FORMER MINISTER of State John McGuinness is unlikely to muster significant support at tomorrow’s meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party for his call for Taoiseach Brian Cowen to step down, a number of the party’s TDs said yesterday.
The meeting, which had been due to take place at Leinster House this evening, has been rescheduled to tomorrow afternoon. This will avoid a clash between the meeting and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan’s Dáil speech on the bank rescue plan.
Mr McGuinness has declared his intention to issue a call at the meeting for Mr Cowen to step down, but signs last night were that he would receive little open support from his colleagues.
None of the backbenchers contacted yesterday was prepared to go on the record with criticisms of the Taoiseach, who has been urged in the media by Mr McGuinness to “consider his position”.
However, there is considerable discontent in the parliamentary party, especially in the aftermath of the reshuffle which saw only one Fianna Fáil backbencher, Wexford TD Seán Connick, promoted to the rank of Minister of State.
In order to table a motion of no confidence in Mr Cowen, Mr McGuinness would require the support of 17 other deputies under rules introduced in the early 1990s requiring the signatures of 25 per cent of the party’s TDs for such a move. Only TDs have a vote on such a motion. In the event that such a motion was passed by a majority vote, TDs would then elect a new leader at a subsequent meeting.
Mr McGuinness told The Irish Times he had not approached any Fianna Fáil TDs to support the intervention he is planning to make at tomorrow’s meeting, and he had “no idea” how much support he would get.
One Dublin backbencher, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was too early for a “heave” against Mr Cowen and it would be better to wait for another year until the economy improved.
A strong critic of the Taoiseach, the backbencher continued: “We need somebody who appeals to Dublin, and Brian Cowen doesn’t appeal to Dublin.”
He said replacing the leader at this stage would only lead to an early, unwanted general election.
Another Dublin backbencher said Mr Cowen should take a leaf from his predecessor Bertie Ahern’s book by inviting disgruntled TDs to his office to listen to their concerns.
Cork South Central TD Michael McGrath said: “I won’t be supporting John McGuinness in his criticisms of the Taoiseach. The parliamentary party really needs to move on from the reshuffle.”
Also expressing strong support for his party leader, Dublin South Central TD Michael Mulcahy said: “We are going through an extremely difficult time financially and economically, and Brian Cowen is by far the best person to lead us through that period.”
Describing Mr Cowen as an “outstanding Taoiseach”, Mr Mulcahy added: “He has done the right thing in the most difficult of circumstances.”
Conceding that Mr McGuinness “probably will get some support but I wouldn’t think it will be a lot”, Mr Mulcahy said some TDs were disappointed by the reshuffle. “You can’t give everyone a job.”
Another parliamentary party source said Mr McGuinness’s stance arose from his failure to secure promotion while at the same time his constituency colleague, Mary White of the Green Party, had been promoted to Minister of State for Equality, Human Rights and Integration.
The party’s two other TDs in Carlow-Kilkenny, Bobby Aylward and MJ Nolan, had also been passed over in favour of Ms White. “We have three seats out of five; they know one is going to lose [in the general election].”
Forecasting the mood of tomorrow afternoon’s gathering, a former minister of state said: “There will probably be a pretty robust meeting, but there will be no major confrontation that I can see.”
He added however: “There is a lot of bitterness and division in the party.”