Fergus Finlay: Time for Mícheál Martin to unmask the real Taoiseach and lead

You’ve been looking for this job for nine years... you seem to have shrunk in it. We’re already hankering for Leo and the Simons

Taoiseach Micheál Martin needs to show vision, direction, purpose when the Dáil re-assembles tomorrow.

Taoiseach, you know I’ve never carried a torch for Fianna Fáil, nor Fine Gael either. That’s not where my political loyalties lie. But as taoiseach of our country in a time that’s fraught with daily risk — I wish you well. I want you to succeed. I want you to lead us through a pandemic, a hard Brexit (because that looks likely now), an economic recovery, and the building of a real climate change platform.

But Taoiseach, you’re well on the way to becoming the invisible man. And it’s got to stop. The last thing Ireland needs right now is an invisible head of government. Instead, we need someone who is visibly out front, visibly on top of a really complex brief, visibly — and volubly — leading us through a crisis that could get a whole lot worse before it gets better. We need to be seeing you, and hearing you, an awful lot more.