MICHEAL MARTIN HAS said it is “not fair” to suggest he does not listen to his party backbenchers.

The Fianna Fáil leader said he has had “very constructive” meetings with backbenchers since the presidential election.

He has come under pressure after he championed ex-Dublin football manager Jim Gavin to become the party’s presidential candidate.

Gavin withdrew from the race weeks after being chosen by the party after it emerged he owed a former tenant thousands of euro, which he has since repaid.

His late withdrawal prompted figures from Fianna Fáil to openly discuss the future of the party’s leadership.

Jim Gavin pictured arriving for first presidential debate in September Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Malcolm Byrne, TD for Wicklow-Wexford, said there was “frustration” on the back benches “that we feel that a lot of our concerns are not being listened to”.

He said a confidence motion in Martin was “possible” but he did not believe a leadership change would take place “in the short term”.

On his way into Cabinet today, Martin said he had had “very constructive” meetings and engagements with TDs.

When it was suggested that he was not listening to backbenchers, he said: “Ah that’s not fair.

“I’m meeting backbenchers over the last couple of weeks, I’ve always engaged with backbenchers, my door is always open to people if they want to engage and discuss.”

Asked about a confidence motion, Martin said: “It’s always available for people if they wish to do something like that.”

He acknowledged the “devastation” of the party’s presidential election approach, but added that the general and local elections had been successful for the party.

“We have a lot to do, and I think that people will get impatient if parties focus on their own internal issues to the detriment of the core issues that affect the daily lives of people in this country.”

On Friday, Ireland voted to elect Catherine Connolly as the next president.

She was announced as the winner with a commanding margin of 63.36% of first preference votes, ahead of Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys on 29.46% and Gavin on 7.18%.

Catherine Connolly speaks at Dublin Castle after being elected as the new President of Ireland. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Tánaiste Simon Harris said he did “not at all” feel under pressure from his Fine Gael party after the presidential election and said it was a “unified party”.

“The presidential election did not go the way government parties would have hoped,” he said on his way into Government Buildings.

He said it was always going to be “an uphill battle” for Fine Gael, and referenced that they had to change candidate after former EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness withdrew.

“We ran in the local elections, we got more votes than anyone else. We ran in the European elections, we got more votes than anyone else.

“We went into the general election with only 17 outgoing TDs. We got 23 new TDs elected, 13 new senators elected.

“And despite a very difficult presidential election with many twists and turns and only two candidates, we still polled almost 30% – so onwards with the work.”