{"id":401196,"date":"2026-04-16T07:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T07:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401196\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T07:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T07:16:08","slug":"taoiseach-under-pressure-from-fianna-fail-backbenchers-as-healy-rae-fallout-continues-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401196\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach under pressure from Fianna F\u00e1il backbenchers as Healy-Rae fallout continues \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> is facing renewed backbencher unrest in the wake of a destabilising week of protest and the resignation of former Independent minister Michael Healy-Rae<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With Martin in Berlin on Thursday meeting German chancellor Friedrich Merz, three younger Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> TDs issued a statement on Wednesday strongly criticising the direction of the party.<\/p>\n

The TDs \u2013 Cork East\u2019s James O\u2019Connor, Galway East\u2019s Albert Dolan and Tipperary North\u2019s Ryan O\u2019Meara \u2013 indicated \u201creal and deep concern\u201d with the Government<\/a>\u2019s response to the fuel price protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following the release of the statement, the three TDs were backed by former ceann comhairle Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl<\/a>, who said a discussion on the future of the party, including the issue of leadership, should be held within the next fortnight. <\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish Times, \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl praised the \u201ccourage and conviction\u201d of the three, suggesting the party needed to reflect on the level of anger in the country. \u201cThe scale of the damage done in this most recent debacle cannot be overstated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said it may be that the parliamentary party backs Martin to continue, but that: \u201cWithin the next two weeks, we need to have a discussion about the future of Fianna F\u00e1il, which of course includes leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening, \u00d3 Fearghail, Senator Anne Rabbitte and Cork North Central TD Paudie O\u2019Sullivan sought an urgent parliamentary party meeting to discuss the \u201closs of connectivity\u201d with grassroots supporters, as well as its current standing, the causes of its difficulties and \u201cleadership initiatives\u201d to \u201crestore public trust and confidence\u201d in the party\u2019s organisation. <\/p>\n

Former cabinet minister Willie O\u2019Dea told RT\u00c9 the party leadership was detached.<\/p>\n

In their earlier statement, O\u2019Connor, Dolan and O\u2019Meara said \u201cit should not require protest and deep community frustration to get a Government to listen and to act\u201d.<\/p>\n

They stopped short of explicitly challenging Martin but there was direct criticism of \u201csenior colleagues [who] expect us to just explain their Government difficulties to our communities. That is not the role we want, nor will we accept it any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added that reforming the party\u2019s approach was \u201ca task that has been long neglected\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Our politics are not working\u2019: Martin faces unrest as young Fianna F\u00e1il TDs rebuke CoalitionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il members at all levels of the parliamentary party conceded that the three TDs\u2019 statement was a meaningful development, noting in particular the inclusion of O\u2019Meara and Dolan, seen as more middle-ground members.<\/p>\n

Senior sources said the fallout from the fuel protests was the first time these TDs had faced major backlash from voters, while chief whip Mary Butler<\/a> said the party had talented TDs and her door was always open, as were those of Fianna F\u00e1il Ministers.<\/p>\n

The interventions did not trigger any public criticism of the Taoiseach by Ministers, or widespread comments from middle-ground TDs, with no potential challenger emerging on Wednesday to seek the leadership.<\/p>\n

But privately some members of the parliamentary party indicated there had been a shift in their mood and were critical of the leadership.<\/p>\n

One TD, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was \u201clast-chance saloon\u201d for the Taoiseach. Another said \u201cthere\u2019s a little bit of the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back\u201d when it came to the events of recent days and Martin\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

They indicated that Martin may not be able to hold on as leader until after the Irish presidency of the European Union. <\/p>\n

Another TD said of Martin: \u201cI think the last week did damage him [Martin].\u201d But he still has support among some in the \u201cmiddle ground\u201d on the leadership question in the parliamentary party. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin is facing renewed backbencher unrest in the wake of a destabilising week of protest and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[895,171749,1523,42,46481,24878,1843,43,177010,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-401196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-fianna-fail","tag-fuel-protests","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-mary-butler","tag-michael-healy-rae","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-sean-o-fearghail","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401196","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=401196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}