David Monaghan

Taoiseach should lead, not hinder as Irish unity momentum grows stronger – @MaryLouMcDonald "Micheál Martin is consistently finding reasons to delay rather than showing the leadership this moment demands." sinnfein.ie/news/taoiseach…

Joanna Byrne statement: ✍️𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐬 Dear Drogs, I write this letter with a heavy heart as I note, the statement made by Trivela this morning removing me from my position as co-chairperson and member of the board of management of Drogheda United Football Club. The past few weeks have been a difficult time for me personally, but I have carried myself with integrity at all times in recent weeks, for the good of the club. This approach is the opposite to the cold, underhand move by Trivela, initiated in the dark of the night, which was planned and co-ordinated without any consultation with me. This is symptomatic of the way they do business. A narrative has been peddled in recent weeks of a conflict of interest between my role as co-chair and my role as an opposition spokesperson on sport, something I categorically dispute. I have consciously kept my politics and Drogs hat separate for many years, something which wasn’t easy to do but something I managed successfully. I have always been transparent and open with fans and in the spirit of that transparency it is important to put a number of facts on the record and outline the sequence of events over the last few weeks. On February 12th, following the UEFA Nations League Draw I released a written statement in my capacity as the Sinn Féin spokesperson for sport, which never mentioned Drogheda United in any form. On February 16th I met with two Board Members of the club for a private conversation, I had no intention of making the matter public and always hoped for an amicable resolution but unfortunately details of this conversation were leaked to our fans, fans who elected me into the role as Chairperson and those who I have always vowed to be transparent and open with, as a result I had no option but to respond on February 18th to let the fans know that I had no intention of resigning. The facts also are that I was a sitting Councillor when Trivela took over Drogheda Utd and subsequently stood in two elections since, another local election and then a general election. Neither of these were ever an issue with Trivela and they were consulted prior to both, and they were supportive at the time. At the time Trivela took ownership of the club, the issue of a potential conflict was discussed with them and no issue was raised. Despite this, following my election as a TD, I asked Trivela last summer to do their own due diligence on this potential conflict of interest to reassure us all, which they did by consulting with both international and our own national governing bodies, and following no concerns being raised from any stakeholder, Trivela re-iterated they were happy for me to stay on in my role. This very fact proves to me that the underlying issue here is as I’ve stated from the beginning, my strong stance that Ireland should not play Israel in the UEFA Nations League while a genocide against the Palestinian people continues. Finally, it is important to point out that despite this previous internal process of due diligence, Trivela stated last week in a statement that they had carried out another internal review which I was not aware of, nor asked to partake in even though I was a board member, director and co-chairperson of the club. This alone is an injustice in itself. I’ve said it before and will say it again, Drogheda United has been the longest love of my life. I’m proud of our history and tradition and exceptionally proud that we are the first League of Ireland Club to ever have appointed a Female Chairperson. This, I hope, will in time pave the way for other clubs to reflect on their top tables and start implementing gender balance. To go down in history as having the honour of being the first female chair is obviously something I cherish, but more importantly, if it shows other women involved in the game that they too can smash their own glass ceiling that will always be my greatest achievement.

Brendan O’Connor (RTÉ Radio One) treats every discussion like a courtroom - interrupting, over-controlling and policing guests at every turn. He doesn’t facilitate debate, he suffocates it, contributing zero to the sum total knowledge of anyone listening. Insufferable!

People need real action - not half measures. Every day FFFGLI delay, workers and families pay the price. Ppl are furious with govt but SF will keep the pressure on to cut taxes on petrol, diesel, and home heating oil and deliver real cost of living support to make life more affordable.

"..up to a quarter" works out to be a 13c cut on excise. It'll have increased 'up to 13c' by Tuesday for diesel the way things are going 🙄

Concerns growing that FF/FG measures will not come close to what is required to deal with skyrocketing fuel bills – @PearseDoherty sinnfein.ie/news/concerns-…

Fuel prices are out of control, while the government dithers about what to do!

Overnight, diesel up again. Home heating oil up again. And what is Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s response? To tell people to wait until next Tuesday for them to hold another meeting! They could cut fuel prices today if they wanted. They could implement what is in Sinn Féin’s legislation. This would ease the pressure on people right now. But they choose not to act. We will keep the pressure up until this do-nothing government does its job! @DavidMonaghanSF

Every day this government delays, families fall further behind. Costs keep rising - and still people are being told to wait for another meeting next Tuesday. This is a complete failure of leadership when people need it most. I will keep the pressure on. The solution is there. Scrap fuel taxes. Support working people. Action now.

Now more than ever, Neutrality matters. The Governments attempt to get rid of the Triple Lock Neutrality protection puts Irish Defence Forces Personnel at risk of being dragged in to deployments that have nothing to do with peacekeeping. James Connolly in 1914 said we serve neither King nor Kaiser, but Ireland. Seasann an fealsúnacht sin go fóill. Caithfearr claí le polasaí gnóthaí eachtracha neamhspléach, agus cosaint a dhéanamh ar dlí idirnáisiúnta.

🤯What a useless government! Fuel prices still going up. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael doing nothing.  65% of what you pay at the pumps goes to the government. They could act today. We published the legislation.They could cut taxes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil immediately. But they choose to sit back. We won’t let this go. This government must do its job and take action to get fuel prices down!

"Self respect" requires challenging the president about a war that breaches international law. Also requires an element of courage to not talk about his new found hero Winston Churchill! independent.ie/opinion/analys…

@DublinAirport Should be like that every night.

Only one colour scheme we could go with tonight 🇮🇪 ☘️

A "great leader" doesn’t engineer the Bengal Famine A "great leader" doesn’t advocate for poison gas in Iraq or oversee the brutal Mau Mau camps in Kenya The Taoiseach should remember his office exists because we resisted imperialists like Churchill, we don’t celebrate them

Plans have finally been released for the Train Depot that was removed from the Dart+ West project as part of the planning permission It will include an upgrade to Kilcock Station with Twin Tracking to facilitate train stabling Consultation is now open dartplus.ie/en-ie/projects…

Comhghairdeas Jessie Buckley! rte.ie/entertainment/…

“..what an amazing opportunity for Ireland, we could form a new state that’s inclusive for everybody and looks at the social issues that our generation are really suffering with.” - Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, How to Gael

Fuck the Irish Independent. Ireland is 32 🇮🇪

@Independent_ie 🙄

Only people "gambling with Irish livelihoods" @IrishTimes is this government who are intent on doing as much damage to our 'neutral' status as possible. The president, as you know, is well within her gift to speak out, as Michael D did previously. independent.ie/opinion/commen…