Elaine Loughlin: Micheál Martin playing dangerous game by excluding TDs
Taoiseach Micheal Martin is seen a distant leader who does not involve his own TDs in decision making.
As a leader, Charlie Haughey embraced dictatorship qualities — but he always involved his Cabinet.
That was the summation of one Fianna Fáil TD in reaction to the party's dismal poll ratings.
Micheál Martin was quick to dismiss the latest poll which puts Fianna Fáil at an all-time low of 10%, claiming "no Government can run on opinion polls from month to month, and it shouldn't."
But Mr Martin is now under mounting pressure from within his own ranks, with members becoming more on edge as each new poll is released.
He is seen a distant leader who does not involve his own backbenchers, or indeed ministers, in decisionmaking.
Pressed on the matter, Mr Martin said: "Maybe if I have one fault, I do focus on policy a lot.
"I do focus on the substance of Government decisions and getting things done for the future of the country."
The direction the party is taking, which is seen as being solely decided upon by Mr Martin and small cohort of unelected advisors, is viewed by many TDs and senators as the reason for the rapid decline in popularity.
"Fianna Fáil won’t survive if we persist with the myth that the decline is simply due to external factors and not the party’s direction," Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív tweeted.
Red Sea Poll. Looks like my prediction of there being two large parties but FF not being one of them, is coming to pass. The threat is existential. FF won’t survive if we persist with the myth that the decline is simply due to external factors and not the party’s direction
— Éamon Ó Cuív (@eamonocuiv) September 13, 2020
Some also dismiss this, claiming the constant "backbiting" and criticism from within the party does not play well with the public.
But even before the latest opinion poll, party members had been growing increasingly annoyed, and that frustration bubbled to the surface at last week's meeting of the parliamentary party.
The Taoiseach was directly challenged by a number of party members during the teleconference.
Sligo TD Marc MacSharry was among the most vocal, telling Mr Martin that he should avoid press conferences with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar as the Fine Gael leader was "sweeping the floor" with him.
Dublin Bay South TD Jim O'Callaghan has been cited as the obvious person to take over the party.
Michael McGrath and Darragh O'Brien are names that are also floated often.
However, whether any of them currently have the appetite to take over the reins and stage a coup is questionable.
Mr Martin has always been willing to take political risks — he has shown this through his backing of the abortion referendum, supporting the previous Government through the confidence and supply agreement, and going into Government with Fine Gael and the Greens this year.
However, his biggest risk — which could yet prove fatal — may have been his failure to bring his own members along with him.
