Dispatch · Government
Dispatch · 15 Apr 2026

A senator “terrified” of the tricolour as the fuel-protest blame game begins.

15 Apr 20268:364.9K views
GovernmentIrelandIrish
YouTube
TL;DR
  • The government turns a no-confidence motion into a confidence motion and wins it 92 votes to 78, propped up by independents including Sean Canney, Kevin “Boxer” Moran, Noel Grealish, Marian Harkin and Michael Lowry — but junior minister Michael Healy-Rae resigns and Danny Healy-Rae quits the “coalition of chaos”, leaving a majority of around five with by-elections due within weeks.
  • In the Seanad, Senator Eileen Flynn — a Taoiseach’s nominee of Micheál Martin’s from 2020 — says the so-called far-right overtook the protests and that she is “terrified” to be part of any protest with the tricolour in it; Dooley points out the same flag flies proudly over Leinster House and calls the remarks gaslighting of people standing up for their sovereignty.
  • The smear machine, as Dooley reads it: Michael Lowry claiming the protests were “infiltrated by undesirables”, Fintan O’Toole in the Irish Times branding protesters “breakfast roll authoritarians” led by a “truculent vanguard”, and Patrick O’Donovan threatening a complaint to Commissioner Lehane — “Ireland’s new truth ministry” — before Simon Harris reined him in; the same O’Donovan, Dooley notes, is due to push digital ID as European minister in the second half of the year.
  • Labour, the Social Democrats and the Greens all said the protests should end — Labour now “a billion miles” from James Connolly’s party after enforcing austerity and Alan Kelly’s water charges, Dooley argues — while, he says, the government may be looking at restricting protests (“create the problem, come up with the solution”) in an Ireland where, on the figures he cites, 11 billionaires hold the same wealth as the bottom 66%, one in five children is in poverty and a report says 124 people died on the streets in 2023.
Transcript
00:00

Hello everyone

Hello everyone. The blame game is well and truly underway in Ireland. This is part of the fallout from the fuel protest which covered the country in the last week and also precipitated a motion of no confidence which the government brought forward as a motion of confidence in the Irish government which was passed last night by 92 votes to 78. And the Irish government, unsurprisingly, were supported by many of their so-called independent friends such as Sean Canney, Kevin Boxer Moran,.

Noel Grealish, Marian Harkin, Mary Heenan, and of course Michael Lowry. Now, this led to the resignation of Michael Healy-Rae, junior minister, and Danny Healy-Rae from supporting the coalition of chaos. So, currently their majority is around five and let's see how this develops over the next period of time because there are a number of by-elections to be held in the next number of weeks. But as I stated earlier, what's really important around this is the fallout from what's taken place and the.

Establishment around the attack. We have already spoken in previous video about Patrick O'Donovan saying he was contacting Commissioner Lehane. That's Ireland's new truth ministry in connection with the biased coverage of the protest that took place in the last week or so he claims. I had seen that he was crying a bit too hard around this because he has been told to rein it in by his party leader Simon Harris. And he said he will not be.

Contacting Commissioner Lehane about this. But but at the same time, we know what O'Donovan already is trying to push forward with digital ID and he is going to be the European minister that is responsible for pushing this forward in the second half of this year. As well, the fallout came in the words of the Tánaiste. For instance, Michael Lowry who said that the protests were infiltrated by undesirables. This is what they try and do. Smear people and try and call them all kinds.

Of names and try and dissuade people from taking to the streets. But the people that I met were peaceful. They were ordinary working people who were on the streets and what was interesting, despite the divide and real nonsense that was being pushed by the mainstream media and also Dublin's Lord Mayor about Dublin being held to ransom, it was working-class Dublin women that came out and supported so many of those who were protesting by standing with them and standing up.

For ordinary working people right across Ireland. So, they didn't fall for any of this divide and real nonsense that was being pushed by the establishment to push people essentially against each other while they can share the spoils amongst themselves. And even the media now are on the attack. Papers like the Irish Times, the so-called paper of record which should be renamed as maybe the Irish Slimes or perhaps the Irish Crimes if you want to call it that as well. Fintan O'Toole,.

02:54

People would know Fintan, of course, as one of

People would know Fintan, of course, as one of the most liberal writers in the country of Ireland. And he has made remarks about people who were protesting and said that they were the breakfast roll authoritarians. Isn't this nonsense coming from O'Toole, the so-called paper of record? And he said that this was being led by a group called a truculent vanguard. Well, O'Donovan and Fintan O'Toole, they're up in arms over this and they get their little soft power being pushed.

Through their media lackeys. And it went further because it went to the floor of the Seanad in the last 24 hours where you had Senator Eileen Flynn. Now, Eileen Flynn was appointed into her position as a senator by Taoiseach. So, she was a Taoiseach's nominee when we had Martin somebody back in 2020. And she went on to say some absolutely astounding remarks about the Irish flag and said that she did not support any of the protests because she said the.

So-called far-right overtook the protest. Whatever that means. And she also said that she the she is terrified to be part of any protest that has the what she calls the tricolor flag in it. Isn't this interesting? These are the remarks coming from a senator when they realize that the Irish flag is flying proudly over the top of Leinster House. Maybe somebody should point her in that direction. And it's more of the same gaslighting towards people who are.

Standing up for our sovereignty, standing up for our nation, standing up for our country. And they see it as being this sort of disgraceful tactic being deployed in terms of raising your country's flag. But many of these are very happy waving many more flags from many more countries except the Irish flag, aren't they? And remember as well, many of these opposition parties also went out and condemned people who were protesting. Labour, so-called party of the working.

Class which is now a billion miles away from the party of ordinary working people. And they have come out and said that the protest should have ended last week and they weren't in favor of the protest, they weren't in favor of the blockades. Social Democrats were the same, they said the protest should end. And also the Green Party came out and said that as well. But what's really surprising with the Green Party being in government over the last number of years of Fianna.

“Class which is now a billion miles away from the party of ordinary working people”

Fáil and Fine Gael before the Labour and lucky independents jumped into bed with the Irish government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. And now at the same time, we've seen the Labour Party which is a party that as I said earlier is a billion miles away from the party founded by James Connolly. We all remember their impacts in terms of enforcing devastating austerity on the people of Ireland following the financial crash which many people are still feeling the effects of.

05:50

Today

Today. And at the same time, they're now trying to say they're standing up for working people and voted up no confidence in the Irish government yesterday. They just want their shot at power and they will implement the same agenda if they get into power again because they're nothing but globalist stooges, very much pro European Union, pro-European Union neoliberalism and the liberalization of the basic resources we have here in Ireland. They've done that, for instance, with the privatization of many services. I.

Also remember Alan Kelly and his involvement in the water charges in terms of trying to push them down the throats of ordinary people. And as well, now the fallout continues and perhaps the government are looking at something in terms of restricting protests. So, yeah, create the problem, come up with the solution. So, they're really scared of ordinary working people who are now standing up and asserting their rights. And this isn't going anywhere because more and more people will be standing up.

Over the next period of time as we face into an economic turmoil and a massive downturn where there's massive inequality already in our society which hasn't been addressed. And it's being exacerbated by policies of the establishment. Where you have 11 billionaires in Ireland that have the same wealth as the bottom 66% of the total population which is absolutely astounding when you consider an Ireland where one in five children are in poverty and a massive amount of people are homelessness.

And not to mention the last day a report was issued where it stated that 124 people died on the streets of Ireland in 2023. This is Ireland, isn't it? This is the Ireland that Micheál Martin says is the values that are worth defending. But the political establishment is in crisis and now it's the time to keep speaking out to what's taking place as well. So, as they implode and turn in each other, let's see how this plays out over the.

Next period of time as well. So, again, thanks so much for all your support with my videos, I'm really grateful. Thanks for subscribing and thanks for everybody who continues to share and like my videos, I'm really grateful as well. And it was great to meet so many people yesterday at the protest which was held at Dáil Éireann. We had great conversations and it was really great to see our flag out flying proudly as well, despite the gaslighting being.

Pushed at them by the establishment who are up in arms because of what's taking place. And as I said, they're turned in each other and the blame game will continue where they'll try and target individuals for standing up for our basic rights. So, thanks so much for the support, really appreciate it. And Slán go foill from Dublin. Bye-bye.

Discussed in this video
IrelandIrishDublinMichael LowryO'DonovanFintan O'TooleLabourGreen Party
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Dispatch
15 Apr 2026 · Government · 8:36

A senator “terrified” of the tricolour as the fuel-protest blame game begins.

The government survives a confidence vote by 92 votes to 78 in the fallout from the fuel protests — losing the Healy-Raes along the way — while in the Seanad, Taoiseach’s nominee Eileen Flynn says she is “terrified” to be part of any protest with the tricolour flag in it. Dooley argues the blame game, the smears and the talk of restricting protests show an establishment scared of ordinary working people asserting their rights.

GovernmentIrelandIrishDublinMichael Lowry
4.9K views Discussion
TL;DR
01
The government turns a no-confidence motion into a confidence motion and wins it 92 votes to 78, propped up by independents including Sean Canney, Kevin “Boxer” Moran, Noel Grealish, Marian Harkin and Michael Lowry — but junior minister Michael Healy-Rae resigns and Danny Healy-Rae quits the “coalition of chaos”, leaving a majority of around five with by-elections due within weeks.
02
In the Seanad, Senator Eileen Flynn — a Taoiseach’s nominee of Micheál Martin’s from 2020 — says the so-called far-right overtook the protests and that she is “terrified” to be part of any protest with the tricolour in it; Dooley points out the same flag flies proudly over Leinster House and calls the remarks gaslighting of people standing up for their sovereignty.
03
The smear machine, as Dooley reads it: Michael Lowry claiming the protests were “infiltrated by undesirables”, Fintan O’Toole in the Irish Times branding protesters “breakfast roll authoritarians” led by a “truculent vanguard”, and Patrick O’Donovan threatening a complaint to Commissioner Lehane — “Ireland’s new truth ministry” — before Simon Harris reined him in; the same O’Donovan, Dooley notes, is due to push digital ID as European minister in the second half of the year.
04
Labour, the Social Democrats and the Greens all said the protests should end — Labour now “a billion miles” from James Connolly’s party after enforcing austerity and Alan Kelly’s water charges, Dooley argues — while, he says, the government may be looking at restricting protests (“create the problem, come up with the solution”) in an Ireland where, on the figures he cites, 11 billionaires hold the same wealth as the bottom 66%, one in five children is in poverty and a report says 124 people died on the streets in 2023.
Prefer to watch? The full video is on YouTube →
8:36
Transcript · auto-captions, polish pending

Hello everyone

Hello everyone. The blame game is well and truly underway in Ireland. This is part of the fallout from the fuel protest which covered the country in the last week and also precipitated a motion of no confidence which the government brought forward as a motion of confidence in the Irish government which was passed last night by 92 votes to 78. And the Irish government, unsurprisingly, were supported by many of their so-called independent friends such as Sean Canney, Kevin Boxer Moran,.

Noel Grealish, Marian Harkin, Mary Heenan, and of course Michael Lowry. Now, this led to the resignation of Michael Healy-Rae, junior minister, and Danny Healy-Rae from supporting the coalition of chaos. So, currently their majority is around five and let's see how this develops over the next period of time because there are a number of by-elections to be held in the next number of weeks. But as I stated earlier, what's really important around this is the fallout from what's taken place and the.

Establishment around the attack. We have already spoken in previous video about Patrick O'Donovan saying he was contacting Commissioner Lehane. That's Ireland's new truth ministry in connection with the biased coverage of the protest that took place in the last week or so he claims. I had seen that he was crying a bit too hard around this because he has been told to rein it in by his party leader Simon Harris. And he said he will not be.

Contacting Commissioner Lehane about this. But but at the same time, we know what O'Donovan already is trying to push forward with digital ID and he is going to be the European minister that is responsible for pushing this forward in the second half of this year. As well, the fallout came in the words of the Tánaiste. For instance, Michael Lowry who said that the protests were infiltrated by undesirables. This is what they try and do. Smear people and try and call them all kinds.

Of names and try and dissuade people from taking to the streets. But the people that I met were peaceful. They were ordinary working people who were on the streets and what was interesting, despite the divide and real nonsense that was being pushed by the mainstream media and also Dublin's Lord Mayor about Dublin being held to ransom, it was working-class Dublin women that came out and supported so many of those who were protesting by standing with them and standing up.

For ordinary working people right across Ireland. So, they didn't fall for any of this divide and real nonsense that was being pushed by the establishment to push people essentially against each other while they can share the spoils amongst themselves. And even the media now are on the attack. Papers like the Irish Times, the so-called paper of record which should be renamed as maybe the Irish Slimes or perhaps the Irish Crimes if you want to call it that as well. Fintan O'Toole,.

People would know Fintan, of course, as one of

People would know Fintan, of course, as one of the most liberal writers in the country of Ireland. And he has made remarks about people who were protesting and said that they were the breakfast roll authoritarians. Isn't this nonsense coming from O'Toole, the so-called paper of record? And he said that this was being led by a group called a truculent vanguard. Well, O'Donovan and Fintan O'Toole, they're up in arms over this and they get their little soft power being pushed.

Through their media lackeys. And it went further because it went to the floor of the Seanad in the last 24 hours where you had Senator Eileen Flynn. Now, Eileen Flynn was appointed into her position as a senator by Taoiseach. So, she was a Taoiseach's nominee when we had Martin somebody back in 2020. And she went on to say some absolutely astounding remarks about the Irish flag and said that she did not support any of the protests because she said the.

So-called far-right overtook the protest. Whatever that means. And she also said that she the she is terrified to be part of any protest that has the what she calls the tricolor flag in it. Isn't this interesting? These are the remarks coming from a senator when they realize that the Irish flag is flying proudly over the top of Leinster House. Maybe somebody should point her in that direction. And it's more of the same gaslighting towards people who are.

Standing up for our sovereignty, standing up for our nation, standing up for our country. And they see it as being this sort of disgraceful tactic being deployed in terms of raising your country's flag. But many of these are very happy waving many more flags from many more countries except the Irish flag, aren't they? And remember as well, many of these opposition parties also went out and condemned people who were protesting. Labour, so-called party of the working.

Class which is now a billion miles away from the party of ordinary working people. And they have come out and said that the protest should have ended last week and they weren't in favor of the protest, they weren't in favor of the blockades. Social Democrats were the same, they said the protest should end. And also the Green Party came out and said that as well. But what's really surprising with the Green Party being in government over the last number of years of Fianna.

“Class which is now a billion miles away from the party of ordinary working people”

Fáil and Fine Gael before the Labour and lucky independents jumped into bed with the Irish government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. And now at the same time, we've seen the Labour Party which is a party that as I said earlier is a billion miles away from the party founded by James Connolly. We all remember their impacts in terms of enforcing devastating austerity on the people of Ireland following the financial crash which many people are still feeling the effects of.

Today

Today. And at the same time, they're now trying to say they're standing up for working people and voted up no confidence in the Irish government yesterday. They just want their shot at power and they will implement the same agenda if they get into power again because they're nothing but globalist stooges, very much pro European Union, pro-European Union neoliberalism and the liberalization of the basic resources we have here in Ireland. They've done that, for instance, with the privatization of many services. I.

Also remember Alan Kelly and his involvement in the water charges in terms of trying to push them down the throats of ordinary people. And as well, now the fallout continues and perhaps the government are looking at something in terms of restricting protests. So, yeah, create the problem, come up with the solution. So, they're really scared of ordinary working people who are now standing up and asserting their rights. And this isn't going anywhere because more and more people will be standing up.

Over the next period of time as we face into an economic turmoil and a massive downturn where there's massive inequality already in our society which hasn't been addressed. And it's being exacerbated by policies of the establishment. Where you have 11 billionaires in Ireland that have the same wealth as the bottom 66% of the total population which is absolutely astounding when you consider an Ireland where one in five children are in poverty and a massive amount of people are homelessness.

And not to mention the last day a report was issued where it stated that 124 people died on the streets of Ireland in 2023. This is Ireland, isn't it? This is the Ireland that Micheál Martin says is the values that are worth defending. But the political establishment is in crisis and now it's the time to keep speaking out to what's taking place as well. So, as they implode and turn in each other, let's see how this plays out over the.

Next period of time as well. So, again, thanks so much for all your support with my videos, I'm really grateful. Thanks for subscribing and thanks for everybody who continues to share and like my videos, I'm really grateful as well. And it was great to meet so many people yesterday at the protest which was held at Dáil Éireann. We had great conversations and it was really great to see our flag out flying proudly as well, despite the gaslighting being.

Pushed at them by the establishment who are up in arms because of what's taking place. And as I said, they're turned in each other and the blame game will continue where they'll try and target individuals for standing up for our basic rights. So, thanks so much for the support, really appreciate it. And Slán go foill from Dublin. Bye-bye.

Transcript generated from the video’s captions and lightly segmented — watch the original on YouTube →