{"id":149159,"date":"2025-10-28T07:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T07:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/149159\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T07:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T07:47:12","slug":"no-heave-against-micheal-martin-but-many-in-fianna-fail-mute-on-public-support-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/149159\/","title":{"rendered":"No heave against Miche\u00e1l Martin, but many in Fianna F\u00e1il mute on public support \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is little apparent appetite among Fianna F\u00e1il TDs<\/a> for an immediate heave against party leader Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a>, a survey of the party\u2019s D\u00e1il deputies suggests.<\/p>\n

But Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a>\u2019s disastrous presidential election campaign may still threaten Mr Martin, with many TDs declining to say if they back the Taoiseach as he prepares to enter his 15th year as party leader. <\/p>\n

Mr Martin will continue to meet backbench TDs this week, as he attempts to heal relations with his party in the wake of the embarrassing exit of Jim Gavin from the presidential race<\/a>. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Martin always outmanoeuvres FF enemies but the Jim Gavin error leaves him vulnerableOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

[\u00a0FF cannot afford division and \u2018must come together as party\u2019 says MinisterOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Loyal Ministers yesterday appealed for calm from their colleagues, after Mr Martin was publicly criticised over the weekend for his stewardship of the party\u2019s failed presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

\"PresidentialPresidential candidate Jim Gavin with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin at the FF presidential candidate announcement. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Wicklow\u2013Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne, who will be meeting Mr Martin on Tuesday, said that the Taoiseach had \u201cled Fianna F\u00e1il through some very difficult periods … the presidential election campaign, though, was a disaster and has left many members and supporters angered and disappointed.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Saturday, Dublin South-West TD John Lahart had said that while Mr Martin enjoyed \u201csignificant respect\u201d and \u201cgreat affection\u201d within the party, the Taoiseach had made \u201csignificant errors in judgment in the run-up to and during the presidential election campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to Mr Lahart\u2019s remarks, Minister of State Thomas Byrne appealed for unity. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing I would say is … we really need to come together as a party,\u201d said Mr Byrne.<\/p>\n

The Irish Times<\/a> contacted each of Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s 48 TDs on Monday and asked them if they would support a motion of no-confidence in Mr Martin\u2019s leadership, if they wanted him to step down before the Republic takes on the presidency of the Council of the European Union in July, and if they believed Mr Martin should step down after the EU presidency term ends. <\/p>\n

The majority declined to respond. All TDs and Ministers happy to be quoted on the record were supportive of Mr Martin\u2019s leadership. This included Minister of State Timmy Dooley, who answered each question \u201cno, no and no\u201d. Chief Whip Mary Butler said that she \u201cabsolutely supports\u201d the Taoiseach to lead the country and the Government through the EU presidency and after. Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien said he had \u201cfull confidence in Miche\u00e1l Martin. He should lead us into the next election and he will\u201d. Junior minister for nature Christopher O\u2019Sullivan said that he \u201cwouldn\u2019t support a motion of no-confidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"How outspoken will Connolly be as president? <\/p>\n

One TD did not believe that Mr Martin should step down before the State takes on the presidency, but \u201cwhat happens after the presidency will depend on how that period goes\u201d. Other TDs said they were still consulting with local members after the party\u2019s disastrous presidential campaign. <\/p>\n

Louth TD Erin McGreehan said the party has to have a conversation about whether it delivers for people \u201cwith or without\u201d Mr Martin. She told The Irish Times that ordinary members of the party are now discussing the Taoiseach\u2019s future as leader of the party. <\/p>\n

Politics \u201cshould be about driving real, positive change\u201d, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor me that means we constantly have to ask ourselves if we\u2019re achieving it in the best possible way,\u201d Ms McGreehan said. \u201cThere\u2019s no question that people are talking about Miche\u00e1l\u2019s future, I\u2019m hearing that too obviously from the media but also here in Louth from ordinary members of the party and the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy focus is on how Fianna F\u00e1il moves to deliver for people in the best way. That conversation has to be honest, not defensive. Whether that happens with or without Miche\u00e1l is something the party will have to face with clear eyes and a focus on results, not personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the former Fine Gael presidential candidate hopeful Se\u00e1n Kelly has claimed he was \u201cshafted\u201d by his party when colleagues in Leinster House declined to back his run for the Aras. Mr Kelly told RT\u00c9\u2019s News at One on Monday that Heather Humphreys had been \u201canointed\u201d by TDs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that from the point of view of not getting a nomination, you\u2019d have to ask yourself, why was there such a determined effort to stop me from getting a nomination? Maybe because I would win it, and that\u2019s the way I would have been approaching it,\u201d said Mr Kelly. <\/p>\n

Mr Kelly\u2019s comments went down badly with Fine Gael on Monday, with well-placed sources noting that the MEP had not contested against Mairead McGuinness for the nomination and had said publicly in July that the presidency was a \u201clargely ceremonial role\u201d where \u201cyou don\u2019t have that much power or influence\u201d. <\/p>\n

Mr Kelly received fewer than 10 signatures from parliamentary party members, putting him well short of the 20 required to compete against Ms Humphreys for the nomination. It is understood that Fine Gael had no polling or research to indicate that Mr Kelly would have been a stronger candidate than Ms Humphreys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is little apparent appetite among Fianna F\u00e1il TDs for an immediate heave against party leader Miche\u00e1l Martin,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[87663,9,10,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,87664,7,8,87665],"class_list":{"0":"post-149159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-at-leinster-house-for-ff-presidential-candidate-announcement-p","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-presidential-candidate-jim-gavin","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-topstories","25":"tag-with-fianna-fail-leader-and-taoiseach-micheal-martin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115450691365609354","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}