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Tánaiste addressing party members at the Fianna Fáil Cáirde Fáil Dinner in Dublin this evening. Michéal Martin

'We haven't completed our mandate': Tánaiste says there's work to finish which cannot be rushed

In a speech this evening, Martin moved to dampen speculation about an imminent election.

TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has said the government is yet to complete its mandate, telling a packed out room of Fianna Fáilers in Dublin this evening that there is “very important work to finish which cannot be rushed”.

At the Fianna Fáil Cáirde Fáil Dinner at the Clayton Hotel in Dublin, Martin used his speech to hit out at Sinn Féin, defend the recent decision to spend €9 million on phone pouches for students and also dampen election speculation. 

Speaking to 1,200 Fianna Fáil members, he said there has been an “enormous amount of speculation has been around in recent weeks about the timing of the next general election”.

“That timing was agreed four and half years ago when the three parties agreed to join together in a coalition government. It was reaffirmed by each party leader when the leadership of the other parties changed.

“The entire strategy of this government has been based on putting aside politics and focusing on our agreed agenda,” he added. 

Questioned about reporters about the election speculation, he said the three party leaders meet on weekly basis to discuss the Dáil agenda. 

“I am sure this issue might arise at some stage in those discussions,” he said. 

Martin said the Taoiseach himself has said he wants to fulfill the mandate of the government.

“I have said the same,” he added. He said there is always an opportunity for the three coalition leaders to raise an issue of importance at such as that, stating “that hasn’t occurred”.

Logistics

“I am very clear where I stand on it,” he said, stating that there are a number of things that need to happen before an election date is announced. 

“The logistics of the next while are interesting. The Finance Bill has to happen, the Oireachtas will want to scrutinise that I imagine and then you have the Social Protection measures. Then you have the Mental Health Bill, the Defamation Bill and the Gambling Bill. They are the key ones we identified some times ago as ones we would like to get over the line,” said the Tánaiste.

Martin said the three party leaders have said they want to “go the full distance and until that changes I really have no further comment,” he said. 

“In accordance with our agreements, we will finish our important work, complete our term and then seek support for our individual programmes,” Martin said tonight. 

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His comments come as a poll in the The Sunday Independent puts the party down two points to 19%, with Fine Gael up one point to 26%. The Greens are unchanged at 4%.

Dismissing the poll result when put to him, the Tánaiste told party members tonight that Fianna Fáil has defied four years of polls and commentary predicting that Fianna Fáil was training in a distant third place.

Criticism of Sinn Féin

The party leader hit out at Sinn Féin three times in his speech this evening, firstly highlighting the press officer controversy this week and stating that Sinn Féin “ran away from the media as soon as the questions got difficult”.

“In the Dáil the leader of Sinn Fein was active shouting “Bring it on” and calling for an election next month – but then she disappeared from the airwaves in order to avoid basic questions about her party’s behaviour,” he told the room of members this evening. 

Addressing the issue of phone pouches and the criticism levelled at the Education Minister Norma Foley, he said: 

“And let me say this about the media controversy on smartphone pouches. The deep adverse effects of smartphones on the school environment have been measured throughout the world. It is a core part of what has been called the great public health challenge of our time.

“The introduction of a schooltime ban is urgent and essential. To make sure that schools can implement the ban completely, and to avoid it becoming a constant disciplinary issue, there are proven ways to help.

“This once-off measure of €9m is not only reasonable, but also justified given the educational and mental health benefits it can bring. If you want to see just how cynical Sinn Fein is, they’ve spent the past few days claiming that this initiative is wasteful – while their own Party said absolutely nothing when the Northern Ireland Executive allocated funding for a similar initiative.

“Once again, Sinn Fein has shown that it is by far Ireland’s most partitionist and hypocritical party,” the Tánaiste said. 

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    Mute Al Smith
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:26 PM

    This president is amazing. MaryRobinson was a great for international relations but this little fella is what Ireland needs now. His articulation is perfect and his ideas are what we should be striving towards. BRILLIANT………..!!!

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    Mute Con Ó Domhnaill
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:07 PM

    Nice planet you live on there Al – yourself and Michael D. If you manage to get back to Ireland 2013 join the protests tomorrow evening again austerity, cuts, water charges, evictions, emigration and property tax imposed on us by Michael D Higgins’ Labour, the 4.5% Party

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    Mute Strongbow63
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    May 1st 2013, 5:14 AM

    Al, 100 per cent agree.

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:15 PM

    That flag needs to be out flying in the fields and roads of Ireland so we can reclaim this country from the failed politics of FF, FG and LAb.

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    Mute Derek McKenna ✅
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:26 PM

    These charlatans in the Labour Party have no concept of what the Starry Plough really stands for. The great men of the Irish Citizen Army would be appalled to be associated in any way with today’s Labour Party in any way. Just words from Higgins, if he meant them he would have taken a different journey than staying in the Labour Party for all those years

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    Mute C.P. Horan
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:38 PM

    A new version of Irishness? Is that an app I can download or what? This guy is a joke and the biggest yes man going.

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    Mute Niall Waters
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:13 PM

    A lot of vitriol in these comments towards Michael D. Higgins who is just about the last person in the sphere of Irish politics who deserves it.

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    Mute S L
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:28 PM

    Agree with you Al, but in my opinion he wasted as president, feel like he has a lot more to say but can’t go that far

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    Mute Odran Ó Corcráin
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:41 PM

    It must be so easy for Higgins to lecture us, the plebs, on morality and hardship with his 6 digit salary and pension. Then again I can’t say I am surprised, he is in Labour after all.

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    Mute Killian Lynch
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:21 PM

    What do they mean by the ‘conservation’ of the flag? Are they repairing the original one or is it a special ceremony or what?

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    Mute Eamonn Bolger
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    Apr 30th 2013, 11:13 PM

    A new version of Irish ness? One that includes jailing bankers, not paying back illegal gambling debts, and taking care f our citizens first?

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    Mute Colm M
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:22 PM

    Good God…this man reminds me more and more of Uncle Albert every day! How much does the office of President cost us again?

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    Mute the lost lenore
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:00 PM

    I have a yearning that politicos would cease these meandering, worthless discourses on claptrap like “renewing Irishness” and actually come up with something tangible and workable for once.

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    Mute the lost lenore
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:57 PM

    Whenever I hear a politician talking about Irishness, I know meaningless navel-gazing waffle is forthcoming and plenty of worthies will be having a good old jaw over four course dinners on the topic, itself a complete abstract and totally irrelevance.

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    Mute Strongbow63
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    May 1st 2013, 5:16 AM

    Enlighten us with your philosophy. Anything positive to say?.

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:50 PM

    That Communist prat is way by his sell by date. He’s not supposed to be “political” so how come he’s not fired.

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    Mute Derek McKenna ✅
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:58 PM

    @William the fact that you call him a communist shows that you have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:31 PM

    What’s the difference between Higgins and a Communist then?

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    Mute Kev O Dowd
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    Apr 30th 2013, 10:07 PM

    Higgins constantly talks about being a social democrat for one. He often refers to the need of a defined “social floor”, a floor that people in our capitalist society should not be allowed to fall under. Words over actions aside, he seems fine with the capitalist system as long as there are those safety nets for the most vulnerable in our society. How does that make him a “communist”? (switch off Fox News pal, it hinders your perception)

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    Mute Piarais Mac An TSaoir
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    Apr 30th 2013, 10:30 PM

    The only real communists on this planet are Buddhists William, you may have noticed our Uachtarán lives in a big house in the middle of town.

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    Mute David Whelan
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:44 PM

    Love that prez

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    Mute Leslie Alan Rock
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    Apr 30th 2013, 8:44 PM

    I hope the champagne socialist didn’t show up.

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    Mute Malachy Quinn
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:38 PM

    I can only imagine how our Irish Citizen Army heroes feel about how Labour had turned there back on the working classes since the 1980s!

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    Mute Slim Browne
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:44 PM

    That man lives in a Fantasy world far removed from what’s going on outside the Park

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    Mute Richard McCarthy
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    Apr 30th 2013, 9:21 PM

    Even though i voted for Mr Higgins it was by process of elimination rather than any admiration,i knew his ideas were socialist left,and me being a free market man who provided employment for people in my life,i still cant get my head around the fact that Ireland admires such people as poets more than those that create the wealth the country needs for its citizens.

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    Mute Piarais Mac An TSaoir
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    Apr 30th 2013, 10:27 PM

    Nobody needs wealth Richard. What we need is stability, security and freedom from the shackles of past ideologies. Creating wealth got us into this mess, and it’s not going to get us out. What’s wrong with admiring Poets? I have to say that Higgins was not even on my radar as a politician, but as Uachtarán I think he has come of age.

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    Mute Kev O Dowd
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    Apr 30th 2013, 10:30 PM

    because the propagators of the free market only care about personal profit. They’re hardly going to be popular in a country where people are directly paying for the collapse of a unregulated the neo liberal, free market economy. I can see where you are coming from in relation to the “wealth creators” but the balance of regulation is so important. A balance that protects the ecomony from wreckless, short term profits while at the same time ensuring that the market is not over regulated, stifling investment and expansion of the private sector. I’m living in Canada at the moment and you can really see how this method (particularly in their banking system) had worked for them in comparison to the “free market” Americans.

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    Mute Richard McCarthy
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    May 1st 2013, 12:57 AM

    Sounds good but the fact is we will only survive as a country by creating jobs for our people.

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    Mute Strongbow63
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    May 1st 2013, 5:27 AM

    There is unfortunately no alternative to capitalism as an economic system. It promotes innovation and is highly ptoductive, even Marx acknowledged that in his Manifesto. It is the type of capitalism that we allow that is the problem. Unregulated and unhindered by trade unions it will devour itself. In the USA fir example the average industrial wage has remained static while the income of the top decile has increaded by about 23 per cent. In the globalised labour force capital can be shifted around electronically , undermining the economies of nation states and exploiting poor workrrs, resulting in disasters like that collapsed building in Bangladesh. I for one think President O Higgins is on the money. He is a welcone voice out there in a cacophony of neo liberalism.

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    Mute Johnny Hegarty
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    Apr 30th 2013, 10:05 PM

    I hope he is right in what he says. Capitalism doesn’t believe in society but I do.

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    Mute censored
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    Apr 30th 2013, 11:26 PM

    Irishness: does he mean the gombeen tendency or the sheep like obedience to the master?

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    Mute William Delaney
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    Apr 30th 2013, 11:46 PM

    Ya ya ya…… Zzzzzzzzzz.

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    Mute David Giles
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    May 1st 2013, 8:55 AM

    Although I am not a Socialist, I admire Michael D and I consider he to be the best President for Ireland in these difficult times. The Plough and the Stars is a wonderful historical flag and reminds us of the land where so many of us have come from and the Stars which we look up to on a good night.

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    Mute Ollie O'Cleirigh
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    May 1st 2013, 6:06 AM

    Great insightful speech by President Michael D.

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    Mute Patrick Collins
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    May 1st 2013, 9:43 AM

    It more like we’re yearning for a revolution

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    Mute James Keane
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    May 1st 2013, 7:53 AM

    I remember last year some criminals sawed off the stars for scrap. Good to see the statue back to its original glory, never gets enough attention.

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    Mute Republic Of Zen
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    May 1st 2013, 10:02 AM

    In what sector in Irish is individualist? The govenment grew under the PDs.

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    Mute anthony byrne
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    May 1st 2013, 11:26 AM

    It’s good to see that the president is addressing the important issues facing Irish society today.

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