Paul Hosford: No backslapping or flash on Martin's last day as Taoiseach

Micheál Martin was reluctant to talk about legacy or his own departure given Thursday's tragic events in Lebanon

Outgoing Taoiseach Micheál Martin said given the gravity of what had happened in Lebanon, it would be inappropriate to speak about his own feelings or anything else domestically. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

When the date of the European Council's final meeting of 2022 was set, the EU leadership had unwittingly landed a problem on the Government.

The resignation of Micheál Martin and his replacement by Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach was intended to be held on Thursday, right when the council was debating the impact of the American Inflation Reduction Act. 

In the end, it was decided Mr Martin would round out his time in office in the place where he sees Ireland — the heart of Europe.

However, there was no victory lap in the Belgian capital as tragic events unfolded 4,000km away. As morning broke in the EU quarter of Brussels, word filtered through that an Irish soldier had been killed in Lebanon. Two hours later, Mr Martin walked the red carpet in the Europa Building and, stopping for the assembled Irish media, spoke of his sorrow at the killing of Private Sean Rooney.

Mr Martin had, he reminded us, been in Lebanon as recently as May and saw first-hand the work of Irish UN peacekeepers.

"I think if you look at Ireland's international contribution, it is our peacekeepers who have made the most noble of contributions to Ireland's reputation abroad, and have manifested, I think, in the best possible way Ireland's contribution to the world, and that's why it's so sad," he said.

When a journalist asked about Mr Martin's feelings heading into his final council meeting, the outgoing Taoiseach batted the question back, saying given the gravity of what had happened, it would be inappropriate to speak about his own feelings or anything else domestically.

A marathon day of negotiations saw the council agree a fresh round of sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, approve an €18bn support package for Ukraine and approve Bosnia and Herzegovina's move to candidate status in its bid for accession to the bloc — a day trumpeted by German chancellor Olaf Schulz as being "as short as it was constructive".

At the evening's dinner, a video was played for the Taoiseach, showing his various EU appearances over the last two and a half years, tweeted out by council president Charles Michel, who praised Mr Martin's "soft-spoken ways and constructiveness at the EUCO table", adding the Taoiseach was "always looking for a positive way forward and exploring compromise solutions".

At a media briefing on Friday morning, Mr Martin was again reluctant to talk about legacy or his own departure, describing the send-off as "absolutely fine" before waxing lyrical on how far he believes the EU has come — he told the leaders the joint response to Covid was a far-off dream when he was health minister during the Sars outbreak.

His last outing as Taoiseach was not flashy. There was no extended backslapping as he left for home.

Events in Lebanon, the killing of Private Sean Rooney, reminded us all there are more important things.