The possibility of a rebellion against Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s leadership of Fianna Fáil over the party’s disastrous presidential election campaign appears to be quelled for now. However, there are signs internal opposition to him will continue.
A series of Ministers and other parliamentary party members publicly backed Mr Martin’s continued leadership of Fianna Fáil, while some of the dissenters of recent weeks remained silent on Wednesday.
It followed the publication, on Tuesday, of the report on the party’s presidential bid. Former Dublin football manager Jim Gavin abandoned his campaign for the Áras after it emerged he owed a former tenant more than €3,000.
Mr Gavin ended up getting 7.2 per cent of the vote, with Catherine Connolly getting 63.4 per cent and winning the presidency comfortably. The Fianna Fáil review found the campaign was likely to cost the party between €350,000 and €400,000.
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Mr Martin had strongly backed Mr Gavin to be the party’s candidate.
The report contained no new damning facts about the campaign, but there was a tense and at times angry meeting of the parliamentary party after its publication. Mr Martin defended himself at the meeting.
A Fianna Fáil Minister said : “If this was the rebels’ finest hour, they blew it.” The Minister added that there was “nothing new in the report, no fresh line of attack and no co-ordinated effort at the [parliamentary party meeting] to land fatal blows”.
The Taoiseach said the controversy over the presidential election had “dragged on too long”.
Responding during a RTÉ Radio interview to a suggestion he could settle the unrest in his party by putting down a motion of confidence in himself, he replied: “I don’t believe I need to.”
Mr Martin again said he took “full responsibility” for the campaign, but argued it should be considered alongside Fianna Fáil’s electoral successes in 2024.
One critic of Mr Martin, Donegal TD Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher, told the parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday: “This is not over tonight.”
Speaking to Highland Radio, he criticised Mr Martin for confirming he would vote for Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys after Mr Gavin ended his campaign. Mr Martin said at the time he would not tell anyone else how to vote.
Mr Gallagher claimed if the Taoiseach had not made this intervention, Mr Gavin would have got enough votes for Fianna Fáil to have met the threshold for recouping up to €250,000 in election costs from the State.
Peter Cleere, a Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, said “without Jim Gavin’s version of events, the report is flawed”. Mr Cleere stated his view that Mr Martin should not lead the party into the next general election.
Another Fianna Fáil TD, Wicklow-Wexford’s Malcolm Byrne, said the presidential election was “a disaster” and it is “critical” that the recommendations for party reform in the election report are “taken seriously.”
Mr Byrne said he has “enormous respect” for the Taoiseach and his achievements, but claimed: “There is a disconnect between some at the top table and the backbenches and the organisation. That really needs to be addressed.”
He said delivery in areas like housing and disability services is a bigger issue for him and “the Taoiseach has to lead from the front on this and we need to see real progress soon”.
Several ministers and other Oireachtas members backed Mr Martin to continue leading the party, including Cabinet members Darragh O’Brien, Norma Foley, James Browne, Dara Calleary; Ministers of State Mary Butler and Niall Collins; MEPs Barry Andrews and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, and Senators Joe Flaherty and Fiona O’Loughlin.
Mr O’Brien said the presidential election “should be put behind us now” and Mr Martin “should and will” lead the party into the next general election.
Most of Fianna Fáil’s parliamentary party members did not respond to attempts to contact them.
