Labour leader Ivana Bacik tells Michael Healy-Rae to 'shut up' in Dáil

Labour leader Ivana Bacik apologised in the Dáil for telling Michael Healy-Rae to “shut up” as he and his brother Danny were branded “Waldorf and Statler”.

She made the comments as the Kerry TDs heckled her over bike sheds in Leinster House.

At the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, a letter sent by Ms Bacik and other TDs and Senators sent in October 2020 was provided to members by the Office of Public Works. This was before the infamous €336,000 bike shed in Leinster House was constructed.

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Ms Bacik confirmed to the Irish Mirror in September that she had asked for a second bike shed to be built on the Kildare Street side of Leinster House, but insisted that this was before the cost of the other structure hit headlines.

During Leaders’ Questions on Wednesday, Ms Bacik raised issues around the lack of school places for children and questioned what the Government was doing to “stem the exodus of teachers from our schools”.

As she sat back down, Michael Healy-Rae said: “She is not looking for a second bike shed anymore. She gave up on the second bike shed.” Ms Bacik responded: “Oh, shut up.”

Mr Healy-Rae’s brother Danny weighed into the debate, saying: “She is not very good at building anything.” Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl told the brothers the Dáil had “enough of the Waldorf and Statler”, referencing the cantankerous puppets from The Muppet Show.

After Taoiseach Simon Harris answered Ms Bacik’s question about education, the Labour leader apologised for her “language”. She added: “I am sick of taking insults and abuse on cycling from Deputies who believe that God above is in charge of the weather and who have no record of taking the climate crisis seriously. I have no time for that nonsense.”

Danny Healy-Rae responded that Ms Bacik would “want to be sure you are not going to the pumps for diesel”. He added: “You will not build a million houses either. We have enough of that now.” The Ceann Comhairle was again forced to intervene to tell the TDs to “stop bickering”.

Michael Healy-Rae told the Irish Mirror that he does not “get this obsession with bike sheds” as he called for clarity on whether Ms Bacik still wanted a second one. He said: “It shows an awful degree of arrogance for a person elected to Dáil Éireann to go shouting across the floor, ‘oh shut up’. That is exactly what she said.

“She told me to shut up because she didn’t like being told the truth. The truth is a bike shed was built at an enormous cost. She wants another one. She took pen to paper and said that it was very important to build a bike shed at the front, the same as what was in the back.

“My attitude about the bike shed is, ‘to hell with the bike shed’. What we want is practical things to be done with money. For instance, maybe the small matter of building houses for people and providing grants for disabled people.”

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