FIANNA FÁIL LEADER Micheál Martin has defended his party in the face of criticism over its time in government saying there was too much “blanket blame” of the party following its demise.
In a wide ranging interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, the former minister defended his party and his leadership of it which followed criticism from his own party members for approaching Gay Byrne about a possible run for the presidency.
Martin also defended some former ministers taking their ministerial severance payments, seemingly going against what he had advised prior to the election: “We’re the first set of cabinet ministers to waive severance payments,” he said.
He said that of Fianna Fáil’s time in government:
There’s too much of this going on about blanket blame for everything and lack of credit for what was done.He also defended his much criticised decision to approach Byrne about running for the presidency – something the former RTÉ broadcaster later decided against – saying that he believed the people should have “as wide a choice as possible” saying that was “democratic and broadens choice for people.”
He believed that in deciding not to run its own candidate for the election Fianna Fáil had made the right decision and indicating that its own research showed there wouldn’t be any significant change in public opinion about he party since the general election.
Martin added it was important to focus on the next local elections and concentrate on rebuilding the party for the future saying it was vital the party emerged “as a strong political force.”
He indicated that Fianna Fáil would back a candidate but said that decision would not be made until after nominations close.
He also said that the party would be seeking to hold the Dublin-West by election for the seat vacated by the late Brian Lenihan on the same day as the presidential election and added that a local candidate would be picked.
Martin also backed the Economic and Social Research Institute’s call this morning for €4 billion to be cut in the coming budget.
“If you don’t do it early enough, you prolong the recession,” he added.
Read: Government should cut €4 billion in December budget, says ESRI>
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175 days ago #
Proof if needed that LSD addiction is rife in FF. With Bertie(that money was a loan) and Meehawwwl the biggest abusers by the sounds of things….
174 days ago #
Good Morning Ogra Fianna Fail Operation Lazarus Campaign Team
This mornings directive parties do actually disappear. This isnt a bit of a blip for FF. This is the end of an era. From Dev and the Church, Haughey and his sharp practice to Ahern the Ignorant and Cowan who was handed the poison chalice they f*****ed up everything beyond belief. There is no way back. It may have taken nearly a hundred years to wash this stuff out of the system and if it takes another 10-20 it will never be the same again.
20 years ago FF thought that not having an absolute majority was a bit of a blip, it wasn’t , it was the start of the country becoming less parochial and less fearful, more confident.
If there is a party called FF in the future it will never be able to operate the way it did in the past, the mafia days are gone forever. If it manages to hold on to some habitual voters don’t be encouraged. So it might have the same badge but it will not be the Fianna Fail that has disgraced its nation.
175 days ago #
You have to take the rough with the smooth, I’d imagine FF are well aware of that now. Having listened to the Morning Ireland interview, you’d have to say that Martin sounds convincing. However, sounding convincing and acting convincing are two different things…only time will tell.
175 days ago #
Yeah but in fairness,MM has the ability to convince people that the sky is green….he is that kind of guy. He is most certainly not to be trusted!!
175 days ago #
Micheál and FF have acted against the interests of Ireland and the Irish for the last 40 years, why is he going to change now. At this stage they are congenitally incapable of doing the honest thing, or acting for the good of Ireland. He is so smooth at he makes people’s skin crawl, the facade personality.
The great thing is that, given FF has been so packed full of thieves and traitors for the last 40 years that they have been running down the party, asset stripping it, packing it full of their cronies, that all that is left is a shell, half the cumann’s are paper only, existing to nominate their benefactor as TD at election conventions and most of the other cumann’s are packed with people who are looking for favours, soft contracts and influence and couldn’t care less about the party, or Ireland.
When the recent hero of de party is a man, that turned a blind eye to his father’s sick fund being robbed by party members, indeed who praised the man who did it, even after he knew what happened, all to get on the ticket and a cabinet seat. As he joked “every man has a father, but how many get a cabinet seat”.
175 days ago #
Crawl back under whatever rock you inhabit, Martin and his mates have this country ruined. Whatever positives they might have done (which were very few) have been trumped 100 times by the disastrous decisions his Govt made and which he sat at the Cabinet table. I thought that the element of disgust would decline once Biffo & Bertie’s head disappeared from the papers but alas, I think it’ll also take that creature Martin.
175 days ago #
Sensible approach on Dublin West: get it over with and keep it local. As for the presidency, I note that the Party intends to instruct its members how to vote: having been called useless by FF member (for the time being) Bertie, will they listen? 2014 is the key date for FF, perhaps they should look to 1926 to see why they exist at all (clue: be Republican or redundant).
175 days ago #
Only one word describes Fianna “FAIL” GOBSHITES
175 days ago #
Meehole needs to own up and clarify do you use a capital t in the word traitor.
175 days ago #
I knew this shite was coming. Me’hall …. Your party was in Government for 14 years…. At least 11 of those were boom times. The other 3 showed FF up as a bunch of incompetents. Your inactions in those 11 years is what has us where we are now. Telling people you did many ‘good things’ are fairly hollow words in the current environment.
175 days ago #
How could you blame Fianna Fail for the current mess. They were only in power for over ten years.
174 days ago #
All but 3 of the past 20 years actually.
175 days ago #
I see Rip van Winkle is at it again. Let’s have a look;
-”There’s too much of this going on about blanket blame for everything and lack of credit for what was done.”
Equals: “My efforts to reinvent history, including my own, are not meeting with much success. Sure we all partied.”
-”…he believed the people should have “as wide a choice as possible” saying that was “democratic and broadens choice for people…”
“Doing the best thing for FF is ALWAYS democratic, and best for the people. If it all goes pear shaped and makes one look desperate, we can just play the democracy/mandate card, or assign a committee. Or something.”
-“If you don’t do it early enough, you prolong the recession,”
“Well, except when we were there, when one leader shagged off when the writing was on the wall, having done nothing beforehand, and the next lad sat on a stool for two years. But that was a different Fianna Fail, and a different Martin, O’ Dea, etc.”
The Footsoldiers of Density should be along any minute, they’re red thumbing like it’s the War of the Clones.
175 days ago #
They’re here already.
See?
175 days ago #
They haven’t gone away you know…….yet! Mores the pity.
Indeed!
175 days ago #
This site has a FF cult following, and it’s big and scary.
Chanting, “We will always vote Fianna Fail, always”. In a very dreary tone.174 days ago #
There certainly does appear to be number of Fianna FAILure automatons on here hitting the thumbs down like it’s a Bertie ‘dig out’ Ahern popularity contest! MeHawHaw’s latest inane dribbling’s about “blanket blame” etc etc is surely proof that these people really do inhabit another planet, the very fact that apart from the greedy rats who jumped or were eradicated at the election the same old FAILure faces are all around him, his own included, has he forgotten his part in the destruction of the country? They Gay Byrne Aras fiasco backfired on him big time and calls into question his judgement, he’s now saying that the greedy self serving parasites, O’Dea, Calleary and Kelleher can keep the ‘severance’ money they leeched from the tax payer despite being returned by the gombeens of their constituencies and he himself giving up his ‘severance’ payment and telling his returned TD’s to do the same, some leadership there MeHawHaw! Deluded cretins who just cannot see that they have been found out for the gangsters they are and always have been. They will never change because just like that other deluded gang of cretins that has raped and shafted the country they are blind to their own faults and too arrogant to think the have done anything wrong, once again NO ACCOUNTABILITY!
175 days ago #
Sssh a resident of the ivory tower is speaking, let’s all look upon him in awe and reverence, "tell us what to do oh glorious one, tell us what we should be thinking were lost"
175 days ago #
What have you achieved with YOUR life?
Who is that addressed to?
There are always positives. Didn’t Nero produced some lovely music?
175 days ago #
What a waste of space. What he had to say about his ex ministers not listening to his request not to take ministerial severance payments was farcical.
175 days ago #
These are the people that paid for a big spike to be put in the middle of Dublin…… Now I know why to remind every one how big a PRICK’S they really were…
174 days ago #
lol, We not to blame we were only TDs.
174 days ago #
Bertie is a master of diverting attention away from himself.
174 days ago #
Every half EEJIT in FF…. Thats them all… The decent people left the party
Every half EEJIT in FF…. Thats all of them… The decent people left the party….
174 days ago #
Well FF ate only bout 70% to blame. The public did keep voting them in to government Election after election
174 days ago #
We do tend to forget about the good stuff i’ll give him that
Eamon Andrews maybe???????????????
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