Politics

Micheál Martin finally appoints his new Cabinet amid temporary Dáil ceasefire

Political wounds may take some time to heal in 34th Dáil after acrimonious 24 hours

After being elected Taoiseach by 95 votes to 76, Micheál Martin was cheered to the rafters by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gaelers. Photograph: Maxwell's
After being elected Taoiseach by 95 votes to 76, Micheál Martin was cheered to the rafters by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gaelers. Photograph: Maxwell's
Pat Leahy's picture
Pat Leahy
Thu Jan 23 2025 - 18:09

An uneasy, and perhaps only interim, ceasefire between Government and Opposition parties enabled the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach and the formation of a new Government today after an acrimonious 24-hour delay that deepened the divisions in the 34th Dáil and soured relations across the floor of the House to an extent that feels more than temporary. Some political wounds take a long time to heal.

After being elected by 95 votes to 76 – including the unexpected support of Tipperary Independent Mattie McGrath – Martin was cheered to the rafters by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gaelers. They sat intermingled together on the Government benches like the single political force they have become, before watching their new Taoiseach-elect being whooshed out to Áras an Uachtaráin to begin his second term as the country’s political leader in circumstances that could hardly be more different from the first.

The meetings between the President and the new Taoiseach might be a bit spikier than before; Michael D’s increasingly forthright comments on world affairs have not been appreciated in Government circles.

In a little-noticed passage of his speech to the Fianna Fáil special ardfheis at the weekend, Martin averred that while “Ireland’s military neutrality will remain fully preserved ... within Europe we will respect the decisions of other countries who take a different approach and who face very real existential threats”.

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“Preparing your defence against very real threatened aggression is not being warlike, and we must respect their determination to protect their democratic societies,” Martin said – a very obvious rebuttal of the President’s comments at the Young Scientist Exhibition.

The deal cobbled together between the party leaders and the Ceann Comhairle in the morning was sufficient to avoid another day of high-decibel acrimony, but hardly a final settling of the question, either. The agreement seems to mean different things to the two sides.

Micheál Martin is congratulated by Fianna Fáil colleagues after being elected Taoiseach at Leinster House. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Photos
Micheál Martin is congratulated by Fianna Fáil colleagues after being elected Taoiseach at Leinster House. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

To the Opposition, it is an “ironclad” guarantee that the new speaking arrangements under the Dáil’s standing orders will not allow Michael Lowry and co to avail of Opposition time; to the Government, it is a promise to seek an agreement that is “acceptable to both Government and Opposition”.

That, of course, might not be possible at all, never mind by the deadline of February 5th. The deal does not say that if no agreement is reached, the Opposition will get its way. The Government would hardly have agreed to that. So this row may just be postponed, rather than resolved.

After all the drama and uncertainty of Wednesday, the Cabinet appointments were almost an anticlimax.

[ Storm Lowry lands in Dáil Éireann - and it’s a miracle the roof stayed on ]

The Fine Gael appointments were as expected with the promotion of Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to the Department of Health presenting the ambitious Dún Laoghaire TD with the biggest test of her career. There is much anticipation in political and media circles about how Patrick O’Donovan, on occasion a vocal critic of RTÉ, will manage as the Minister responsible for the troubled State broadcaster.

In Fianna Fáil, the outstanding move was the elevation of Jim O’Callaghan to an expanded Department of Justice – a move that not only presents the Dublin Bay South TD with a formidable political challenge, but also restores him to the list of possible successors to Martin.

Elsewhere, the moves upward of Mary Butler, Dara Calleary, James Lawless and James Browne squeezed out Charlie McConalogue and mean that all Government departments bar one – enterprise – are now under new management.

The hope in Government Buildings is this will enable the new administration to project an image of novelty and fresh energy (new energy, perhaps?) for Fianna Fáil’s second and Fine Gael’s fourth (!) term in office. That’s optimistic. The Government, like all others, is likely to be judged on delivery, not optics.