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LAST UPDATE | 16 Apr
TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN is coming under renewed pressure after a number of Fianna Fáil TDs sent letters seeking meetings to discuss the direction of the party.
It follows a tumultuous period for the government, which survived a vote of no confidence on Tuesday but lost the support of two independent TDs in the form of junior minister Michael Healy-Rae and his brother Danny.
The latest letter – signed by Cork North Central TD Paudie O’Sullivan, Kildare TD and former Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl and Galway-based senator Anne Rabbitte – was sent to FF chair Brendan Smith, seeking a fresh meeting of the parliamentary party.
The party last met on Monday, in the wake of the announcement of the €500m package announced on Sunday night which the coalition had hoped would draw a line under a week of demonstrations and blockades by fuel protesters.
Earlier yesterday, three party TDs expressed “real and deep concern” over the government’s response to the crisis, stating that the “social contract is strained to breaking point”.
TDs James O’Connor, Albert Dolan and Ryan O’Meara, who noted in their letter that they were the youngest TDs in the party, said they will no longer take on a role where “senior colleagues expect us to just explain their government difficulties to our communities”.
However, the TDs stopped short of pointing fingers of who is to blame and did not directly call out their party leader.
The TDs said that it is about “challenging ourselves and our party colleagues to do better: to listen more closely, to speak more honestly, and to act more decisively in pursuit of the common good”.
They called on party colleagues to work to “restore trust” in Fianna Fáil.
It’s been confirmed this morning that the three TDs held a meeting with Martin last night, before the Taoiseach flies to Germany for a meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
It was described by those close to the Taoiseach as a “good discussion”.
Speaking on Morning Ireland today, Wicklow-Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne said a fresh parliamentary party meeting about the direction of Fianna Fáil should take place, but stressed that it should not be about “one individual”.
Asked if it was time for Martin to depart as partly leader, Byrne said that the Taoiseach himself “will know when it is time to move on” but that he would not be backing any prospective heave.
The party needed to focus on addressing the real cost-of-living concerns of the Irish people in this autumn’s Budget, Byrne said.
The TD also stressed the importance of Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the European Union. Backers of the Taoiseach have previously argued that he should remain in his role throughout the presidency due to his wealth of experience in foreign affairs and established relationships with other European leaders.
Joint statement on behalf of Albert Dolan TD, Ryan O’Meara TD and James O’Connor TD. @albertdolan_ @ryanomeara_td pic.twitter.com/f7pcycBJGf
— James O'Connor TD (@JamesOConnorTD) April 15, 2026
In an initial response to the letter from the three younger TDs yesterday, Mary Butler, a Fianna Fáil minister of state and the Government Chief Whip, said she would speak to them to see how the party could “alleviate their concerns”.
She said she and Martin’s doors were always open, but Fianna Fáil “can always do better as a party”.
Butler noted that two of the TDs that signed the statement are newly-elected TDs, one of whom had a protest take place outside their constituency office on Monday evening.
Butler added that the parliamentary party, including these TDs, had signed up to a Programme of Government and it was “doing the very best” to implement that.
Butler said every member of Fianna Fáil had backed the Government in the confidence vote on Tuesday, adding: “We are here for the long haul and we are here to put through four more budgets.”
A number of Fianna Fáil TDs that spoke to The Journal criticised the statement issued yesterday afternoon by the three TDs.
These politicians pointed out that in a private party WhatsApp group yesterday there were discussions about rallying behind the party, in particular after Michael Healy-Rae publicly criticised the Taoiseach and his leadership in his departure speech.
“Nobody is taking it seriously,” said one Fianna Fáil politician, who added that they were surprised Dolan and O’Meara, the two newly-elected TDs, were speaking out in such a fashion.
It was also pointed out that this is not the first time O’Connor has hit out publicly against the government. The Fianna Fáil TD wrote an op-ed in The Irish Independent last November calling for a change of leadership.
A number of TDs voiced their concerns over the government’s handling of the fuel protests at Monday’s party meeting.
It is understood a number of TDs who would not generally speak out were very vocal at that party meeting this week, with some indicating that Martin’s leadership had come under question for some.
One party source said they believed Martin to be “fatally wounded in the eyes of middle-ground TDs” following the government’s reaction to the protests. They added that the only question now is when there could be a move against the party leader.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Ó Fearghaíl said he didn’t agree that the social contract had been broken, but repeated what he said at the Monday meeting that Fianna Fáil’s biggest problem at present was that it is not giving people a vision for the future of Ireland.
It emerged later that he had signed his name to the fresh letter calling for another parliamentary party meeting.
Speaking on the same show, long-serving Limerick TD Willia O’Dea said the party had been “badly damaged” by the handling of the fuel protests.
“I’ve got a series of emails from people who I helped out and people who canvassed for me and voted for me in the past, telling me they’ll never vote for me again because I’m representing the wrong party, a party they’ve totally lost confidence in,” O’Dea said.
It’s understood none of the figures previously linked with a tilt at the leadership – the likes of Dara Calleary or Jim O’Callaghan – are on maneuvers, with one senior source saying there this morning that there will be no heave.
However Martin is regarded within the party to be in an even weaker position this week, given that his leadership had already called into serious question following the Jim Gavin debacle last year.
The Taoiseach is expected to address the latest criticism when he speaks to the media in Berlin later today.
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