Martin warns Taoiseach must avoid seventh UK prime minister

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland needs to avoid the political turmoil now affecting the United Kingdom, where he said the country could be on the cusp of a seventh prime minister in as many years. He made the remarks after the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis in Dublin, where he also defended the mandate he won in the last general election.

“I am 16 months as Taoiseach. The Government was only formed 16 months ago,” Martin said today on RTÉ. He added: “We need to avoid what has happened in the United Kingdom where we are now potentially on the cusp of a seventh prime minister in as many years which creates instability, lack of focus and lack of delivery in government.”

RTÉ interview after Ard Fheis

Martin appeared on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics and on the broadcaster’s radio show This Week after delivering the keynote address at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis in Dublin on Saturday evening. He said, “I think there is an issue here in terms of how we do politics and how we do government.”

He also said, “We are in government and we have to deliver in government.” That argument was tied to his wider defence of remaining in office, with Martin saying he is fulfilling the mandate he received in the last general election and that he will always do right by the party.

Martin and Fianna Fáil

Martin is the longest serving leader of Fianna Fáil since Éamon de Valera, and he will be 69 by the time of the next general election. Senior members of Fianna Fáil are starting to indicate interest in the leadership job, adding pressure around the question of how long he stays in place.

James Lawless, the Fianna Fáil further education minister, was among the people in the story around the Ard Fheis, which brought Martin’s position back into focus. For now, his public message was not about succession but about delivery: he said government should stay focused on governing, rather than on positioning.