FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has praised his former deputy leader, Éamon Ó Cuív, who was recently reappointed to the party’s front bench.
Mr Ó Cuív resigned last February, amid considerable controversy, when he said he disagreed with the party’s support for the fiscal treaty referendum.
Effectively sacked by Mr Martin, he later accused the Fianna Fáil leadership of attempting to force him out of the party. Following speculation that he would resign from Fianna Fáil, he announced that he would remain within the party.
Yesterday, Mr Martin said Mr Ó Cuív, who is now agriculture spokesman, was “a person of significant talent, ability and, above all, commitment to public service”.
Asked on the RTÉ Radio programme This Week if he was confident he had now “contained the Éamon Ó Cuív situation”, Mr Martin said it was not a question of containment.
“It is a question, really, of utilising all the ability and talent available to me within the parliamentary party,” he said.
“Obviously, coming out of the last general election we suffered a very heavy defeat and I need all politicians, particularly within our party, to be working to their full potential to contribute to national debate.”
Mr Martin said Mr Ó Cuív would also have responsibility for community development in rural and urban Ireland, adding that over the years Mr Ó Cuív had given great focus and commitment to the development of community life and the improvement of infrastructure in the country.
