FF ‘going nowhere’ under Martin, says ex-stalwart TD
Noel O’Flynn said Mr Martin “is part of the problem”, as he is “baggage” from the Ahern and Cowen era.
Mr O’Flynn, who accuses Mr Martin of reneging on a political commitment to him, says it should be left to the party’s new TDs to take the party forward.
In particular, he said Michael McGrath — a constituency colleague of Mr Martin in Cork South Central — would make “an excellent leader”.
Mr O’Flynn made the comments in an interview yesterday in which he floated the possibility of returning to politics.
Following a request from Mr Martin, he stepped down before last year’s general election to avoid splitting the FF vote in Cork North Central.
The strategy worked, with FF TD Billy Kelleher retaining his Dáil seat.
Mr O’Flynn says that, in return, Mr Martin promised to support his son Kenneth’s attempts to win a Seanad seat.
But he claims Mr Martin instead backed another candidate, Averil Power, who was subsequently elected to the Seanad, while Kenneth O’Flynn was not.
Mr O’Leary said the party was going nowhere with Mr Martin as leader.
“Those still associated with the baggage of the Ahern and Cowen years, who were in cabinet, will not do anything to endear the people to the party. Micheál Martin has been there for the whole 14 years while Fianna Fáil were in government — he is part of the problem.
“It reminds me of the 40 years that Moses spent in the desert, the reason being all those that committed sins had to die off before they would find the promised land.”
Mr O’Flynn said he missed “being the voice of Cork”, and was considering standing as an independent.
Mr Martin declined to respond to Mr O’Flynn’s comments. A spokesperson said: “This has been going on now for a year and we’ve no further contribution to make to the discussion.”
Ahead of the election, Mr Martin said he would be “forever grateful” to Mr O’Flynn for supporting him in his successful bid for the party leadership.
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