{"id":135621,"date":"2025-11-12T11:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T11:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/135621\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T11:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T11:05:11","slug":"micheal-martin-not-stepping-down-any-time-soon-eu-commissioner-believes-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/135621\/","title":{"rendered":"Miche\u00e1l Martin not stepping down \u2018any time soon\u2019, EU commissioner believes \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

EU<\/a> commissioner Michael McGrath<\/a> has said he does not anticipate that Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> will be stepping down from his role \u201cany time soon\u201d. <\/p>\n

Mr McGrath, who has the justice portfolio in the commission, defended the Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> leader in advance of what is expected to be a tense party meeting on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n

Mr Martin will face further criticism from backbench TDs and Senators over Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s failed presidential campaign<\/a> and the performance in Government. <\/p>\n

The former Fianna F\u00e1il minister for finance said he has \u201cfull faith\u201d in Mr Martin\u2019s \u201cresilience and ability to come through this period\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr McGrath, who worked \u201cvery closely\u201d with the Taoiseach for many years, said they had met briefly on Sunday at the FAI Cup final in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Mr McGrath said it had been \u201ca very difficult few weeks for him [Martin] and indeed for his family\u201d.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Taoiseach sought to defend himself saying that \u201cno one gets it right all the time\u201d and criticising \u201churtful\u201d comments from party rebels including fellow Cork TD James O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he will know himself when it is time to depart and I don\u2019t anticipate that will be any time soon,\u201d said Mr McGrath. Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s failed Irish presidential campaign \u201cdoesn\u2019t undo 14 years of very strong leadership\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n

\"TaoiseachTaoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin at Government Buildings. Photograph: Sam Boal\/Collins <\/p>\n

Reflecting on the election on the day of Catherine Connolly<\/a>\u2019s inauguration, Mr McGrath expressed regret that \u201cwhat transpired resulted in a very limited choice for voters\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt there will be lessons learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of TDS have expressed frustration that an internal report on the abandoned campaign has not yet been completed notwithstanding a commitment to present it at Wednesday night\u2019s meeting. <\/p>\n

The review is not now expected to be ready until next week. The Taoiseach has not yet been interviewed by the review panel: it is expected to take place on Thursday. Sources in the party have also confirmed that the party\u2019s candidate, Jim Gavin, declined to be interviewed for the review. <\/p>\n

Several TDs said on Wednesday that they were frustrated at the delay in completing the review. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is annoying,\u201d said Peter \u2018Chap\u2019 Cleare, who represents Carlow-Kilkenny. He was one of four TDs who expressed anger at last week\u2019s meeting at being put on a \u201cnaughty list\u201d of rebel TDs. The list, composed of 14 TDs and Senators, was drawn up by a ministerial adviser. Louth TD Erin McGrehan, James O\u2019Connor from Cork East and former ceann comhairlle Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargh\u00e1il also spoke at that meeting. <\/p>\n

The Taoiseach was not at last week\u2019s meeting as he was attending the United Nations Cop30 climate summit in Brazil. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt the review will be raised,\u201d said one TD who wished not to be named. \u201cWe backbench TDs are the last to find out about anything. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe housing plan will also be raised. If it\u2019s not up to scratch we won\u2019t be happy. We are sick of lack of delivery and then being given speaking notes on how to speak ourselves out of the issue on local radio. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be no prisoners taken on this. We all like James [Browne, the Minister for Housing] but this is not only our future as TDs it is the future of so many young people that we know and we know they feel like they may not have a home in their future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fallout from Mr Gavin\u2019s abrupt withdrawal from the presidential race has stoked a debate among Fianna F\u00e1il parliamentarians over Mr Martin\u2019s future as leader. He has been at the helm of the party for almost 15 years, making him the second longest-serving leader after \u00c9amon de Valera. However, criticisms over how Mr Gavin was selected and questions over the levels of vetting and checking that were carried out has led to broader questions about the party leadership. <\/p>\n

Another senior member criticised the decision-making process in the party and its inability to learn from mistakes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been here before. We had the Sean Fleming review in 2021 which recommended that there be more opportunities for members to contribute to policy formation. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnother recommendation was that before candidates are selected they should be able to show they can run a campaign and perform effectively in the media,\u201d said the source. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EU commissioner Michael McGrath has said he does not anticipate that Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin will be stepping down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3656,21646,5148,895,3662,61,60,2043,42498,1843,43,978],"class_list":{"0":"post-135621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-catherine-connolly","9":"tag-cop30","10":"tag-european-union","11":"tag-fianna-fail","12":"tag-housing-crisis","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-jim-gavin","16":"tag-michael-mcgrath","17":"tag-micheal-martin","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-presidential-election"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}