Irish opposition calls on parliamentary speaker to quit over speaking rights row

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish opposition parties called on the speaker of the lower house of parliament to resign on Wednesday, just three months into her term, over a dispute about speaking rights that has impacted the workings of parliament.

Speaker Verona Murphy, an independent lawmaker whose elevation to the post after a November general election was supported by the governing Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and their independent allies, said she would not resign and rejected opposition allegations against her.

Opposition parties have protested against a government proposal that government-supporting independents retain extended speaking rights previously afforded to them from the opposition benches. The issue has dominated the early weeks of the new parliament.

The election of Micheal Martin as prime minister in January was delayed by a day amid chaotic scenes in the lower house and the issue has also held up the appointment of parliamentary committees that are required to pass legislation.

The leader of the main Sinn Fein opposition party, Mary Lou McDonald, told Murphy that the opposition's confidence in her had been "decimated", accusing her of "bulldozing" parliamentary rules by hastening a vote on the government's speaking proposals that passed on Tuesday.

"The Ceann Comhairle (speaker) must be impartial, fair and independent and by your actions, you have demonstrated that you are not. Your position is therefore untenable so I ask you to reflect very carefully on this because you need to go," McDonald told Murphy in parliament.

Murphy, in a statement, said she categorically rejected the "totally unfounded allegations" by the opposition.

"I fully intend to continue to carry out the onerous office to which I was elected," she said.

Opposition parties on Wednesday published a draft motion of no confidence, which they said they will submit if Murphy does not resign.

The opposition has used the speaking rights issue to keep a focus on government-supporting independent Michael Lowry, a former minister who was found by a 2011 inquiry to have "insidiously" helped a telecoms billionaire secure a mobile phone licence in the 1990s.

A picture of Lowry raising his two fingers to an opposition lawmaker who was recording raucous parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday was on the front pages of major newspapers on Wednesday. Lowry was quoted as telling local media that the gesture was "not intended to cause any offence".

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Frances Kerry, Kirsten Donovan)