Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has said he has “100%” confidence in Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s leadership and that Fianna Fáil members who remain unhappy over the controversy surrounding the party’s presidential campaign should now move on.
Earlier today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he had been alerted to a possible issue involving Jim Gavin and a former tenant before Mr Gavin was chosen as Fianna Fáil’s presidential election candidate, reports RTE.
An internal party review published yesterday revealed that Mr Gavin was questioned five times about references to a tenant dispute, including twice before his selection.
Speaking this afternoon, Mr O’Brien said he believed Mr Martin would lead the party into the next general election, rejecting suggestions that the Taoiseach should outline a timeline for stepping aside, reports RTE.
He said: “We all know the presidential campaign was not good for Fianna Fáil. We’ve carried out the review independently, that’s been published, been debated.
“Learnings will and have been made from it and changes will be implemented. I’ve absolute confidence in Micheál Martin as our leader and as our Taoiseach.
“There is no need whatsoever to set out a timeline. My view is that Micheál Martin will lead us into the next general election after this Government does it’s full term,” reports RTE.
Mr O’Brien said Fianna Fáil is a party that allows members to express their views, adding that it was a “good thing” people were able to voice their disappointment about the presidential campaign.
He said: “The review has been carried out independently, there’s nothing omitted from that review.
“It’s now time that people move on, that they have rightly so been able to put their views forward and indeed their disappointment.
“In Fianna Fáil, we’re a party that allows people have a point of view and allows them to articulate that point of view, we don’t shut down discussions.
“So this has been a good thing but we need to move on and focus on what we have been elected to do,” reports RTE.
‘The party has to move on’, says McGrath
Ireland’s EU Commissioner Michael McGrath also said he continues to have confidence in Mr Martin’s leadership of Fianna Fáil.
Mr McGrath said the difficulties surrounding the party’s presidential campaign “would have hurt him more than anybody”.
“But it doesn’t define his leadership and all of his significant achievements and indeed his resolute focus on the issues that really matter to people,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr McGrath, who remains a Fianna Fáil member after leaving the parliamentary party to take up the commissioner role last year, said it had been a “very difficult number of weeks” for the party.
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“But it’s behind us now and the party has to move on,” he added, reports RTE.
A ‘gross mistake’ but not a resigning matter for Taoiseach – Ní Mhurchú
Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú said she had contacted Mr Martin seeking the nomination before Mr Gavin was selected, and said in a statement that the review was “unsatisfactory and a missed opportunity to fully place the facts on the public record”.
While acknowledging that no public records existed to document the tenant dispute, Ms Ní Mhurchú said the party could and should have pursued the issue more robustly. She described it as a “gross mistake” but said she did not believe it warranted the Taoiseach’s resignation, reports RTE.
Ms Ní Mhurchú said that “strengthening procedures to ensure that similar mistakes are not repeated in the future should now be a key priority for the party leadership”
“The grassroots were deeply upset by this episode. Rebuilding trust will take time, but decision-making must be shaped more by members and carried out by leadership, not imposed from the top down,” reports RTE.
‘We can’t draw a line in the sand having expended €400,000’ – Gallagher
A former Fianna Fáil minister has said the controversy is not over and that further questions still need to be answered.
Donegal TD Pat The Cope Gallagher said the party needed to learn that no individual within Fianna Fáil is infallible, although he said a different impression had been created in recent weeks, reports RTE.
“I said very clearly last night that this was not the end of it. We can’t draw a line in the sand having expended €400,000 and expecting our organisation to provide those funds over the years,” reports RTE.
Mr Gallagher also questioned how Mr Martin could decide on Jim Gavin’s candidacy after meeting him just once.
“How could anyone decide in that short time that that was the person to garner enough votes across the country to win?” reports RTE.
Mr Martin’s handling of Mr Gavin’s selection as the party’s candidate was strongly criticised at a Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting in Leinster House last night, which lasted almost five hours.
Several TDs and Senators expressed frustration with the process and accused Mr Martin of sidelining the parliamentary party, reports RTE.
At points, last night’s meeting was described as tense and even hostile, as members gathered to consider the review of the party’s failed presidential campaign.
There was shock at the revelation that Jim Gavin had been nominated without any polling data and that the party leader’s endorsement followed just a single meeting with him, reports RTE.
An Irish Independent revelation about a historic tenant dispute ultimately derailed Jim Gavin’s campaign.
The review found that he had been questioned five times about a possible issue and had no recollection until checking his records on 4 October, reports RTE.
The review says this was despite advice from the party that any disgruntled tenant would almost certainly make their grievance public. It found the campaign would cost Fianna Fáil between €350,000 and €400,000.
Overall, the episode has left Micheál Martin politically weakened, with senior figures from the party’s centre ground warning that he is now walking on thin ice, reports RTE.
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