Fianna Fáil dissent remains largely private as UK Labour openly turns on Keir Starmer

Private frustration within Fianna Fáil has yet to translate into any organised public challenge to Micheál Martin’s leadership

Fianna Fáil discontent remains largely private as Micheál Martin maintains firm control of the party. Picture: Larry Cummins

Fianna Fáil is no stranger to internal political wrangling.

The party has endured plenty of heaves and attempted heaves in its 100-year history, from moves by ministers to remove Charlie Haughey over the phone-tapping scandal to Micheál Martin’s challenge to Brian Cowen in 2011.

In more recent years, however, rumblings among Fianna Fáil backbenchers have often come to little, as Martin has retained a strong grip on the party.

This includes dissatisfaction following poor presidential election results and criticism of the Government’s response to the April fuel protests.

Both saw grumblings on the backbenches, with TDs privately criticising Martin and discussing the prospect of a new leader taking over.

The fuel protests, however, saw some of the party’s youngest TDs publicly criticise the leadership in unusually direct terms, with James O’Connor, Albert Dolan, and Ryan O’Meara saying the Government had left the social contract “strained to breaking point”.

UK Labour

Those disgruntled backbenchers could perhaps learn a few things from colleagues across the Irish Sea, where there's blood in the water as British prime minister Keir Starmer fights for his political life.

Since last weekend, Labour MPs have steadily come forward publicly to call for Starmer to resign.

What began as a trickle developed into a broader revolt, with more than 80 MPs now reportedly calling for a change in leadership and several ministers stepping down from their roles.

While there is only half that number of Fianna Fáil TDs, it is striking that there appears to be a greater willingness in the UK to publicly call for a leader’s resignation.

That may partly reflect the significantly larger number of MPs in the House of Commons compared with Dáil Éireann, as well as the greater number of frontbench positions available.

For Fianna Fáil TDs, publicly calling for Martin’s resignation could significantly hamper future promotion prospects of frontbench promotion, given the limited number of ministerial and junior ministerial roles available within a coalition government.

Private frustration, public caution

Privately, some TDs say they would like to see Martin step aside, but few appear willing to say so publicly.

No Fianna Fáil ministers have gone above the parapet and publicly criticised Martin, with potential leadership contenders such as Jim O’Callaghan and Dara Calleary instead offering support.

One rebel TD expressed frustration at the reluctance among colleagues to openly challenge the Taoiseach.

“The big difference is that the Labour lads have got ‘liathróidí’,” the TD said.

“Four have gone over the top over there. Here, we’d only need one,” they added, referring to the four junior ministers who resigned amid pressure on Starmer.

Others rejected comparisons between the two situations, arguing that Labour’s electoral difficulties are not comparable to Fianna Fáil’s recent performance.

That is despite a presidential election campaign in which Fianna Fáil’s candidate Jim Gavin crashed and burned, ending his campaign early, and finishing a distant third.

One middle ground TD said prospective leadership candidates in Fianna Fáil will need to court support.

“We’re keeping our options open, but there’s nobody knocking down our doors,” they said.

Leadership challenge unlikely for now

Several TDs also pointed out that, as with Fianna Fáil, no formal challenger has yet emerged against Starmer.

However, on Wednesday, UK health secretary Wes Streeting appeared poised to begin such a challenge, following reports of a 16-minute meeting with Starmer and briefings suggesting he could resign on Thursday morning.

It is unlikely that O’Callaghan or Calleary will make a similar move against Martin following next week’s by-elections, with TDs admitting Fianna Fáil's expectations for the contest are already on the floor.

One rebel said that while a confidence motion could be brought before TDs after the by-elections, the window for action would be narrow because of Ireland’s upcoming EU presidency.

“If it’s not done then, you can forget about it until 2027,” they added.

Unlike Starmer, however, the Taoiseach remains in a comparatively strong position and is likely to stay there unless a challenger appears.