![\"Taoiseach](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dara-calleary-says-loads-of-people-suggesting-him-as-fianna-fail-s-next-leader.jpg\")
Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin is the current leader of Fianna F\u00e1il (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\nDara Calleary has had \u201cloads of people\u201d suggest him as the next leader of Fianna F\u00e1il but has insisted he will not consider the role until there is a \u201cvacancy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Calleary, the Minister for Social Protection, said the next time the post held by Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin would come up is \u201ca while away\u201d.<\/p>\n
He has previously been deputy leader of the party, which will mark its centenary at its Ard Fheis this weekend.<\/p>\n
There has been speculation that there may be a change in the Fianna F\u00e1il leadership after Ireland\u2019s term as president of the Council of the European Union closes at the end of this year.<\/p>\n
Discussing the Ard Fheis, Calleary said on Wednesday: \u201cThe Taoiseach has our full support \u2013 it will be an occasion of pride in what our party has done over 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin is the current leader of Fianna F\u00e1il (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\n
Asked if he was interested in ever becoming leader, he said: \u201cGenuinely, I haven\u2019t given it any consideration.<\/p>\n
Speaking on RT\u00c9\u2019s Morning Ireland, he added: \u201cI will not consider it until there\u2019s a vacancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calleary said the first people he would discuss the matter with would be his wife and family.<\/p>\n
Asked if people had come to him to suggest him as a candidate, he said: \u201cLoads of people do \u2013 but I don\u2019t get distracted by it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very flattering to be considered, it is very flattering to have the confidence of colleagues \u2013 but it is important not to get distracted by either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed on whether the leadership question would re-emerge after the EU presidency, Calleary said: \u201cI don\u2019t think it will.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Fianna F\u00e1il \u201chad to focus on the job\u201d of being in Government, and pointed to \u201cinstability\u201d in the UK amid the leadership speculation around British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dara Calleary has had \u201cloads of people\u201d suggest him as the next leader of Fianna F\u00e1il but has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-446442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446442","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=446442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}