Hanafin ready to challenge Martin in FF race

MINISTER Mary Hanafin has said she would run against her cabinet colleague Micheál Martin in a battle to lead Fianna Fáil.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport said a leadership contest would be a good thing for the party and reiterated her leadership ambitions, despite speculation she would act as a “stalking horse” for Mr Martin.

Brian Cowen is expected to decide over the Christmas holidays whether or not to stay on as leader of Fianna Fáil for the general election and sources believe he will make the matter clear early in the new year.

But in an interview with the Irish Examiner, Ms Hanafin said she has “no doubt” that the Taoiseach will lead the party into the next election and insisted she would not involve herself in any heave against him.

Asked if she is planning eventually to step in to support Mr Martin’s candidacy for party leader she said: “Not if I’m going too.”

She said: “I’ve huge time for Micheál. I’ve been friendly with him for years.” But she added: “If the parliamentary party felt I had something to offer, I would put my name forward and that’s what I said and that’s what I still say.”

Ms Hanafin was the first off the block to suggest she would like to succeed Mr Cowen when the Green Party announced their intention to pull out of Government in November.

However, the Minister for Foreign Affairs subsequently declared his interest in a number of interviews and is now widely tipped as the next party leader.

“Leaving the personalities out of it, whenever the next leadership election is, there should be a contest,” Ms Hanafin said. “It might not even happen for two years, but whenever it does and whoever is interested, I believe there should be a contest,” said the TD for Dún Laoghaire.

Ms Hanafin said Fianna Fáil will recover from its current low popularity of 17% but it will take time and a lot of hard work.

“When you see how quickly it turned down, it will turn back up again, there’s no doubt about that,” she said.

“But it takes work. No matter what the result of the next election is, we’re all going to have to be out there around the country, public meetings, particularly meeting young people.”

Mr Cowen faces further pressure on his leadership in the new year when the issue will be discussed by the next meeting of the Fianna Fáil National Executive. One member, Jerry Beades, said the party “has to find a transition to a new leader before a general election”.

Fianna Fáil believe the election should be held in March and Fine Gael’s Brian Hayes yesterday said his party expects it to take place in the second week of that month.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said yesterday it will be “a very difficult election for the Fianna Fáil party” and, while the Government gets on with the work of restoring financial stability, it will also “engage in a traditional election campaign in the spring”.

Yesterday, his 73-year-old aunt, Longford-Westmeath TD, Mary O’Rourke confirmed she will be running in the next election.

Ms Hanafin said the Taoiseach was “fired up” for an election, “which is good because that energises everybody else. If he’s enthusiastic, we’re enthusiastic, if we’re enthusiastic, then our supporters are”.

And she said the result of the election is not a foregone conclusion. “Nobody can predict what the format of the Dáil will be after the next election.