{"id":466127,"date":"2026-05-25T11:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/466127\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:54:08","slug":"selfish-micheal-martin-damaged-fianna-fail-with-victory-lap-tds-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/466127\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Selfish’ Miche\u00e1l Martin damaged Fianna F\u00e1il with ‘victory lap’, TDs claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> is facing further backlash from Fianna F\u00e1il TDs who have branded him \u201cselfish\u201d and accused him of damaging the party as part of his \u201cvictory lap\u201d in the wake of dismal by-election performances.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Furious politicians warned that the party had become \u201ctransfer toxic\u201d and was being blamed for an unpopular budget and the fuel protests.<\/p>\n

This is despite Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s coalition partners, Fine Gael, winning the Galway West by-election with its candidate Se\u00e1n Kyne<\/a> in a tightly contested race that saw him overtake Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas on the 11th and final count.<\/p>\n

It follows abysmal by-election results for Fianna F\u00e1il in the Dublin Central and Galway West competitions, which saw the party failing to reach double-digit first preference votes in either race.<\/p>\n

It even recorded its lowest ever election result in the former Bertie Ahern Dublin Central heartland, with John Stephens receiving just 4.2% of first-preference votes. His vote share was so low that Fianna F\u00e1il will not get its election deposit back.<\/p>\n

The Dublin Central seat was won by Daniel Ennis, who will become the second Social Democrats TD for the constituency.<\/p>\n

In Galway West, Fianna F\u00e1il’s Cillian Keane received just 8.8% of the first-preference votes. However, he was unable to attract transfers in the aftermath.<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il sources told the Irish Examiner on Sunday that there was \u201cdepression\u201d and \u201cdespondency\u201d within the party, with some lashing out against Mr Martin.<\/p>\n

There has been growing frustration with Mr Martin\u2019s leadership in recent months, but no challenger has put themselves forward for a coup.<\/p>\n

One TD described the by-election results as the \u201clatest blow to facilitate the great Miche\u00e1l\u2019s victory lap\u201d, warning that he had brought the party to \u201cnew lows\u201d in both these by-elections and the one held in Dublin Bay South in 2021.<\/p>\n

\n If he had any care for the party, he’d have gone a long time ago\n <\/p>\n

TDs questioned how the \u201cso-called largest party\u201d in the State can be \u201cso off message\u201d and \u201cso out of touch politically, organisationally, socially\u201d to the point where its Dublin Central and Galway West candidates polled at 4% and 9% respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Mr Martin] should have fallen on his sword after the presidential, then in recent weeks and again now, but he won’t,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s selfish. He’s destroying the membership.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

No potential contender<\/p>\n

However, several TDs acknowledged that there was no potential challenger for a leadership competition.<\/p>\n

Some Fianna F\u00e1il politicians also expressed concerns about the impact it would have on the next general election, which is due to take place in November 2029.<\/p>\n

One TD said that the by-election results would be considered \u201caverage\u201d in local elections,\u00a0 raising particular concern about the results in Galway West.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe party is on the floor. It has lost its identity and, unfortunately, has lost rural Ireland now as well,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

They added that the party\u2019s vote had \u201ccollapsed\u201d outside the M50 and, if a general election were to be held in the morning, they feared it could return as few as 15 TDs.<\/p>\n

Several Fianna F\u00e1il members also expressed concern that the party had become \u201ctransfer toxic\u201d, despite being transfer friendly in the last general election.<\/p>\n

At a Fianna F\u00e1il centenary event in Bantry on Saturday night, Cork East TD James O\u2019Connor said that people feel \u201cdisconnected from politics\u201d and that \u201cdecisions made in Leinster House are distant from the realities of their lives\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracy only works when people believe that participation matters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt only works when people believe that Government listens, and it only works when politics delivers outcomes that people can actually see and feel in their ordinary and everyday lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a challenge facing modern Ireland, and it is certainly a challenge that is facing Fianna F\u00e1il.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Connor also said that Fianna F\u00e1il cannot be a party which \u201cmerely explains why problems cannot be solved\u201d or asks communities to \u201clower their expectations\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe should never accept a politics where citizens feel they must shout louder and louder simply to be heard.”<\/p>\n

He added that Fianna F\u00e1il must \u201clisten more carefully\u201d, and understand that \u201cfrustrations in communities are often rooted not in ideology but in the simple feeling that nobody is paying attention\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Mr Martin denied suggestions that his leadership was under threat.<\/p>\n

Louise Burne is the Political Correspondent with the Irish Examiner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin is facing further backlash from Fianna F\u00e1il TDs who have branded him \u201cselfish\u201d and accused…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[68707,895,42,1843,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-466127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-by-election","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\/466127","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=466127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}