In the midst of Government formation negotiations for the Social Democrats, newly elected TD Eoin Hayes has been suspended from the party – Gary Gannon explain where the party is at.
On The Hard Shoulder, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the parliamentary party “took a kicking” this week.
“I suppose we have to get ourselves up off the mat, and we have done that, we regrouped fairly quickly,” he said.
“I think the decision we made with the parliamentary party was swift, it was in accordance with our values to stand for accountability.
“We haven't shied away from it, we've met the press every single day since, we've stood over ourselves.
“So I think we've in terms of how we reacted, I'm quite proud of that, but it was a tough day for us.”
Speaking about an article in The Irish Independent discussing political accountability, Deputy Gannon said that he was mentioned several times “rightfully so” as he “didn’t meet standards last week”.
“We never claimed to be pure,” he said.
“We say our foundational sounds are transparency and accountability, we have standards that if we don't meet, that we will treat ourselves as we treat those who haven't met them too.”
Deputy Gannon doesn’t know if he can see Eoin Hayes back in the party.
“This has been an absolute whirlwind of a week,” he said.
“I think time will tell its own tale - there's a lot of lessons to be learned for all of us here.”
Negotiation talks
On Government negotiations, Deputy Gannon said the Soc Dems don’t want to be in Government “just to make up numbers”.
“We made a commitment before the election to the electorate that we would meet with every single party,” he said.
“We met with Labour, we met with Sinn Féin and yesterday we met with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which was very interesting.
“Today, the parliamentary party decided to go a little bit deeper and meet and actually have another meeting with all the other parties again.
“I mean, this is what an effective political party should be doing after an election like I don't want to sit in perennial opposition, I want to have my policies on the table, and this is how that starts.”
Deputy Gannon added that the party will "drive a hard bargain" throughout negotiations.
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Soc Dem's Gary Gannon. 28/11/2024 Photo: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie
