Thursday morning in order to agree a resolution before the Dáil resumes.

Efforts to appoint a Taoiseach after November’s general election failed as the opposition disrupted proceedings to protest the matter on Wednesday.

Central to the row is a move to allocate opposition speaking time to some independents who had been involved in government formation talks.

Opposition parties said this would dilute the practice of holding government to account and eat into their time to raise issues.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was expected to be nominated as taoiseach when the Dáil reconvened, as part of a coalition deal with Fine Gael, the regional independent group and Kerry brothers Michael and Danny Healy-Rae.

But several interruptions meant that what would have…

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