Taoiseach U-turns on Dublin Castle appearance as anger grows in Fianna Fáil over election
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his Mary leaving the polling station after casting their votes in the presidential election on Friday. Picture: Dan Linehan
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will be in attendance at Dublin Castle on Saturday when independent TD Catherine Connolly is announced as the winner of the presidential election.
Spokespeople for the Taoiseach had earlier said that he would not be in attendance at the presidential election count centre.
It comes amid growing anger in Fianna Fáil about their leader’s handling of the election campaign following the selection of Jim Gavin, as well as his support of Fine Gael’s candidate Heather Humphreys.
Ms Connolly is on track to win the election convincingly, with Ms Humphreys conceding and congratulation her opponent at lunchtime on Saturday. After 706,000 national tallies, Ms Connolly was on course to win 64% of the vote, followed by Ms Humphreys on 29%. Despite pulling out of the race three weeks ago, Mr Gavin is on course to secure 7% of the vote.
A high proportion of the ballot papers were spoiled, tallies showed.
In a statement, Mr Martin congratulated Catherine Connolly "on what will be a very comprehensive election victory". He said it is clear she will be the next president, saying Ms Connolly "ran a successful and impactful campaign".
"She has secured a clear mandate to represent the people of Ireland as Uachtarán na hÉireann over the next seven years. The people have made their choice, and I have no doubt Catherine Connolly will serve the country well," Mr Martin said.
"As Taoiseach, I look forward to working with the new President in the time ahead as Ireland continues to play a significant role on the global stage, and as we look forward to hosting the EU Presidency in the second half of 2026."
Leo Varadkar was in Dublin Castle as taoiseach when Michael D Higgins was re-elected as president in 2018. Enda Kenny, who was taoiseach in 2011, was also in Dublin Castle for President Higgins’ first victory.
Speaking to the , Fianna Fáil TD Padraig O’Sullivan called for both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to go to Dublin Castle to congratulate Ms Connolly on her victory.
“Both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste should be down to Dublin to congratulate her,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “You have to take the losses with the victories.”
Mr O’Sullivan said he expected Ms Connolly to “conduct herself well” as president, citing her time as Leas Ceann Comhairle as an example.
Mr O’Sullivan said the Government parties needed to take “major learnings” from the election, particularly that over half the electorate opted not to cast a ballot, and that of those who did, around 13% opted to spoil.
“The leadership of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael need to be humble and understand why this happened,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “It can’t be the same old politics.”
Mr O’Sullivan said many Fianna Fáil voters had struggled with going to vote for Ms Humphreys. While he said many did, they did not come out in significant numbers.
“We have question on how we motivate our base going forward,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Galway West TD, John Connolly, said it was crucial in the wake of the presidential election that work is done to restore confidence in the Government.
“It’s the primary way to rebuild reputation and trust in the electorate,” Mr Connolly said.
Elsewhere, there is ongoing anger within Fianna Fáil about the party’s handling of the election.
Cork TD James O’Connor told the that Fianna Fáil could have won the election if Billy Kelleher had been chosen as the party’s candidate over Mr Gavin.
“Micheál Martin has accepted the blame,” he said. “He apologised to the parliamentary party, and he apologised to the entire Fianna Fáil organisation at the Cairde Fáil dinner.
“I think Billy Kelleeher would have been an outstanding candidate for the party, a credible candidate, and also somebody that has all of the attributes and skills to perform in an election that, at a minimum, demanded that.”
Louth TD Erin McGreenhan congratulated Ms Connolly on her victory.
“Nonetheless, as a Fianna Fáiler, I’m disappointed that we are here,” she said. “We had a candidate on the ballot, and the leadership decided to disenfranchise our grassroots by [the Taoiseach] saying he was voting for Heather.
“At our PP [parliamentary party], it was expressed that a preference for another party should not happen.”
Privately, Fianna Fáil members were furious over how the election was carried out. One Fianna Fáil TD told the that the election had been “some shitshow” and “our lads made an absolute balls of it”.
Another parliamentary party member said that it is “incredibly concerning” that such a high number of people either did not vote or spoiled their votes.
“People just can’t afford to have their heads buried in the sand anymore.”
One Fianna Fáil member said this was the “most embarrassing election for Fianna Fáil since 2011”.
“It’s brought a huge level of shame amongst the Fianna Fáil members and supporters,” they said.
“The decision that was taken by the party's hierarchy in relation to this presidential election. Irrespective of the outcome, we do know that we had plausible candidates that could have performed.”
Sources in Fianna Fáil were particularly critical of Mr Martin’s handling of the campaign, placing significant blame on the party leader.
“He might want to disassociate himself from the shambles but he can’t,” one TD said. “He is at fault… You can’t just say sorry for a €500,000 mistake.”
The TD added that there needed to be some kind of repercussion for the failure of the campaign.
Another TD said the campaign was an “absolute disaster”, and they did not have huge faith in the internal review being carried out.
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