{"id":292032,"date":"2026-02-11T08:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T08:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/292032\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T08:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T08:14:09","slug":"insider-trading-accusation-from-roaring-richard-sparks-testy-dail-exchanges-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/292032\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Insider trading\u2019 accusation from roaring Richard sparks testy D\u00e1il exchanges \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roaring Richard O\u2019Donoghue of Independent Ireland <\/a>stood up in the D\u00e1il chamber on Tuesday and accused the chairman of Bord Bia of insider trading. <\/p>\n

Because he could.<\/p>\n

Insider trading is a criminal offence in this country.<\/p>\n

Richard was in no doubt about what he had just said. He had no problem saying it. <\/p>\n

And as he was speaking on the floor of the national parliament, he was in no danger of being hauled before the courts and sued for defamation either.<\/p>\n

In his view, Larry Murrin<\/a>, who is the boss of international cooked meat suppliers Dawn Farm Foods when he isn\u2019t chairing the State\u2019s food promotion agency, is committing a crime. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually cartelling,\u201d he roared. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s not,\u201d retorted the Taoiseach. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is,\u201d insisted the TD for Limerick County, conjuring up a novel scenario to bolster his case. <\/p>\n

\u201cWould you allow Fine Gael\u2019s general secretary sit inside in your Fianna F\u00e1il parliamentary meeting and listen to all the points that ye have, but yet ye allow Larry Murrin sit as chairperson where he\u2019s got the full disclosure of all the Bord Bia, and suppliers to Bord Bia?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s insider trading under Irish law,\u201d he roared.<\/p>\n

Richard didn\u2019t choose the best example to justify his accusation. No party\u2019s general secretary has to sit inside Fianna F\u00e1il or, indeed, Fine Gael\u2019s parliamentary party room to glean \u201call the points\u201d because they are routinely fed in real time to ravenous political correspondents on eavesdropping duty.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the thunderous question, Miche\u00e1l Martin significantly lowered the decibel level with his reply. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a very serious assertion, which should be taken off the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is,\u201d countered roaring Richard before very simply addressing the Taoiseach\u2019s advice about taking it off the D\u00e1il record. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d <\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l wasn\u2019t very happy about this. <\/p>\n

He looked towards the chairwoman. \u201cLike, that\u2019s in breach of standing orders. It has to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where was the Ceann Comhairle when O\u2019Donoghue was taking advantage of his constitutional right to absolute privilege when mouthing off in the D\u00e1il? Did she reach a similar conclusion?<\/p>\n

A subdued Verona Murphy issued a quiet mea culpa. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t hear it. I apologise,\u201d she confessed to a frustrated Taoiseach.<\/p>\n

\u201cInsider trading is a criminal act,\u201d he murmured, putting his pen down on the desk. \u201cYou have to withdraw that.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Limerick TD had no intention of doing anything of the sort. <\/p>\n

The Ceann Comhairle, by the sound of her voice, knew she wasn\u2019t going to get any change out of him either, but she tried anyway. <\/p>\n

She turned her attention to O\u2019Donoghue. \u201cDeputy, I\u2019d ask you if you … will … if … you …\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m won\u2019t withdraw it. No.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was not for turning. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen there\u2019s a problem,\u201d said the Taoiseach.<\/p>\n

This was getting serious. <\/p>\n

But no, roaring Richard had no intention of withdrawing his accusation that the chairman of Bord Bia has been indulging in insider trading as he insisted: \u201cIt is so serious for the people here and for all the farming organisations\u201d.<\/p>\n

Murrin, who has not claimed fees or expenses since he was appointed to chair the State\u2019s food promotion agency at the start of 2024, is under pressure from farmers to resign his position after his business confirmed that it sources some beef from Brazil, which accounted for 1 per cent of its beef last year. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Bord Bia chairman says he will not stand down following Brazilian beef revelationsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He was in Leinster House last week, where he answered questions on the controversy at a fiery and often hostile meeting of the Agriculture committee. He wasn\u2019t there yesterday to hear O\u2019Donoghue accusing him of criminality, but even if he was, there was nothing he could do about it apart from challenging him to come outside and say the same thing to his face without the D\u00e1il to protect him. <\/p>\n

While TDs can speak freely without fear of any legal consequences, they can be disciplined by the Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Oversight if they are found to have abused their privilege by making unfounded or defamatory remarks in the chamber.<\/p>\n

The Ceann Comhairle wasn\u2019t going to move matters any further during policy questions on Tuesday without the Independent Ireland man backing down, and he wasn\u2019t going to that. <\/p>\n

She said the issue \u201cwill have to be dealt with\u201d, whereupon roaring Richard gratefully grasped the wrong end of the stick and declared that the Taoiseach \u201cisn\u2019t willing to deal with it\u201d. <\/p>\n

Verona meant the procedural argument, but he meant his question about allowing the chairman of Bord Bia <\/a>to continue in his role when he is, according to O\u2019Donoghue, in the sacred precincts of the D\u00e1il chamber, involved in \u201cinsider trading\u201d. <\/p>\n

A three-way wrangle ensued between the Ceann Comhairle, Taoiseach and O\u2019Donoghue, with Verona trying to shut down the argument and move on, Richard insisting that he was right in his assertion and Miche\u00e1l battling to make a point of order about why he believed the rules of the House were breached. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like doing this,\u201d he said, about to take on the Ceann Comhairle over who knows what about the D\u00e1il rule book. <\/p>\n

At one point, Miche\u00e1l (first elected in 1989) mentioned to Verona (first elected in 2020) \u201cwe have a history in this House\u201d.<\/p>\n

They had a fraught back and forth about the nature of the standing orders as roaring Richard offered howling accompaniment from across the floor. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think, sometimes on the floor, it\u2019s either a clear breach of standing orders or it\u2019s not,\u201d said the Taoiseach. He kept saying he was trying to make a point of order while Verona kept pointing out that she can\u2019t make a deputy withdraw a statement if they don\u2019t want to do so. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe deputy will have to deal with the consequences of it being on the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Should Ireland keep the Triple Lock?<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach was thoroughly frustrated, asking when will the D\u00e1il get serious about \u201cpeople\u2019s names being taken and them being undermined\u201d and their reputations being impugned?<\/p>\n

The Ceann Comhairle, through the confusion, said Miche\u00e1l could consult the Chief Whip, who was sitting behind him, about putting something into the standing orders. <\/p>\n

\u201cWho? It is in standing orders,\u201d he cried. <\/p>\n

Then roaring Richard made a telling intervention <\/a>on his own behalf. \u201cThe Ceann Comhairle also said she didn\u2019t hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, said she, \u201cthe Taoiseach heard it and he\u2019s asking you to withdraw\u201d. <\/p>\n

Another TD piped up to say he heard it, too.<\/p>\n

But Richard shot back that she also should have heard him as well.<\/p>\n

Verona came clean: \u201cI was having a conversation with the usher, which shouldn\u2019t be the case either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l came to the rescue. He said he just wanted to make the observation that this sort of carry-on has been happening in the chamber \u201cfor quite a long time\u201d and it was fine with him if she referred the comments made by Deputy O\u2019Donoghue to the oversight committee. <\/p>\n

The Ceann Comhairle promised to do it if, as required, a complaint is lodged. <\/p>\n

She\u2019ll be doing it, so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roaring Richard O\u2019Donoghue of Independent Ireland stood up in the D\u00e1il chamber on Tuesday and accused the chairman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[15049,42,31650,43,12636,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-292032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-dail-eireann","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-miriam-lord","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-oireachtas","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}