Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O’Brien has said the “vast majority” of Fianna Fáil parliamentary party members continue to support Micheál Martin, insisting that the fallout from the Presidential Election does not mark the beginning of the end for the party leader.
It comes as Fianna Fáil Cork East TD James O’Connor said that all options, including a change of leader, remain open, echoing calls made yesterday by TDs John McGuinness and John Lahart.
Several TDs claimed yesterday that ten of the required 12 signatures for a no-confidence motion in Mr Martin have already been secured.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, the Minister for Transport described Mr Martin as an “exceptional leader.”
“If you look at the 14 years that Micheál Martin has led Fianna Fáil, he’s brought the party back, literally, from the brink, back to be the largest party in Government,” he said.
“He has shown great leadership over the course of that, in relation to referenda we’ve had, including same-sex marriage and women’s reproductive rights, particularly Repeal the 8th.”
“Micheál has actually been an exceptional leader, who has been brave in what he has done and has led the party with distinction,” Mr O’Brien added.
He said that the “vast majority” of parliamentary party members support Mr Martin, despite indications that ten of the required 12 signatures for a no-confidence motion have been secured.
“We have 48 TDs, and over 20 senators in the parliamentary party as well. The vast majority of them support Micheál Martin as leader unquestionably,” he said.
“We’re in politics to represent our people, represent our constituencies, and the Presidential Election did not work out for us. Learnings need to be made and will be made from that.”
“But I think if you look back, to be fair to the party leader, over the last 14 years, he’s got all of the big calls right in that period of time. This is something that we will unquestionably, as professional politicians, reflect upon, learn from, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
With Mr Martin approaching 15 years as party leader, Mr O’Brien said it was too early to say whether there were concerns over his leadership ahead of the next general election.
“Micheál Martin has been written off many times, and actually, Fianna Fáil has been written off many times over the period of 14 or 15 years,” he said.
“The next national elections are nearly four years away. I wouldn’t be reading too much into this election as to how it would affect an election that’s three or four years away.”
Backbench TDs ‘fed up’ with not being listened to by party leadership – Byrne
Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne said the party’s backbenchers are “fed up” with not being listened to by senior leaders and “need to take control back.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One, the Wicklow-Wexford deputy said he has “enormous respect” for Micheál Martin, but Fianna Fáil’s issues run deeper than “the disaster that was the Presidential Election.”
“We’re not seeing delivery quickly enough on some of those key issues, and part of it is, frankly, that we as elected representatives are fed up. Part of it is our own responsibility,” Mr Byrne said.
“But you have a situation whereby state agencies have taken on so much power and are not delivering.”
“We’ve been trying to communicate this, but we feel we are not being listened to at senior levels within the party,” he added.
‘Huge annoyance’ in Fianna Fáil over Áras election – Rabbitte
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil Senator Anne Rabbitte said there is “huge annoyance” within the party regarding the handling of the Presidential Election.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Rabbitte said the issue is “far deeper” than the ongoing party review into the presidential campaign.
“I think it’s far deeper than that now. That’s the feedback I’m getting from the grassroots, that’s the feedback I’m getting from councillors. There’s a huge annoyance about the last 24 hours,” she said.
Yesterday, a decision was made by those unhappy with party leader Micheál Martin to allow the internal review of the Presidential campaign to be completed within the next fortnight before any further action is taken.
Sources close to the party leader said a party review of the Presidential campaign is already underway and will be completed within weeks.
Cork East TD James O’Connor said the internal review must ensure that such mistakes are never repeated.
Mr O’Connor said he has not been told how he can contribute to the review.
A former TD for Galway East, Ms Rabbitte said there is “a huge amount of annoyance and upset” among Fianna Fáil members in Galway.
“There is a conversation that needs to be had to move it forward, in relation to how we got it so wrong,” she said.
Ms Rabbitte added that the question of Micheál Martin’s leadership will be up to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party members.
She said she agreed with TDs John Lahart and John McGuinness, who spoke yesterday regarding Mr Martin’s leadership.
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