Fianna Fáil is facing internal turmoil and uncertainty amid pressure to publish a review of the party’s botched presidential election campaign before Christmas.
Three senior TDs called for immediate publication of the report on Monday, amid speculation that a parliamentary party meeting could be called as soon as Tuesday to discuss it.
Kildare South’s Sean Ó Fearghaíl, Limerick City’s Willie O’Dea and Donegal’s Pat the Cope Gallagher said on Monday that the leaking of parts of the report is “unacceptable” and “damaging”.
They said the leaks point to a “lack of candour within Fianna Fáil”, adding that “accountability is now essential if we are to restore trust and credibility”.
RM Block
It comes as Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan acknowledged errors were made during the presidential election but supported Micheál Martin as party leader, arguing that people “need to be fair in terms of the assessment of a leader’s performance and achievements”.
Mr O’Callaghan said that he made a mistake in not following his initial instinct in supporting Billy Kelleher’s bid for the presidency, and that Fianna Fáil would now await the report and consider it.
When pressed, however, Mr O’Callaghan said: “Listen, I’m backing Micheál Martin. I think we need to have a broader perspective of the past rather than just going back to September. It was just over a year ago that we had a very good general election result, that we were the largest party in Dáil Eireann after the general election.”
Under the review’s terms of reference, Mr Martin is to receive a copy of the report before TDs and Senators.
Fianna Fáil figures said on Monday evening that the Taoiseach had not yet received the document as he issued a statement sharply criticising leaks in recent days, calling them “extremely disappointing”.
Surprise
The Taoiseach’s statement drew surprise from some Fianna Fáil TDs, with one saying it was a “bizarre” intervention, which had “lit up” internal messaging groups within the parliamentary party.
Mr Martin said there would be a meeting of the parliamentary party to discuss the report once it was received. This team of three TDs and a senior counsel was said to have a meeting planned for Monday evening or Tuesday morning.
Mr Gavin withdrew from the race after it emerged that he owed €3,300 to a former tenant.
Some internal critics of Mr Martin believe that the publication of the report could make him vulnerable to a leadership challenge − although other middle ground TDs, while having their confidence undermined by the saga, are less certain.
The publication of the report is likely to bring scrutiny on the timeline surrounding Mr Gavin’s endorsement after it emerged that a top adviser to Mr Martin and the party’s deputy leader, Jack Chambers, were told beforehand a newspaper was looking into a potential issue with a tenant.
The Irish Times has learned it was Mr Gavin’s election agent in that contest, Dublin South West TD John Lahart, who informed Mr Chambers a newspaper was looking at an issue relating to a deposit, rather than the non-repayment issue.
Mr Chambers passed this information onto party HQ, who in turn questioned Mr Gavin on the matter. This sequence of events was brought to the attention of the review team by Mr Chambers.
Fianna Fáil has previously said Mr Gavin denied there had been a past issue with a tenant when it raised the matter with him.
Mr Lahart would not comment beyond saying he awaited the publication of the report out of respect to those conducting the review − “as opposed to continuous commentary over selected leaking of parts of it”.
Wicklow-Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne also called for the report to be published this week: “There are bigger issues for us to address … but this continues to be a distraction and our members and supporters are entitled to know who knew what and when. If certain things are or are not in the report, we will only know when it is published.”
