Tánaiste Micheál Martin also hints at possibility nation will go to polls before Christmas
Furthermore, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has opened the door to the election being held before Christmas.
The Irish Embassy in Warsaw yesterday despatched an email with news of the cancellation to hundreds of invited guests.
It said: “We regret to inform you that the government trade mission to Poland, led by the Taoiseach, will not proceed this month.
“As a result, the planned reception on October 28 at the Presidential Hotel will no longer take place. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
No reason was given for the cancellation. A government source said: “There is no drama. A terrible week was picked for it, unfortunately. We have a bank holiday that week, and Poland has two bank holidays. So we couldn’t get a strong enough representation – or a programme – from both sides.”
Meanwhile, a government spokesperson said: “The trade mission has been postponed and will be rescheduled to allow for the best possible programme to be put in place.
“It is common for the dates of such missions to change.”
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 16th October 2024
It comes as Mr Martin for the first time acknowledged a general election may occur before Christmas, should some outstanding pieces of legislation be expedited through the Dáil.
Mr Martin told the Irish Times’ Inside Politics podcast that it was a “fair and reasonable” assumption that a general election could occur before Christmas if the Finance Bill made its way through the Oireachtas quickly.
However, he insisted that the election could not go ahead without the passing of the bill.
He said: “To a large extent, there are two dates for this election – one is end of November/beginning of December, or February.”
Mr Martin said he believed the difference between an election in November and February is “marginal”.
He added: “I felt February gave us a comfort zone to get stuff done.
“But I think the Finance Act has to be done. That has to get through before we can have an election.”
He added: “The Finance Bill will be the key piece of legislation and that scheduling is in for the first week of November for committee stage.
“If it’s the desire of some and others to do things earlier, we’d need to game that and people would need to work through the timelines around critical pieces of legislation.”
Mr Harris has previously said that when he dissolves the Dáil and triggers an election, he will first speak to the leaders of the other coalition parties.
Meanwhile, the controversial Criminal Justice Bill passed through the Seanad last night after Justice Minister Helen McEntee removed provisions around hate speech, which had drawn condemnation from some quarters and led to protests.
The bill was passed by the Dáil earlier this year but hit turbulence in the Seanad and political and civic criticism led to parts of it being shelved.
