{"id":407649,"date":"2026-04-20T03:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/407649\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T03:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:22:14","slug":"martin-to-carry-on-as-ff-leader-into-next-elections-and-fulfil-my-mandate-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/407649\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin to carry on as FF leader into next elections and \u2018fulfil my mandate\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> has said he will carry on as Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> leader into the next elections and \u201cfulfil my mandate\u201d.<\/p>\n

He did not see the significant internal party criticism following the fuel protests<\/a> as an attempt to remove him as leader but acknowledged \u201cit\u2019s been a challenging week\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking to media at the party\u2019s annual Arbour Hill 1916 commemoration in Dublin, he said he had been at a meeting of 400 members in Mullingar on Saturday <\/a> \u201cand there was a very warm, positive reception from the grassroots of the party\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a mandate. I was elected only a year and a half ago. And I went before the people. And I think many people who are now elected were happy that I was leading the charge in that election, and so that\u2019s my position,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to engage with my parliamentary party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the upheaval following the letter from the party\u2019s three youngest TDs<\/a> criticising the handling of the fuel protests and echoed by more senior members, he said: \u201cWe continue to seek new ways to broaden and structure engagement and consultation better.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Fianna F\u00e1il was a \u201crobust party, but there\u2019s freedom of perspectives and ideas.<\/p>\n

\"TaoiseachTaoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin TD lays a wreath at Fianna F\u00e1il’s 1916 Commemoration at Arbour Hill Cemetery.Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \/ The Irish Times<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone could accuse the Fianna F\u00e1il party, or indeed the leadership, of suppressing opinion within the parliamentary party\u201d and \u201cwe have a lot of strong characters and personalities\u201d.The party\u2019s focus is on having a \u201cbeneficial impact on fuel prices\u201d and \u201cdeveloping ways trying to alleviate the financial and economic pressures on people\u201d.<\/p>\n

Martin rejected a claim from Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins that Fianna F\u00e1il councillors were aiming to move<\/a> to the Opposition party.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no evidence of that interest. Fianna F\u00e1il is the largest party in local government. We\u2019ve had three local elections since 2014, no one expected us to have a majority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re not fearful of any sort of migration to Independent Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, in a speech, Martin said the Government\u2019s package of supports<\/a> for the energy crisis was \u201cnot a permanent answer\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get energy prices down long-term, and this requires both investment and reform,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"TaoiseachTaoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin TD speaks to media at Fianna F\u00e1il’s 1916 Commemoration at Arbour Hill Cemetery, Dublin.Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \/ The Irish Times<\/p>\n

He told those attending the commemoration \u201cwe will continue to invest in new networks, to reduce the costs of distributing electricity to families and businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to review the wide body of regulations which influence prices, and to seek ways to make that a priority is given to affordability. In the months ahead we will keep this agenda moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Miche\u00e1l Martin \u2018acutely aware\u2019 of \u2018real pain and fear\u2019 caused by rising fuel pricesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In his address at the graveside of 1916 Rising leaders Martin hit out at the \u201cabuse of our shared national flag\u201d.<\/p>\n

Warning against misappropriation, he said: \u201cUsing our flag to promote aggressive and exclusionary views is wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t understand that the flag belongs to everyone, including people you disagree with, then you don\u2019t understand the most basic things about what our flag stands for.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou also dishonour the people who made it the uniting symbol of a rising Irish people.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever forget that the Proclamation directly demanded that all who serve the Republic would do so with honour. Sectarianism and division were seen as a threat to be confronted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin linked the founding generation to the importance of the EU and Ireland\u2019s upcoming presidency<\/p>\n

For that generation, he said, \u201cIreland\u2019s security and prosperity demanded that Ireland commit itself to full and active membership of what today we call the European Union. <\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders who began their public lives participating in the Rising ended it ensuring that we would stand as equal and important members of the greatest project for shared peace and prosperity in the history of Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope has worked for Ireland because Ireland has worked to help Europe develop, expand and reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the State\u2019s EU presidency begins in July<\/a>, he said, Ireland will \u201clead negotiations across a wide range of fundamental issues. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Patrick O\u2019Donovan admits making \u2018hames\u2019 of comments on fuel protests coverageOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to complete the work on reforming capital markets so that costs to customers will be reduced and access to finance will improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to argue for a budget which both protects essential programmes such as CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] to support agriculture and rural communities. We want to prioritise expanding research through Horizon, increasing competition, enhancing skills.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will also argue to do more to support education, public health and other areas which will define the future success of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

He referenced Ukraine, saying: \u201cWe want Europe to actively support the people of Ukraine in their struggle for freedom and democracy in the face of Russian imperialist aggression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has said he will carry on as Fianna F\u00e1il leader into the next elections and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[615,5485,895,42,25919,1843,43,40,38,41,39,9688,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-407649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-dublin","9":"tag-energy-costs","10":"tag-fianna-fail","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-independent-ireland","13":"tag-micheal-martin","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories","19":"tag-ukraine-crisis","20":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407649","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=407649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}