Tánaiste and leader of Fianna Fáil Micheál Martin dismissed negative briefings about him which he said were coming from Fine Gael, as tensions between the two Coalition partners rise in advance of the expected calling of the general election later this week.
Speaking at his party’s annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown, Co Kildare, yesterday, Mr Martin described as “silly” briefings that he is “tetchy” and drawing attention to the difference in age between him and the Taoiseach Simon Harris.
Responding to reporters’ questions, Mr Martin said the tendency to raise the issue that “Micheál is getting tetchy” had begun on the Ivan Yates radio show. Then, later, in the Sunday Times, senior Fine Gael sources were quoted as saying “I [Martin] am getting tetchy”.
“It is quite amusing on one level but I would say to people to cop on a bit,” he said. “It is silly.”
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Asked if his saying in a media interview that he was more focused on substance that soundbites was a reference to Mr Harris, the Tánaiste said it was a comment on his approach to politics “which is one of substance”.
“There can be a tendency in modern politics towards the headlines, towards the very superficial approach, but I take the approach that in government we are there to deliver as best we can for the people.”
Mr Martin contrasted the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil records on housing, saying “Ireland missed years because of past failures.”
“As the former Fine Gael housing minister Eoghan Murphy bravely said, in the previous government, radical reforms were blocked in favour of a narrow focus on smaller actions.
“Well, we changed when we took over responsibility for housing. Over the past 4½ years we have implemented a relentless programme of reforms and developing new actions,” he said.
But speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Minister of State for Europe Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill said Mr Martin was wrong to claim credit for the Land Development Agency, which she said had been set up and capitalised by the former housing minister Eoghan Murphy.
The weekend exchanges come as politicians prepare to return to Leinster House this week for what is widely expected to be the final days of the current Dáil.
It is understood that the three leaders have not yet agreed when the election will be called or what the polling date will be, though it is widely expected that the Taoiseach will ask President Michael D Higgins to dissolve the Dáil on either Thursday or Friday of this week, with polling set for Friday, November 29th.
There are a number of critical Bills which must be passed by the Dáil this week, including the Finance Bill, all of which are likely to be guillotined.
Mr Harris is due to attend a meeting of European Union leaders in Budapest on Thursday evening and Friday morning, at which they will discuss the result of this week’s US presidential election and its implications for the EU.
According to a person centrally involved in the process, this means Mr Harris will call an election on either Thursday morning before he leaves for Budapest or, more likely, on Friday afternoon when he returns.
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