Paul Hosford: Martin comfortably leading Fianna Fáil right here, right now 

Toiseach Micheál Martin's speech ended up feeling more about where Fianna Fáil has been, and not where it might go.

In the moments before he took to the stage at the RDS on Saturday evening, a short film played in tribute to Micheál Martin.

Entitled 'Our Taoiseach', the video featured tributes from councillors and TDs to the Corkman, praising his steady handling of the pandemic and outbreak of war in Ukraine. With the female narrator repeating the phrase 'Our Taoiseach', the film felt less like a retrospective of 28 months as the leader of a country and more a hagiography designed to whip up the truest of believers.