Fury in Fianna Fáil at Fine Gael handling of college fee fiasco

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

Fianna Fáil politicians took part in the "most heated parliamentary party meeting in a long time" as they fumed over how Fine Gael has handled the third-level fee row.
One politician at Wednesday night's meeting referenced former Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar's infamous 2020 comments when he told a Cabinet meeting on Covid, "if we keep doing business like this, we won't be doing business for long".
He made the comment at the height of the pandemic amid frustration over how Taoiseach Micheál Martin was running things.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been at loggerheads all week following Minister Lawless' admission on RTÉ's This Week, suggesting that as there would be no cost-of-living package in Budget 2026, the €1,000 off third-level fees will not be repeated this year.
He added that fees would revert to €3,000 in September.
This has led to backlash from Fine Gael politicians, who have called for clarity in both the Dáil and the Seanad.
Maeve O'Connell, Fine Gael TD for Rathdown, went on RTÉ's Liveline on Monday and called for clarity over the fees, stating that there was a commitment in the programme for government to reduce and abolish third-level fees.
The Irish Mirror understands that the majority of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday was dominated by discussions about third-level fees and Fine Gael.
It was expected that it would focus on the National Development Plan.
There was a particular focus on the contributions from Fine Gael Senators in the Seanad, with one TD suggesting that the comments had been "coordinated".
One politician reminded the party of Mr Varadkar's comments hitting out at Fianna Fáil and saying that "if this is the way we're doing business we won't be doing business very long".
One TD said: "It was the most heated parliamentary party meeting in a while".
They also noted that as Taoiseach Micheál Martin was in Japan, politicians felt more free to speak.
Another TD said: "When your friends and foes are both acting like this…"
Fianna Fáil politicians were also annoyed about the voice note Mr Harris sent to the Fine Gael parliamentary party earlier this week, stating that Fine Gael had signed up to a programme for government that promised to cut student fees.
One TD speaking to the Irish Mirror today accused Mr Harris of "stirring the pot constantly".
On Wednesday evening, at the same time, the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party was taking place, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians were meeting in a "joint party room" to discuss the nitrates directive with Fine Gael Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon.
Sources at the meeting told the Irish Mirror that Mr Heydon was talking about how he needed the support of the two parties on the matter and how everyone needed to act as a "team".
Multiple people said that in response to requests for support, one Fianna Fáil senator referenced Fine Gael's actions towards James Lawless this week, noting that he was also a member of the "team".
One politician described it as a "mic drop moment", suggesting that the nitrates argument could cause a further rift between the two parties shortly.
It comes as the Labour Party confirmed that a protest will take place outside Leinster House next Tuesday from 6pm to protest over the "fee increase".
The story dominated Leaders' Questions for a third day this week, with Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy using just 49 seconds of his four-minute slot to ask Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe whether student fees will be €2,000 or €3,000 in September.
Minister Donohoe would not give a direct answer to the question but stated the Government is "clear on what that objective is".
He added: "We are clear that temporary measures in place when inflation was high need to be looked at as well as how we can put in place other measures that can make a difference to something we know is an acute difficulty for many and those who are already receiving needed supports."