Floods: FF leader swerves areas outside home county of Cork

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said he did not visit any flood-hit areas outside his native Cork, after his party was strongly critical of Taoiseach Enda Kenny's delay in visiting towns affected by the severe weather.

Mr Kenny had defended himself against Opposition claims that he delayed too long before visiting such areas by saying he had been to towns in his home county of Mayo.

“I have been to Crossmolina, Ballina and Foxford. I have had daily briefings from the [national emergency] co-ordination committee,” said Mr Kenny on December 31st. “I am in constant contact with the relevant Ministers.”

Fianna Fáil environment spokesman Barry Cowen said it was "astonishing" Mr Kenny had not interrupted his Christmas holidays to visit storm-damaged towns and villages.

"The Taoiseach needs to get on the ground and see for himself the extensive disruption caused by flooding in areas such as Galway, Clare, Cork and Kilkenny," said Mr Cowen.

‘Outside Cork’

When asked on Wednesday afternoon if he had visited anywhere outside his home county, Mr Martin replied: “No, not outside Cork, they’re not my constituencies.”

Mr Martin is a TD for Cork South Central, one of five constituencies in the county. He said he visited Bandon and Midleton, which are in Cork South West and Cork East respectively.

Mayo, Mr Kenny’s home county, is a single constituency.

“The Taoiseach is the Taoiseach of the country; I’m not Taoiseach of the country. He is the executive in charge,” said Mr Martin.

“I visited areas that are well outside my constituency but that’s not the point. I got a first hand view of what was happening on the ground. What was interesting was it was residents, neighbours, the farming community were outstanding in coming to the help of people in the town and people in the regions.”