{"id":401664,"date":"2026-04-16T13:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401664\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T13:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:52:08","slug":"fianna-fail-tds-rally-behind-micheal-martin-as-prospect-of-leadership-heave-fades-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/401664\/","title":{"rendered":"Fianna F\u00e1il TDs rally behind Miche\u00e1l Martin as prospect of leadership heave fades \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> Ministers and backbenchers have begun publicly declaring support for Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> to stay on as party leader as the potential for a heave against him appears to be fizzling out.<\/p>\n

There has been renewed unrest within Fianna F\u00e1il, with questions being raised about the future of Martin\u2019s leadership and the direction of the party in the wake of disruptive fuel price protests<\/a> that drew a backlash against TDs from constituents.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Berlin, Martin said he did not feel his position was under any threat. Asked if recent dissatisfaction would put pressure on his leadership of Fianna F\u00e1il, he said \u201cNo, it won\u2019t\u201d.<\/p>\n

A number of Fianna F\u00e1il TDs came out on Thursday to back Martin to stay on as leader after the party\u2019s three youngest TDs criticised senior colleagues following the protests.<\/p>\n

Dublin South West TD John Lahart, who is seen as an ally of potential future leader Jim O\u2019Callaghan, acknowledged the last few weeks had brought Martin\u2019s leadership \u201cinto very sharp focus\u201d and raised \u201cthe possibility he might not be Taoiseach became a possibility in a more acute way than before\u201d but he backed Martin to remain on as the party\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time, I started reflecting on what political life would be like without him, and I don\u2019t think we\u2019re ready for that,\u201d he told The Irish Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the party is ready for that because he has led for so long and I don\u2019t think the party has begun to think about his replacement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lahart said Martin staying on as leader \u201cguarantees the country leadership in the immediate period ahead, which is going to be turbulent\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe party needs to think seriously about planning for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dublin Rathdown TD Shay Brennan also backed Martin, saying: \u201cI don\u2019t believe we need a change of leader right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He conceded, however, that Fianna F\u00e1il needed \u201ca change of approach\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cDecisions that affect this party, and by extension the people we represent, cannot continue to be made at the top and handed down as a fait accompli,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not how Fianna F\u00e1il works, or how it should work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others to confirm on Thursday that they supported Martin continuing on as leader include Minister for Children Norma Foley, Minister for Higher Education James Lawless and Ministers of State Thomas Byrne, Niall Collins, Timmy Dooley and Charlie McConalogue as well as backbenchers Catherine Ardagh, Cormac Devlin and Shane Moynihan. <\/p>\n

Earlier on Thursday, Carlow-Kilkenny TD John McGuinness \u2013 a long-time critic of Martin\u2019s leadership \u2013 told Newstalk radio: \u201cWe need new leadership, quite frankly.\u201d <\/p>\n

He was speaking after a statement was issued by<\/a> the party\u2019s three youngest TDs criticising Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s direction. <\/p>\n

The TDs \u2013 Cork East\u2019s James O\u2019Connor (27), Galway East\u2019s Albert Dolan (28) and Tipperary North\u2019s Ryan O\u2019Meara, who was born in 1995 \u2013 noted their \u201creal and deep concern\u201d about the Government\u2019s response to the fuel price protests. <\/p>\n

It is understood the Taoiseach met O\u2019Connor, Dolan and O\u2019Meara on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Following the release of their 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

During his radio interview on Thursday morning, 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

\"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

Fianna F\u00e1il MEP Cynthia N\u00ed Mhurch\u00fa said a change of party leadership was \u201cthe last thing we need\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need a heave,\u201d she told RT\u00c9 Radio while also saying 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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 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

\"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

\"FormerFormer Fianna F\u00e1il TD \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 was with the public. <\/p>\n

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

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

On his visit to Berlin on Thursday, the Taoiseach said nobody had anticipated the nature and scale of the protests and the blockades and that \u201cmany genuine people\u201d were involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government was faced with a very significant dilemma last week in terms of vital critical infrastructure being blockaded, and we had an obligation to our people, to the State to make sure that those blockades were (lifted).\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":"Fianna F\u00e1il Ministers and backbenchers have begun publicly declaring support for Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin to stay on as…\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-401664","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\/401664","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=401664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401664\/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=401664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}