Members of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party have come together to call for a deputy leader to be appointed, in a move which unfolded as Micheál Martin was abroad.
The motion was proposed by Senator Malcolm Byrne and supported by the rest of the TDs present, but in the absence of Mr Martin who is in London.
The meeting was told that the deputy leader could focus on election strategy and preparation, and that Mr Martin was ”busy“ with his other roles and so the new role would be welcome.
It comes after Dublin Bay South TD Jim O’Callaghan said there will be “lots of excellent contenders” for the leadership of Fianna Fáil but Tánaiste Micheál Martin has the “full support” of his party.
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Mr O’Callaghan also weighed in on the debate around the comments about neutrality made by President Michael D Higgins over the weekend and said that presidents can find themselves in a “treacherous” position when they stray into politics.
He was asked what the position was in relation to the leadership in Fianna Fáil, after a poll in The Irish Times last week showed a boost to 21 per cent for the party.
“There is no vacancy in Fianna Fáil. When there is there will be lots of excellent contenders who will be putting their names forward. It is going to be a very exciting time for the media when that occurs.”
Asked when that time might be, he said: “it is a matter for Micheál Martin, he has the full support of the parliamentary party and the party at large”. He said the most important objective was for party members to identify policy issues and get a response on those.
“We will have lots of time in due course to have a discussion about who should be the leader of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or any other party,” he said.
He also said he did not believe that President Higgins crossed the line in his comments this weekend in his comments about a foreign policy “drift”, but warned of the dangers of a president straying into the political arena.
Asked if the President went too far with his remarks, Mr O’Callaghan said: “I don’t think he crossed a line but I do disagree with what he said. If you look at the Constitution, under article 13.7, the President is entitled to address the Oireachtas and the nation on issues of national public importance. Implicit in that is that he can speak out on matters of national importance provided he consults with the Council of State.
“I think he is entitled to do so, but the downside of any President doing that is that you enter into the political fray and the more frequently you do it, the more likely it is that you are going to have to maybe make an apology or reverse what you said. So it’s a treacherous position and also if the President comes and says something publicly which is controversial, other people are entitled to respond to it.”
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He was one of five Fianna Fáil Dublin representatives who launched an antisocial behaviour survey outside Leinster House. Party members said they want to want to hear the experiences and concerns of the public around how to address the issue of antisocial behaviour in communities, and they will be circulating the survey throughout constituencies.
Senator Mary Fitzpatrick said the survey covers all areas around crime and antisocial behaviour, while Dublin South West TD John Lahart said a key objective was transport policing.
