‘Not fair’ to say I do not listen to backbenchers, says Micheal Martin

Micheal Martin has said it is “not fair” to suggest he does not listen to his party backbenchers.

The Fianna Fail 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.

Mr 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 Fail to openly discuss the future of the party’s leadership.

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

On his way into Cabinet on Wednesday, Mr 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, Mr 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 left-wing independent Catherine Connolly as the next Irish 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 Mr Gavin on 7.18%.

Tanaiste 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.”