Martin takes on Cowen
Mr Martin offered to resign from Cabinet ahead of a stinging public attack on Mr Cowen for failing to prepare the party for the general election.
Three hours after Mr Cowen dramatically asked his TDs to support his bid to hold onto the leadership, Mr Martin set up a showdown when he said he believed he was better placed to lead Fianna Fáil.
The two men spoke at least three times yesterday. However, after phoning his Cabinet colleague, Minister Mary Hanafin, Mr Martin said there was now “huge concern” in the party that the Taoiseach needed to be replaced.
“I believe, (I would) make a difference that would lift the party, that would be of benefit to the party electorally in the coming months,” he said.
Mr Martin had told the Taoiseach his decision to rebel was not compatible with him remaining in Cabinet but Mr Cowen decided his resignation was not necessary.
Mr Martin said the Taoiseach expressed this view passionately and he had an obligation to respect that.
The pair spoke after the Taoiseach ended five days of speculation at a press conference in Dublin’s Alexander Hotel.
Flanked by his Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Government chief whip John Curran, the Taoiseach said he had never given any indication that he would consider resigning.
Mr Cowen said he listened to the party and decided to tackle the issue head-on, rather than continually dealing with internal discussions about whether or not he should lead Fianna Fáil.
He said following almost three days in which he spoke to everyone concerned, the “settled view” of his colleagues was that he should stay in charge.
The Taoiseach said the best way to end the debate was to have a vote, by secret ballot among 71 TDs, at tomorrow’s parliamentary party meeting.
“I think our party colleagues are entitled to put that issue to rest one way or the other. And I am confident of the outcome,” he said.
He said he and Mr Martin were excellent friends and there was no rift within Cabinet.
“There is not one ounce of difficulty between me or any of my colleagues. I have had full discussions with everyone; we get on well; there is an issue here; there are sincerely held views — they need to be resolved,” Mr Cowen said.
Mr Martin said his defection was prompted by Mr Cowen’s failure to lead or organise FF.
There was a sense the fall in the polls was continuing and nothing was being done to stop it, he said. Mr Martin said there was no appearance of an election campaign or no political party response to major issues.
Mr Cowen accepted there were sincere views within the party but tabled tomorrow’s motion because nobody had come forward to place a vote of no confidence. This would have required the signatures of 18 TDs.
Mr Cowen said in order to sort out the rebellion, he scrapped the rule book.
“Let’s forget about procedures. There is a political issue here. There is a confidence issue here that I want addressed. It is important for the country. It is important for the party,” he said.
Yesterday the Taoiseach also spoke to Mr Martin’s likely leadership rival, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan. His spokeswoman said Mr Lenihan had advocated to the Taoiseach the strategy of a motion of confidence and he was glad this was taken up.
She also said Mr Lenihan was very concerned about the state of the party but would not have triggered a heave.
Tourism Minister Mary Hanafin did not make any comment last night.
Another potential leadership challenger, Éamon Ó Cuív, said he would support Mr Cowen as long as he was leader of FF.
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