Ciara Phelan: A new Dáil term is a time for a refresh, but it's the same old story for Fianna Fáil

A meeting between Micheál Martin and a group of up to 30 rebel TDs and senators is likely be held next week, after the party think-in.

One Fianna Fál TD said their last 'proper conversation' on the phone with Taoiseach Micheál Martin was 10 months ago. Picture: Conor Ó Mearáin / Collins Photo Agency

The new Dáil term is viewed as a time to hit the reset button, a fresh start — but for Micheál Martin, it seems old habits die hard.

Fianna Fáil is holding its think-in over the next two days in Co Westmeath, and some TDs and senators are still carrying the baggage that was weighing them down since their annual outing in Cavan last year.

Poor communication, a feeling of disconnection and uncertainty about the identity of the party continue to be the same issues that some backbench senior TDs are struggling with.

They feel their leader isn’t providing sufficient guidance to address these matters, despite repeated warnings.

In July, Micheál Martin was forced to make a series of phonecalls to backbench TDs after it emerged that up to 30 TDs and senators held an unofficial meeting to discuss the future of the party.

The Irish Examiner has learned that the group, dubbed the Rebel TDs, were hoping to arrange a second meeting before the party’s think-in, but it has been postponed.

It will likely be held next week, separate to the weekly parliamentary party.

Several unhappy Fianna Fáil members have let their thoughts be known to one another that the Taoiseach did not take their concerns seriously enough in July and some say there has been “zero improvement”.

Annoyance has since intensified after Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill’s request to hold an extended meeting at the think-in to discuss how the party will present itself to the electorate when it’s time for a general election, was ignored.

Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill. Picture: Leon Farrell/RollingNews.ie

One source said: “Nothing has changed, and the truth is we don’t feel we’ve the same input that traditionally a Fianna Fáil parliamentary party would have with their leader.” 

A second source said junior minister Sean Fleming’s report last year on the party’s electoral failures have not been addressed and there are “no meaningful targets”. 

They said: “The question of communications, branding, recruiting membership — none of it matters at the top now."

“You won’t see the same anger vented at this year's think-in because people are exasperated saying the same thing over and over, and nothing changes.

The majority of backbenchers are working as individuals, the party isn’t working as a collective, and everyone is just looking after their own patch now, trying to survive.” 

A third Fianna Fáil source said the weekly parliamentary party meetings are not working, and the communication with their leader is “very minimal”. 

A fourth said: “We have made no stride in growing Fianna Fáil and voters do not know what we stand for.

We have lost our identity when we went into this Coalition Government.” 

One said their last one-on-one “proper conversation” on the phone with the Taoiseach was 10 months ago.

However, two ‘rebel backbench’ TDs said that wasn’t their experience, and Mr Martin does return calls and texts.

Senior backbench TDs wondered if Mr Martin’s behaviour or manner on confronting persistent issues would change when he becomes Tanáiste in December and has more time to focus on party matters.

Because if not, perhaps the prospect of a leadership contest would become more serious a lot sooner.

For one senior TD, they believed the job of the Government right now was to prepare for the budget, help with the cost-of-living crisis, and provide an adequate response to people struggling to pay their energy bills.

But a “serious conversation” is needed thereafter and “communication and our identification” need to be crystallised, they added.

Think-in

The two-day schedule includes a discussion on the Government’s housing plan, which is already a sore subject given homelessness figures are at a record high and rents continue to soar.

To rub salt into that open wound, the think-in is being held in the home county of now former minister Robert Troy who was recently embroiled in his own housing scandal.

Healthcare, climate change, Budget 2023, and important EU matters are some of the key topics that TDs, MEPs, and senators will have the opportunity to debate.

But perhaps it is guest speaker Brian Cody who can hit home the importance of strong leadership and being a team player.

The former Kilkenny senior hurling manager is due to spend over an hour with Fianna Fáil to discuss his success as a leader.

Cody’s words of wisdom just might have come at the right time for Micheál Martin.