Micheal Martin is the longest serving leader of the party since Eamon De Valera
Ireland “needs to avoid” the political turmoil occurring in the UK – which is “potentially on the cusp” of a seventh prime minister in a decade, Micheal Martin has said.
Addressing questions about how long he would remain as Taoiseach, the Irish premier said instability leads to a “lack of focus and lack of delivery in government”.
Mr Martin delivered the keynote address at the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis in Dublin on Sunday evening.
He is now the longest serving leader of the party since Eamon De Valera and will be 69 by the time of the next general election.
Mr Martin was questioned about his political future during an appearance on RTE’s Week in Politics.
He said: “I am 16 months as Taoiseach. The Government was only formed 16 months ago.
“I think there is an issue here in terms of how we do politics and how we do government.
“We were elected in as a government 16 months ago, we have an obligation and a function to focus on the issues, it is not all about politics, who is up, who is down, who is moving and all of that, people get fed up of that and get annoyed with that, if they think politicians are inward looking and just thinking about themselves and positioning.
“What the people want actually are politicians that are focused on the issues that matter to their sons and daughters and that matter to them, that is the issue for us as a party.
“I will always do right by the party, of that be under no illusion.
“It is about fulfilling the mandate I received in the last general election.”
The Taoiseach added: “We need to avoid what has happened in the United Kingdom where we are now potentially on the cusp of a seventh prime minister in as many years which creates instability, lack of focus and lack of delivery in government.
“We are in government and we have to deliver in government.”
Mr Martin was asked about whether a referendum on Irish unity was becoming more likely with nationalist first ministers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the rise of Reform.
He said: “Fianna Fail has taken the initiative since 2020 with the Shared Island initiative, which is the first major investment in Northern Ireland by a government in the Republic to develop connectivity between north and south and even relationships.
“The attempts to dismiss what is probably the most significant initiative, certainly since the Good Friday Agreement, ever undertaken by an Irish government and it just gets dismissed in the face of rhetoric, empty rhetoric, which we’ve had for nearly 100 years about this.
“It is about unifying people, it is about bringing people together.
“I believe in the unity of Ireland and I believe in the unity of the Irish people, but I also believe that we need to reconcile and show people what can be done.”
He added: “I am into the hard work of reconciliation and working with people and giving people a sense that they can trust and engage with us here in the Republic and it is very challenging.”
Mr Martin said: “I would be far more worried about Reform and others for different perspectives in terms of the kind of politics it is bringing in and so forth and the level of external influences that are shaping the politics of Britain, which we need to be very careful about in Ireland and indeed in Northern Ireland.
“That sense of external manipulation and external money dictating the course of politics, that is the issue we should be concerned about.”
Mr Martin also revealed that when he first became Fianna Fail leader in 2011 following a general election defeat, many doubted that he would ever be Taoiseach.
He said: “I felt we would come back but it was an open question as to whether I would be Taoiseach or not.
“Everybody around me, everybody commentating said you’ll be the first leader of Fianna Fail that will never become a Taoiseach, that was the common refrain at the time.
“I always had a sense though that there was a deep well within the party, that the membership was intact and that if we could develop newer and younger candidates, target the local elections in 2014, which we did, I was surprised in 2014 that we did so well, becoming the largest party in local government again in a more fragmented world, and that was a tremendous fillip to us which then led to candidates in the 2016 general election.
“I think the party is now well positioned for the future given the cohort of parliamentarians that we have the resilient organisation across the country.”
