Taoiseach confident of party’s future election hopes
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin expects to at least hold Fianna Fáil’s two seats in Cavan and Monaghan come the next General Election given his “strong” team on the ground and is unconcerned with comments made by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar recently that Fine Gael is targeting the constituency to gain a seat next time out.
He was speaking to the Celt in Tunnyduff last Friday when he said his focus is firmly on running the country.
Since the 2016 General Election, the Fianna Fáil party in Cavan has lost the support of two elected members - Sarah O’Reilly in Bailieborough to Aontú, and Shane P O’Reilly in Mullagh who declared as Independent.
At the 2020 General Election, Brendan Smith (11,004 votes) and Niamh Smyth (10,951) were the only deputies returned to the Dáil without having reached the quota (12,031).
When Fianna Fáil met at the Slieve Russell Hotel in September for their parliamentary think-in, much was also made of the perceived disconnect between leadership and grassroot supporters. Such an assertion was borne out in the Sean Fleming authored report focusing on recent poor electoral performances, which found that the majority of current party members under the age of 65 years struggle to identity what Fianna Fáil stands in the modern era.
“I’ve two very strong deputies here,” asserted the Taoiseach. “We’ve a strong councillor base and again I’m focused, to be frank, on running the country with my colleagues in government because we have huge challenges dealing with Brexit, COVID-19, restoring the economy, bringing jobs back to the regions, and that’s my focus. I tend to believe that, when elections happen, they create a dynamic all of their own. We have strength on the ground. I’ve been out and around different counties the past month and every where I go we are having a very warm engagement with people.”
The Fianna Fail leader added: “I’ve a good gut feeling for things. So we’ve no fears for anything. I don’t see an election on the horizon. My objective on helping form this government is that it would go full term. Why? Because that gives us the best opportunity, in a coherent way, and to consistently deal with the big issues that face the people of Ireland. We’re elected to work for the people, not for our own self preservation.”
The Taoiseach concluded by addressing the level of abuse meted out to elected members nationwide, which can deter younger generations from getting involved in politics.
“I do think it is a barrier for young people getting involved in politics, and for young women in particular. I want to say also, on the other side of the coin, the vast majority of people are courteous to politicians and they’re warm. I think that needs to be said... That said, there is a coarseness developing, and an aggression in some quarters. Some of that is a carefully prepared agenda to try create a really divisive type of politics. People should desist from doing that.”
READ MORE