A junior Fianna Fáil minister has defended the Taoiseach and claimed that an internal dispute in the party is turning the public off.
Minister of State Thomas Byrne conceded that his party has to have “difficult conversations” in the wake of its disastrous presidential election campaign, but said that Fianna Fáil cannot afford division.
The party’s presidential candidate, former Dublin Gaelic football manager Jim Gavin, called a halt to his campaign after controversy arose over his failure to refund €3,300 in overpaid rent to a former tenant.
Mr Gavin – who subsequently repaid the sum – stopped campaigning on October 5th but his name remained on the ballot paper. He received 7.18 per cent of the vote in an election that saw Catherine Connolly romp home to victory on 63.36 per cent.
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Mr Byrne’s comments come after Micheál Martin was publicly criticised over the weekend for his stewardship of the party’s failed presidential campaign.
While Dublin South-West TD John Lahart had said that Mr Martin enjoyed “significant respect” and “great affection” within the party, he said the Taoiseach had made “significant errors in judgment in the run-up to and during the presidential election campaign”.
On Sunday Carlow-Kilkenny TD John McGuinness, a long-time critic of Mr Martin, RTÉ that Fianna Fáil’s election campaign was a “shambles”. He said the party needs to “reinvent itself for the future”, including a change of leader “in due course”.
Speaking on Newstalk on Monday morning, Mr Byrne said Fianna Fáil will have a “difficult conversation” about the presidential election and Mr Martin has “never been afraid of difficult conversations”.
“The one thing I would say is, not only do the public not care for internal division, but I think it actually turns them off the party as well. So I think we really need to come together as a party,” Mr Byrne said.
Asked about Mr Lahart’s claim that a modern political party can’t afford “errors of judgement,” Mr Byrne said that a “a modern political party can’t afford division”.
“What the public want to make sure is that we’re not focused on ourselves, but that we’re focused on what our job is,” he said.
Mr Byrne said the presidential election will “come and go,” and that the “day to day concerns of the voters are what the Government does on a day-to-day basis”. Mr Byrne said he didn’t detect a “groundswell” of criticism towards Mr Martin.
On Sunday, Mr McGuinness had suggested the leadership of the party should form part of discussions “within the next 10 days”.
Mr McGuinness confirmed he voted for Catherine Connolly in the presidential election, adding: “I believe she will be a good president.”
Another critic of Mr Martin, Cork East TD James O’Connor, told The Irish Times it has been “a very embarrassing number of weeks” for Fianna Fáil, adding there is “anger” in the party towards the leader that “we allowed something like this to happen”.
He said the party has lost money on the election and “we have severely damaged our reputation in the eyes of the electorate”.
“No matter what is done, it’s going to take a long time for Fianna Fáil to recover,” he said.
Asked if he thinks the party needs to change its leader now, he replied: “I think everything needs to be on the table.”
Mr O’Connor said the review process currently under way must help “ensure the mistakes that have occurred are never allowed happen again”.
He expressed concern that he is yet to learn how he can participate in the review.
