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A Sinn Féin TD has denied taking a “tactical wee” in order to miss his opportunity to call a Dáil vote on the Special Criminal Courts.
Matt Carthy was absent from the Dáil chamber on Wednesday afternoon when a debate on the Special Criminal Court was passed without a vote.
Sinn Féin traditionally voted against the non-jury court when the legislation came up for renewal every year.
However, for the last number of years, it has abstained from the vote as new reforms were under consideration.
On Wednesday, the debate ended more an hour earlier than expected as there were no more speakers in the Dáil chamber.
Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy stated that she had to call a vote on Sinn Féin’s amendment but there was a “difficulty in that Deputy Carthy has stepped out”.
Junior Minister at the Department of Justice Niall Collins, who had declined an opportunity to speak and conclude the debate, stated that “that is the way it goes”.
A vote on the amendment was not called and those present in the Dáil Chamber then agreed to pass the legislation underpinning the Special Criminal Court without a vote.
Mr Carthy returned and asked if he could move his amendment and that he was absent as he “had to take a call”.
However, the Ceann Comhairle told him that she “did not know if you were coming back” and that it was too late.
Speaking on the Leinster House plinth on Thursday, Mr Carthy admitted that he had actually gone to the toilet and missed the end of the debate.
However, he denied that it was a “tactical wee”, a reference to the Australian children’s TV show Bluey.
He said: “It was just one of those occasions. There was a very long debate. I was there for the vast majority of it.
“There was a number of groups left to speak, including several independent TDs, a number of government speakers, and the Minister of State, Niall Collins, was to give a closing address.
“I stepped out to answer nature’s call, to be quite frank about it. While I wasn’t there, the minister saw an opportunity and didn’t take his opportunity to give a closing address.
“The independents who were due to speak weren’t present, and therefore he was able to ensure the passage of the legislation without any vote.
“I thought it was petty to be honest, but that is politics.”
He added: “No, [it wasn’t a tactical wee]. It was a tactical position on the part of the Minister of State. It was what we call an old fashioned political stroke.”
Government sources, however, denied that there was any “stroke”, arguing that there was also a Sinn Féin speaking slot that Mr Carthy and other TDs were not present for.
They also suggested that he “effectively got rid of opposition speaking time” as the Sinn Féin slot was skipped and independent TDs missed their slots that were pushed forward as a result.
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