Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he has “absolute” confidence in his leadership of Fianna Fáil as the parliamentary party is to meet on Tuesday evening to discuss its review of the presidential election.
The long-awaited review into Jim Gavin’s disastrous presidential campaign was sent to Mr Martin late on Monday night.
The parliamentary party will meet at 7pm to discuss its contents.
The review was prompted amid the anger and embarrassment that followed the former Dublin GAA manager’s dramatic departure from the presidential race, which left Fianna Fáil without a candidate in what effectively became a contest between now President Catherine Connolly and Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys.
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Mr Gavin stepped aside after it emerged he owed €3,300 to a former tenant, who had rented an apartment from him 16 years ago.
Speaking to reporters on his way into Cabinet, Mr Martin said he would be sharing the report with the parliamentary party “promptly”, having received it on Monday evening.
Asked if his leadership was in trouble, he said: “No, not at all.”
He said he would be meeting the chairman of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party and the party whip to arrange a meeting of elected representatives on the matter.
He told reporters: “I will deal with the entirety of the report this evening because it’s a report in the first instance for the Fianna Fáil party – because the Fianna Fáil party asked for that.
“And the terms of reference were very clear that it would be completed, it would be handed to me, and then I would share with the parliamentary party, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Mr Martin reiterated criticism of some of the media coverage of the report, adding that “false” assertions about individuals had been made.
Asked if he was relieved he had the report, he said: “I’m much happier that I have it. I didn’t have it all along and I was taken back to some of the commentary last week, where it seemed to people to be acting on reported leaks or whatever, and the assertions contained in some of the commentary last week were simply false – and I had to put that on the record.”
Pressed on what was incorrect about the coverage, Mr Martin refused to “contextualise assertions that were made”.
He told reporters he was “not going to get into an argy-bargy with anybody”.
“The report will be published. The report will go to the parliamentary party. The full entirety of the context will be there,” he said.
Mr Martin said he was “absolutely” confident he could remain as leader, adding that he had received a mandate when Fianna Fáil was returned as the largest party in the Dáil in last year’s general election.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews has said that Mr Martin “should have nothing to fear” about the controversy.
However, when asked on RTÉ Radio’s Today with David McCullagh show whether he had confidence in Mr Martin, Mr Andrews replied: “I have confidence in his leadership, but confidence just isn’t permanent and it’s earned fresh every time we have problems, we have controversies.
“This is a big controversy for the party, I wouldn’t pass sentence until I’ve heard the evidence,” he said. “The Taoiseach presented his position at the previous parliamentary party meeting, he said he was sorry, he apologised for the way the campaign was run, and I think he should have nothing to fear if there’s open, honest conclusions here and proper accountability and transparency around how all of this was done.”
Mr Andrews said he was happy that the report on the controversy was being sent to party members and that the matter would be discussed by the party.
“I’m glad that we are getting it done before Christmas, frankly. I don’t want to be dragging this into the new year. We’ve such a busy agenda domestically, European, global issues, they’re just huge,” he said. “I really hope that we will have an open, honest debate about the implications of the findings of the report.”
Earlier, MEP Billy Kelleher – who unsuccessfully contested the party’s selection convention against Mr Gavin – said he expected to see the report “at least a number of hours” before the meeting.
“It’s a very important issue. The party has been fractured on this issue since Mr Gavin withdrew,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme.
He said he was hoping to find out “the truth” from the report.
He said he was “privy to some things ... that cause me some disquiet”, indicating that a key issue would be if Mr Martin or anyone close to him was aware of the issue of Mr Gavin owing money to a former tenant before the Fianna Fáil vote.
“There were certainly rumours circulating in advance, which in my view should certainly have raised alarm bells,” he said.
If Mr Martin or other senior figures knew about the debt and did not inform TDs, it would be a “grievous breach of trust”, he said. “We need to know who knew what and when and the timelines.”
However, he stressed he would wait for the report and declined to express confidence in Mr Martin’s leadership until he saw it.
“It would be wrong of me to say I have confidence until such time as I see the report,” he said.
Some TDs who are opposed to Mr Martin’s leadership have been suggesting that the document could prompt a motion of no-confidence in the party leader, though it remains to be seen if there is sufficient support among TDs to put down – and then to win – such a motion.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan – considered to be Mr Martin’s most likely successor – expressed his support for the leader on The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast on Monday.
A determination to unseat Mr Martin, however, has grown among opponents since the presidential election debacle, and Tuesday night’s meeting will give an indication of how wide support for such a move will be.
Few Fianna Fáil TDs believe that Mr Martin will lead them into the next general election, but many middle-ground TDs have previously been sceptical about the wisdom of taking the drastic step of removing the leader who led them to general election success a year ago. – Additional reporting: PA
