Questions about Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore’s position first arose within the Labour ranks in the wake of last year’s disastrous performance in the Meath East byelection.
Labour came fifth, even behind Direct Democracy Ireland, and Mr Gilmore began consultations with his backbenchers in its aftermath.
He reassured his TDs that Labour’s approach in Government would change, and would adapt to the verdict the electorate had handed the party.
The only problem was that those nervous members of the parliamentary party – including the eight who yesterday put their names to a motion of no confidence – did not see any change.
It was also felt that Mr Gilmore needed to be more focused on the leadership of the party, rather than the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The motion was put down by TDs Ciara Conway, Derek Nolan, Michael McNamara, Arthur Spring, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Dominic Hannigan and Gerald Nash, and Senator John Gilroy.
Mostly younger deputies, and in the middle ground of opinion within the party, they became increasingly worried about the disconnect between the higher levels of the party and those who voted for it.
One TD yesterday said a “siege mentality” developed around Mr Gilmore, primarily with the senior advisers around him. “We spoke to him and nothing changed,” said one TD. “Gilmore and the people around him retreated to their citadel . . . It was impossible to get through to them.”
However, those in the Gilmore circle say it was always felt that the midterm elections were going to be bad.
But the weekend’s performance was worse than anyone expected. Mr Gilmore himself is understood to have decided on Saturday that it was time to go.
“It came from him, to be honest,” a well-placed source said. “The scale of losses were bigger than we expected.”
Mr Gilmore spoke to Pat Rabbitte and Brendan Howlin over the weekend, notifying them of his intentions. His most senior advisers, Mark Garrett and David Leach, called to Gilmore’s home on Sunday to prepare the ground for yesterday’s announcement.
At the same time, the eight who put forward the motion agreed to meet in Dublin today to decide a course of action. Sources insist they did not decide on a no confidence motion until yesterday, with one saying anything else would have been “pointless”.
At the time news of the motion broke yesterday, work was going on in the Department of Foreign Affairs to co-ordinate the announcement. Gilmore’s staff who would lose their jobs had been told.
The way the no-confidence motion was delivered left a bad taste in some quarters, with some TDs asking Mr Gilmore to stay. It is all largely irrelevant now. Mr Gilmore came to his own decision, but his TDs were also ready to push him.
