{"id":401444,"date":"2026-04-16T10:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401444\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T10:52:09","slug":"fianna-fails-john-mcguinness-calls-for-new-leadership-as-pressure-grows-on-micheal-martin-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401444\/","title":{"rendered":"Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s John McGuinness calls for new leadership as pressure grows on Miche\u00e1l Martin \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senior Fianna F\u00e1il <\/a>TD John McGuinness<\/a> has said the party needs new leadership and a new direction.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe need new leadership, quite frankly,\u201d McGuinness said on Thursday. <\/p>\n

The Carlow-Kilkenny TD was speaking after a statement was issued by<\/a> the party\u2019s three youngest TDs criticising Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s direction. The TDs \u2013 Cork East\u2019s James O\u2019Connor, Galway East\u2019s Albert Dolan and Tipperary North\u2019s Ryan O\u2019Meara \u2013 noted their \u201creal and deep concern\u201d about the Government<\/a>\u2019s response to the fuel price protests<\/a>. It is understood the Taoiseach met O\u2019Connor, Dolan and O\u2019Meara on Wednesday night.<\/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 on Newstalk\u2019s Claire Byrne show on Thursday, McGuinness said: \u201cWe need a new direction focused on the social issues of our day and based on the old values of the Fianna F\u00e1il party, which essentially means you listen to the people, you examine their issues, and you then try to assist them by way of maybe the budget or some other measures that will support them. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut you don\u2019t leave marginalised and older people cold in their homes because of the cost of heating oil. That would not have happened in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGuinness said the parliamentary party should meet to discuss what had happened over the past few weeks. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to look at the policies and how we presented ourselves. We failed the public, we failed the protesters, and the language used to describe them as far-left and far-right was simply not acceptable,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was on that protest and I met many community leaders, businesses whose backs are to the wall, and who wanted support from the Government, understanding from Government, and [the parliamentary party] was not given the opportunity to have a direct input into how matters were dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FiannaFianna F\u00e1il TD John McGuinness. Photograph: Tom Honan <\/p>\n

McGuinness said since Martin became leader in 2011, there had been a \u201cgrowing centralised administration, where decisions are taken, and then where the parliamentary party is told about those decisions\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not the way democracy works, and it\u2019s not the way a party should work,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken about this for years, and it\u2019s not acceptable. Now the younger members of the parliamentary party are saying the same thing that I would have said over the last 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Fianna F\u00e1il MEP Cynthia N\u00ed Mhurch\u00fa said a change of party leadership \u201cis the last thing we need\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need a heave,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

However, she told RT\u00c9 radio\u2019s Today with David McCullagh show there was a need for a \u201cmeaningful change\u201d in the methods of communications within the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s time for change and quick change but I don\u2019t mean change in terms of the leadership. I haven\u2019t lost confidence in Miche\u00e1l Martin but there\u2019s room for improvement and more so now because we\u2019ve had it before over the presidential debacle and we now see it again,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo I want to see change. I share the views of those three young gentlemen that I admire so deeply. We\u2019re lucky to have the talent in the party. We need more of them and by the way we need more women as well, young women particularly,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do think that the message was mixed and uncertain last week and of course uncertainty spreads like a virus faster than the problem itself and when leaders don\u2019t talk and communicate decisively then people assume the worst.\u201d <\/p>\n

Earlier, Wicklow-Wexford Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> TD Malcolm Byrne said he had not signed and would not be signing any motion of no confidence in Martin\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

Byrne told RT\u00c9 Radio\u2019s Morning Ireland that \u201cin hindsight\u201d the Government could have done things differently during the fuel protests.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach understood the pain and pressure that people were facing, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think in terms of the tone from, and I certainly don\u2019t want to personalise it, but the Taoiseach and some of the Ministers, I think it could have been a case of more empathy being shown and more understanding, because I do know that they get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrne said there were times when he gets \u201creally annoyed\u201d about being sent Government statements and told to deliver a message that he had not had any input into. <\/p>\n

He said \u201csome of the tone and some of the language that was used last week didn\u2019t help matters\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"FiannaFianna F\u00e1il TD Malcolm Byrne. Photograph: Sam Boal\/Collins Photos <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Taoiseach under pressure from Fianna F\u00e1il backbenchers as Healy-Rae fallout continuesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

When asked if Martin should resign as leader, Byrne said the Taoiseach was an experienced and skilled politician who had represented the party and country well on the international stage. He would know when it was time to go.<\/p>\n

\"Éamon\u00c9amon \u00d3 Cu\u00edv. Photograph: Eric Luke <\/p>\n

Former Fianna F\u00e1il TD \u00c9amon \u00d3 Cu\u00edv said the fuel protests must make the party \u201csit up\u201d and realise how out of touch it is with the public. <\/p>\n

He told Newstalk Breakfast politics has changed, but that the party had not \u201ccompensated\u201d for those changes in terms of its structures. <\/p>\n

\u00d3 Cu\u00edv, who represented Galway West in the D\u00e1il for more than three decades, said the party was much more of a \u201cmovement\u201d when he started out in politics, meaning he received \u201cconstant feedback\u201d about policy and local issues. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn my constituency, there would have been 80 or 90 cumainn, depending on the size of the constituency at various times. And they were a great sounding board, and they left you in no doubt as to what their views were \u2013 and they represented a wide swathe of local communities,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is fair to say that politics has changed, but we haven\u2019t compensated for those changes in terms of the structures.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the recent fuel protests \u00d3 Cu\u00edv said many participants had \u201cnever been involved in a protest in their life\u201d. Most were \u201creally hardworking people\u201d who were struggling to do their jobs, he said. <\/p>\n

On the issue of Martin\u2019s leadership of Fianna F\u00e1il, \u00d3 Cu\u00edv said he would not seek to advise the parliamentary party, but described debate as a \u201chealthy\u201d thing. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a wider issue, of course, about the organisation of the party and whether it is possible to create a new form of communications that means that you are getting the feedback from the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I\u2019ve never seen in my time in politics \u2013 and I\u2019ve been through an awful lot \u2013 I was through the whole downturn as a minister, but I never saw such a concentrated, continuous protest among middle Ireland. And I think that is what must make us sit up.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Fianna F\u00e1il backbenchers are at it again as pressure mounts on MartinOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senior Fianna F\u00e1il TD John McGuinness has said the party needs new leadership and a new direction. Taoiseach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[895,42,1843,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-401444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-fianna-fail","tag-headlines","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401444","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=401444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}