Micheál keeps his counsel alongside his rebel allies

A RELAXED looking Minister Micheál Martin was at home with family and close political friends yesterday as most commentators were caught up in the will he? won’t he? mount a leadership challenge debate.

When the Irish Examiner called to the door of his home at Ballinlough in Cork city, the Minister for Foreign Affairs sent word that he “wasn’t available” for interview but he could be seen in an armchair chatting to those around him.

All day the minister had been refusing to take calls from the press as pressure mounted on him to make a leadership bid for Fianna Fáil as discontent with Brian Cowen following ‘Golf Gate’ showed no sign of waning.