Disquiet on political front amid legal aid row, triple lock debate and ‘demeaning’ advert
As Ireland is battered by not one but two storms – named Austen and Boelo – the political weather has also been far from settled this week. The row over changes to the criminal legal aid system blew up on Tuesday after protesting solicitors expanded their withdrawal of service and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan accused them of deliberately targeting rape cases in the Central Criminal Court, a claim solicitors denied. There is likely to be talks between O’Callaghan and the Law Society next week. Meanwhile, as Marie O’Halloran reports , Hurricane Triple Lock blasted its way through the Dáil on Wednesday with the Government facing Opposition criticism over plans to overhaul the rules for deploying soldiers overseas. There were signs of some calm being restored on one front after the public sector strike last week, with talks on a new pay deal beginning on Monday. However, perhaps the most unexpected political storm (the strained weather metaphors will end here) came after the emergence of a social media advertisement from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) about consent featuring grandparents hugging their grandchildren. As Sarah Burns, Vivienne Clarke and Marie O’Halloran report , the advert depicts a young girl being uncomfortable receiving a hug from her grandparents. O’Callaghan said the advertisement was “inappropriate and demeaning” to grandparents and has been removed by the DRCC following engagement with officials from the Department of Justice. He said the video “does not represent the views of the Government”. In the Dáil, Aontú TD Paul Lawless claimed the video was Government-funded and conflated “issues of sexual violence on the one hand and affection exchanged by a grandmother to a grandchild on the other”. DRCC said its We-Consent campaign was part of its prevention work to increase the awareness and practice of consent in the Republic. The organisation said it created a video series for its social media channels based on feedback from more than 20 consent workshops with younger and older people. DRCC said the series was made on a low budget and promoted online via its social media channels. “The video was launched exclusively on social media in mid-September, but we have removed it from our social media channels due to the negative attention it has attracted in the last 24 hours,” it added. Aughinish Alumina back in the news It is seven months since The Irish Times, in co-operation with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, first turned a spotlight on Aughinish Alumina’s exports to Russia. This week our Europe Correspondent Jack Power reported that sanctions prohibiting the Co Limerick plant from continuing to export material to Russia were not included in a draft of the European Commission ’s next package of measures targeting the Russian wartime economy. Today, Power, Conor Gallagher and Jack Horgan-Jones report that the EU’s envoy on sanctions, David O’Sullivan, has said alumina produced at Aughinish Alumina “undoubtedly” ended up supplying, at least in part, the Russian military-industrial complex. O’Sullivan also said any action taken on Aughinish Alumina had to be mindful of Europe’s complex supply chains. Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee was asked about the issue in advance of a meeting of European trade ministers in Dublin on Friday. She said the State would support whatever the European Commission proposed when it came to the next sanction package against Russia . McEntee also said she was not aware of any lobbying by the Government to keep alumina out of the package and that the only thing it had done was to send its own report on Aughinish Alumina to the commission. Anything else? Gardaí have conducted several searches and seized assets, including luxury vehicles and designer goods, as part of an investigation into allegations of money laundering at registered charity Liberty Recycling. Conor Lally and Hugh Dooley report that the group has also proven adept at attracting well-known figures in politics and the charity sector to become involved in its activities, so boosting its profile and reputation. Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh is listed as the chairman. There is no suggestion whatsoever that he is under investigation. Liberty Recycling did not reply to queries from The Irish Times. Sinn Féin said it had become aware of the investigation by An Garda Síochána and the Charities Regulator. “Sinn Féin fully supports any investigation,” it added. “Deputy Ó Snodaigh has engaged with the office of the Charities Regulator. He has not been contacted by gardaí, but if required, he will make himself available to assist with their inquiries.” Our Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan is out on the Midterm Elections campaign trail , this time following President Donald Trump to Iowa. Duggan asks whether 2,000 people in a hangar in Sioux City can influence the US midterms and says Trump is counting on them doing so.