Fianna Fáil Ministers and backbenchers have begun publicly declaring support for Taoiseach Micheál Martin to stay on as party leader as the potential for a heave against him appears to be fizzling out.
There has been renewed unrest within Fianna Fáil, with questions being raised about the future of Martin’s leadership and the direction of the party in the wake of disruptive fuel price protests that drew a backlash against TDs from constituents.
Speaking in Berlin, Martin said he did not feel his position was under any threat. Asked if recent dissatisfaction would put pressure on his leadership of Fianna Fáil, he said: “No, it won’t”.
“My position is not under threat in any shape or form.”
RM Block
A number of Fianna Fáil TDs came out on Thursday to back Martin to stay on as leader after the party’s three youngest TDs criticised senior colleagues following the protests.
Dublin South West TD John Lahart, who is seen as an ally of potential future leader Jim O’Callaghan, acknowledged the last few weeks had brought Martin’s leadership “into very sharp focus” and raised “the possibility he might not be Taoiseach became a possibility in a more acute way than before” but he backed Martin to remain on as the party’s leader.
“For the first time, I started reflecting on what political life would be like without him, and I don’t think we’re ready for that,” he told The Irish Times.
“I don’t think the party is ready for that because he has led for so long and I don’t think the party has begun to think about his replacement.”
Lahart said Martin staying on as leader “guarantees the country leadership in the immediate period ahead, which is going to be turbulent”.
He added: “The party needs to think seriously about planning for the future.”
Dublin Rathdown TD Shay Brennan also backed Martin, saying: “I don’t believe we need a change of leader right now.”
He conceded, however, that Fianna Fáil needed “a change of approach”.
“Decisions that affect this party, and by extension the people we represent, cannot continue to be made at the top and handed down as a fait accompli,” he said.
“That’s not how Fianna Fáil works, or how it should work.”
Others to confirm on Thursday that they supported Martin continuing on as leader include Minister for Children Norma Foley, Minister for Higher Education James Lawless and Ministers of State Thomas Byrne, Niall Collins, Timmy Dooley and Charlie McConalogue as well as backbenchers Catherine Ardagh, Cormac Devlin and Shane Moynihan.
Earlier on Thursday, Carlow-Kilkenny TD John McGuinness – a long-time critic of Martin’s leadership – told Newstalk radio: “We need new leadership, quite frankly.”
He was speaking after a statement was issued by the party’s three youngest TDs criticising Fianna Fáil’s direction.
The TDs – Cork East’s James O’Connor (27), Galway East’s Albert Dolan (28) and Tipperary North’s Ryan O’Meara, who was born in 1995 – noted their “real and deep concern” about the Government’s response to the fuel price protests.
It is understood the Taoiseach met O’Connor, Dolan and O’Meara on Wednesday night.
Following the release of their statement, the three TDs were backed by former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who said a discussion on the future of the party, including the issue of leadership, should be held within the next fortnight.
During his radio interview on Thursday morning, McGuinness said: “We need a new direction focused on the social issues of our day and based on the old values of the Fianna Fáil party, which essentially means you listen to the people, you examine their issues, and you then try to assist them by way of maybe the budget or some other measures that will support them.
“But you don’t leave marginalised and older people cold in their homes because of the cost of heating oil. That would not have happened in the past.”
McGuinness said the parliamentary party should meet to discuss what had happened over the past few weeks.
McGuinness said since Martin became leader in 2011, there had been a “growing centralised administration, where decisions are taken, and then where the parliamentary party is told about those decisions”.
“That is not the way democracy works, and it’s not the way a party should work,” he said.
“I’ve spoken about this for years, and it’s not acceptable. Now the younger members of the parliamentary party are saying the same thing that I would have said over the last 10 years.”
Fianna Fáil MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú said a change of party leadership was “the last thing we need”.
“We don’t need a heave,” she told RTÉ Radio while also saying there was a need for a “meaningful change” in the methods of communications within the party.
“I think it’s time for change and quick change but I don’t mean change in terms of the leadership. I haven’t lost confidence in Micheál Martin but there’s room for improvement,” she said.
Wicklow-Wexford Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne said he had not signed and would not be signing any motion of no confidence in Martin’s leadership.
Byrne told RTÉ that “in hindsight” the Government could have done things differently during the fuel protests.
The Taoiseach understood the pain and pressure that people were facing, he said.
“I think in terms of the tone from, and I certainly don’t want to personalise it, but the Taoiseach and some of the Ministers, I think it could have been a case of more empathy being shown and more understanding, because I do know that they get it.”
When asked if Martin should resign as leader, Byrne said the Taoiseach was an experienced and skilled politician who had represented the party and country well on the international stage. He would know when it was time to go.
Former Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív said the fuel protests must make the party “sit up” and realise how out of touch it was with the public.
He told Newstalk politics has changed, but that the party had not “compensated” for those changes in terms of its structures.
On the issue of Martin’s leadership of Fianna Fáil, former Galway West TD Ó Cuív said he would not seek to advise the parliamentary party, but described debate as a “healthy” thing.
On his visit to Berlin on Thursday, the Taoiseach said nobody had anticipated the nature and scale of the protests and the blockades and that “many genuine people” were involved.
“The Government was faced with a very significant dilemma last week in terms of vital critical infrastructure being blockaded, and we had an obligation to our people, to the State to make sure that those blockades were (lifted).”
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