Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne has said many of the party’s backbenchers are frustrated at Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s leadership and the slow pace of delivery on issues such as housing.
Mr Martin should be having meetings every Monday morning with organisations like Uisce Eireann, the ESB and approved housing bodies to keep pressure on them about the delivery of services necessary for more homes to be built, he told Newstalk Breakfast.
“Every Monday morning all the key players around housing should be around the table,” he said.
His comments come as disquiet grows within Fianna Fáil over the party’s disastrous presidential election, with many TDs declining to say if they back the Taoiseach as he prepares to enter his 15th year as party leader.
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Mr Byrne said he thought it would be unlikely that Mr Martin would lead Fianna Fáil into the next general election. That was an issue for the Taoiseach and the party, he said, but the slow pace of delivery on housing was an issue of “far greater urgency”.
The Irish Times contacted each of Fianna Fáil’s 48 TDs on Monday and asked them if they would support a motion of no-confidence in Mr Martin’s 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.
The majority declined to respond. All TDs and Ministers happy to be quoted on the record were supportive of Mr Martin’s leadership. This included Minister of State Timmy Dooley, who answered each question “no, no and no”. Chief Whip Mary Butler said that she “absolutely supports” the Taoiseach to lead the country and the Government through the EU presidency and after.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said he had “full confidence in Micheál Martin. He should lead us into the next election and he will”. Junior Minister for Nature Christopher O’Sullivan said that he “wouldn’t support a motion of no-confidence”.
[ No heave against Micheál Martin, but many in Fianna Fáil mute on public supportOpens in new window ]
Louth TD Erin McGreehan said the party has to have a conversation about whether it delivers for people “with or without” Mr Martin. She told The Irish Times that ordinary members of the party are now discussing the Taoiseach’s future as leader of the party.
Politics “should be about driving real, positive change”, she said.
“For me that means we constantly have to ask ourselves if we’re achieving it in the best possible way,” Ms McGreehan said. “There’s no question that people are talking about Micheál’s future, I’m hearing that too obviously from the media but also here in Louth from ordinary members of the party and the public.
“My focus is on how Fianna Fáil moves to deliver for people in the best way. That conversation has to be honest, not defensive. Whether that happens with or without Micheál is something the party will have to face with clear eyes and a focus on results, not personalities.”
Mr Byrne said a lot of concerns among the members of the party were not being addressed. “That’s where our frustration is. Because I suppose there was a sense we weren’t listened to during the presidential election and we trusted the Taoiseach.
“And maybe a lot of that is on us as members of the parliamentary party. Maybe we should have asked more questions but the real issue here now is about us as politicians taking control of these issues and starting to make a lot more progress.”
The presidential campaign had been disastrous for the party, he said. There would now be a review and following that a discussion around how candidates would be selected in the future.
The bigger challenge was “the frustration of the middle ground within the party”.
He added: “What’s happened is in many ways, unfortunately, we’ve seen too many decisions being left to unelected advisors, to State agencies, to civil servants. And in many cases, they either won’t take the decision or lack the necessary ambition and urgency that we want to see in terms of those decisions being taken. So this is the message we’re saying to the leader.
“Among the back benches there is this frustration that we feel that a lot of our concerns are not being listened to. I mean, on the housing issue, because it’s very personal, it’s because people I know, friends of mine, extended family members, you done everything right, who worked hard, who got a good job. And yet, they’re finding it difficult to be able to afford a home.”
Mr Byrne said he was not one of the people who had signed a no confidence motion in the Taoiseach. He welcomed the fact that Mr Martin was now engaging and meeting backbenchers to address their concerns.
“I’m going to be meeting with him later on today. He’s an experienced politician so he should be able to read the room.”
