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.

Casually dressed in a woollen sweater, Minister Martin did not look like a man under pressure — and there didn’t appear to be any frenetic phone calling going on. A number of his constituency team were gathered around him at his family home as were members of his family, including his sister, Eileen.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman had said earlier that the minister had “never had any public engagements planned for today”. Normally, Fridays in Cork are a whistle-stop day for the minister as he tries to fit in as many constituency events as he can.

Fianna Fáil South East city councillor, Terry Shannon said the minister was “doing constituency work at home” and denied that he was strategising ahead of a move to oust Brian Cowen as leader of Fianna Fáil.

The previous night the minister warned his fellow party members that it was “important” to make their views known to the Taoiseach as part of the consultation process announced by Brian Cowen earlier that day.

Last night, sources close to Micheál Martin indicated the minister was unlikely to make a move against Brian Cowen until the leader’s internal consultation with Fianna Fáil backbenchers was completed.

“The consultation process is ongoing and will be left go on. There is definitely a bit of momentum amongst the ordinary party members at the moment to deal with this issue. After that, we will have to wait and see what happens,” he said.