*Cllr Pat Daly (FF) with Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF). Photograph: Natasha Barton.
FIANNA FÁIL’s Presidential election campaign was “a calamity from start to finish” but the majority of Clare councillors believe a knee-jerk reaction should be avoided and that Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) should remain as party leader.
Martin’s role in selecting five-time All-Ireland winning football manager Jim Gavin (FF) as the party candidate for the Presidential election has led to growing questions over his leadership of the party.
Gavin who has strong Clare connections withdrew from the race at the beginning of October. Many party stalwarts were particularly annoyed on Friday when they went to polling stations and felt they didn’t have a candidate to vote for.
Describing the election for Fianna Fáil as “a calamity from start to finish,” Cllr Shane Talty (FF) said the party needs to start looking at who Martin’s successor as leader will be. “I think it is time to paint a picture of what a transition might look, I’d have no problem with a transition that could take twelve months. With fourteen years of leadership it is not tenable to be talking about a leader leading into another General Election, I don’t think anybody believes that is feasible. I don’t want to be kicking a man when he is down but there’s merit in the argument that there is a lot of the agenda for the Taoiseach and continuity but I think that period of time will allow in a transparent manner that potential candidates could tour the country and engage with members on the ground and give people a better flavour and what they bring to the party, if you go into no confidence now and immediate transition it will not serve the party well”.
Removing the Taoiseach as leader would be one mistake on top of the other, said Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF). “I think the worst thing any party, club or organisation can do is have a knee-jerk reaction, people need to take time out, engage the head before they start shouting before what could be done. Consultation with the people in touch with the grassroots didn’t take place, we shouldn’t compound another mistake by making another one by not consulting the grassroots, Micheál Martin was one of the first to put up his hand I believe at a parliamentary party meeting. People shouldn’t forget we were a toxic brand after the 2009 local election many councillors including myself lost our seats, in the 2011 General Election we were nearly wiped out as a party and Micheál Martin has brought us back from that to be the largest representative party and the largest member of Government. It is not all downhill but certainly there is ire and annoyance at the way things have been done”.
Change is needed, maintained Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF). “The reality of last Friday though is that just under 214,000 people spoilt their vote and over 104,000 people voted for Jim Gavin who had pulled out of the election. That is close to 320,000 people who consciously went into a polling booth to express their anger and frustration, mainly at a lack of choice. Micheál Martin is where the buck stops. I have said it before, I will say it again, he has to go”.
An exit plans needs to be forumalated by the Taoiseach, Cllr Michael Shannon (FF) believed. “I think Micheál Martin will know when the time is right, he will know himself. Maybe he will survive for now but the connection with grassroots has been lost. I admire him for his fourteen years of service, he is getting up every day and doing his level best, it is not my job to say I’ve no confidence in him, we’re councillors looking for a hospital in Ennis, if it has to be dealt with then it should be dealt with in the next week to ten days, if he feels time is up he is a graceful man and will make up his own mind on it”. Ongoing in-fighting in the Taoiseach’s native Cork is not a good sign, he noted while admitting he would like him to stay on.
Martin should see out his term as Taoiseach but the party will need a new leader for the next General Election, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) believed. “I think Micheál Martin should be left as leader until his term as Taoiseach is over, that will be two and half years from a GE, it would be wise to freshen up the party by electing a new leader and for Micheál Martin to retire then. He has given great service to the party but his time is up, he has given a lot to the party over the last fourteen years and deserves to see out his term as Taoiseach, when that is complete, maybe he will find a job in Brussels or New York City I don’t know but it would be a good idea to go into the next General Election with a new leader to freshen up the party”.
Regardless of what candidate was selected, Fianna Fáil would not have won the election, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) claimed. “We’re out of a very successful General Election and Local Election, that might not have happened only for his leadership, we’re hugely disappointed with the Presidential Election but where we were after the economic crash and where we are now are two different stories, we’ve achieved a lot but we really need to reflect as a party. We’re coming into a critical period where Governments are promising a lot to change legislation, we need a stable Government and coming into the EU Presidency, he is damaged by this but he is still the right man to lead us. The party needs to reflect, we got caught on a backlash, I don’t think we’d have won whoever we ran because of the backlash against Government parties and the Budget certainly didn’t help”.
There is a job of work for the Taoiseach to complete, said Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) when voicing support for him to remain. “He has a job to finish, it was a major mistake made by him as leader and the buck must stop with him. Whether it should do harm to our country byremoving him from the post of Taoiseach, we need to run the country, Ireland will be over the Presidency of the European Council from the 1st of July next year, stability and certainty is a prized thing, I wouldn’t support a vote of no confidence in him, a major mistake was made but it would be another mistake to remove him”.
Party members need to accept the Taoiseach’s apology, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) stated. “I have confidence in him, I feel that you are only human, he has seen from the grassroots as someone picked by the party and not by the grassroots in a convention, he had faith in me, he saw something just like he saw with Cynthia (Ní Mhurchú), he got it wrong because Jim wasn’t strong enough you can only lead someone so far, he has got a lot right but he has said sorry and we have to accept it and move on, we won’t keep everybody all the time”.
Improvements are becoming evident on the housing front insisted Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) who called for continuity. “As Taoiseach the last thing we need is another change, we’ve finally come to grips with the fact we need more houses, we’re identifying the pitfalls and streamlining those systems, the County Development Plans are being redistributed and the targets for all local authorities are being hugely increased and in Clare they will be doubled which is good for people looking for houses, for communities and for industry, now is a good time to keep the Taoiseach there and continue the good work”.
Strong leadership qualities have been displayed by Martin, Cllr Rachel Hartigan (FF) affirmed. “I’d hate to see us have a knee-jerk reaction, it was a disastrous campaign for us and a really disappointing election for us. He put his hands up, he took responsibility for the mistakes made, that says a lot about him as leader and his style. In my own experience, I’ve found him to be very supportive of me during my election campaign, it shows excellent leadership and futureproofing when there is a leader in place supportive of young and female candidates, he is still very supportive of me now. People shouldn’t forget he was the leader that brought us back from the brink, he is a safe pair of hands, he is well respected on the world stage. I have great respect for him as a leader, mistakes were made and no one can remain leader forever but I wouldn’t like him to go”.
Heads do not need to roll, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) said. “I’m not a person for taking heads, there is no doubt about it that this has gone horribly wrong, it seems to be clear our colleagues in Government Fine Gael got it very wrong too, their grassroots don’t seem pleased, it is down to communication and to listen to the army on the grounds, the councillors, Senators and Oireachtas members but that didn’t happen and it sadly went horribly wrong, the whole campaign was affected by it”.
Outcomes of the internal review would determine whether Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) felt there should be movement at the top of the party. “I would have always felt Micheál Martin was a safe pair of hands for the party and country, he always came across well and did his job in a professional manner but there was a lapse of judgement in this case, I wouldn’t be shouting or roaring for his head at this time, I’d let the process take its course”.
No movement should occur before the review is completed, Cllr David Griffin (FF) felt. “We have to allow the review to be done, it is premature to be calling for a head before that, in saying that nobody can go on forever, he is there for fourteen years but I wouldn’t let one mistake warrant a call for a head”.
