{"id":488608,"date":"2026-05-17T02:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/488608\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T02:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:40:17","slug":"housing-a-defining-challenge-of-our-time-micheal-martin-tells-fianna-fail-ardfheis-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/488608\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing a \u2018defining challenge of our time\u2019, Miche\u00e1l Martin tells Fianna F\u00e1il Ardfheis \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin <\/a>has hailed the founders of Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> and pledged that the party he now leads would \u201canswer the needs of this time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Addressing his party\u2019s centenary ardfheis in Dublin, in his televised address Martin said that Fianna F\u00e1il had helped to transform Ireland, noting that, \u201cOver 100 years, we didn\u2019t get everything right, but our record is a record of real and sustained achievement which no other party can match.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the main thrust of Martin\u2019s speech was about the approach of Fianna F\u00e1il in the current Government as it sought to meet a number of challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must secure our economic future. We must reduce cost-of-living pressures on people. We must deliver housing and services which people can access and afford. We must empower people with the skills and support to thrive in the face of rapid change. And we must build a shared future on this island and stand up for our values abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that the Government would \u201cdeliver critical investments to open up new markets and to support job creators through tax reform that rewards work and incentivises enterprise\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also said that the Government would \u201cdrive critical investments\u201d in infrastructure, though he steered clear of mentioning any specific projects.<\/p>\n

He also said the Government would seek to promote increased trade, mentioning the agreement with Canada which is likely to come before the D\u00e1il soon for ratification.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a hard reality of politics today that so many parties ignore the economy,\u201d Martin said. \u201cEvery day in the D\u00e1il they act as if the economy will just look after itself. They just don\u2019t understand that the surest way to lose our economic edge is to take it for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

On housing, he said that \u201cto give young people hope that they can find and afford a home to buy or rent is a defining challenge of our time\u201d, and pledged to take \u201ctough choices\u201d so that more homes could be built.<\/p>\n

Martin said that \u201chelping people directly with the rising cost of living is one of Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s core priorities in Government\u201d, and promised to to \u201cnever relent on\u201d the party\u2019s tradition in this area.<\/p>\n

He pledged to continue the party\u2019s \u201cconsistent support for education\u201d, adding that \u201cmany traditional skills are now actually more important than ever\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hailing the party\u2019s record in helping to being peace to Northern Ireland, Martin said there was now \u201cchallenge to go beyond the old agenda \u2013 to find new ways of moving from peace to true reconciliation and a shared future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"How Fianna F\u00e1il was formed – with Ronan McGreevy <\/p>\n

He said the Shared Island<\/a> initiative was an \u201curgent and ambitious programme to build connections, deepen understanding and show the progress and prosperity which we all could share\u201d, and said that \u201cFianna F\u00e1il believes in finding a new way forward for this island\u201d. But there was no mention of any plans for achieving a united Ireland or for a unity referendum. <\/p>\n

He looked forward to the EU presidency and reiterated Ireland\u2019s support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

On the Middle East, he said: \u201cThe attempt to erase the Palestinian people from Gaza, and to push them out of their historic homes in the West Bank must never be accepted and must always be condemned.\u201d He added, \u201cWe must continue to work with other countries to demand accountability for the genocidal crimes which have been committed by the Netanyahu government and by Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Summing up, Martin said Fianna F\u00e1il would pursue its goals in Government \u201cthrough a serious, ambitious and urgent approach\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has hailed the founders of Fianna F\u00e1il and pledged that the party he now leads…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,4771,3761,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5765,5,119739,7,8,2264],"class_list":["post-488608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-fianna-fail","tag-gaza-strip","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-shared-island","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-ukraine-crisis"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116587609567974892","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488608","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=488608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}