Micheál Martin offered resignation!

Killer Pigeon

http://www.politics.ie/fianna-fail/1...erence-10.html
http://www.justin.tv/paraicgallagher#/w/767330656

Confirmed: Micheál Martin has offered his resignation to the Taoiseach. He is voting with accordance to his views in the Motion of Confidence in the Taoiseach.

Edit: However, Cowen has refused his resignation.

Micheal Martin's full statement:

Throughout my time as a government minister I have always given the Taoiseach my views in an honest and open way. This has been no different over the last week during which we have talked candidly and in private on a number of occasions.

I believe that Fianna Fáil must recognise the reality of the current climate of public opinion. My concern is that we be able to put forward a positive agenda, campaign with energy and engage the public.

I have reluctantly concluded that, in these circumstances, Fianna Fáil should change its leader before the election and I have informed the Taoiseach of this view. Having talked to most members of the Parliamentary Party and many members of the party across the country I believe that this is a widely held view.

I want to be clear that there is no question about who should continue to head the government. The government has a short agenda to complete before the General Election. This involves delivering a number of specific reform commitments and providing for the final implementation of this year’s budget. This work is essential to ensure that there can be more constructive debate during the election and that there is time for the orderly process of government formation.

I welcome the decision of the Taoiseach to table a vote of confidence in himself at next Tuesday’s Parliamentary Party meeting. I will, in accordance with my views, be voting against the motion of confidence.

In these circumstances, I have offered my resignation to the Taoiseach. He has indicated that he believes such a course of action is not necessary.

http://www.politics.ie/3391442-post225.html

liammur

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

http://www.politics.ie/fianna-fail/1...erence-10.html
http://www.justin.tv/paraicgallagher#/w/767330656

Confirmed: Micheál Martin has offered his resignation to the Taoiseach. He is voting with accordance to his views in the Motion of Confidence in the Taoiseach.

'survival of the party' ,,,,,try survival of the country Martin. One of these guys is more selfish than the next.

Leslie91

What a joke and a disgrace. The country is on the floor and these morons are fighting over a bag of crumbs. Fianna Fail is dead. Get the F off the stage and let's have an election right now. I am sick to death of you pontificating about 'putting the interests of the country first', the only interests you bastards have is yourselves. GTFO now!!.

GSF

banging on about his 4 fathers now too......:rolleyes:

56lcd

not good news, if martin succeeds in ousting cowen then ff might remain as high as 14% in the polls

sligopark

GSF wrote: »

banging on about his 4 fathers now too......:rolleyes:

he has four daddies?

daithi2011

Dont just offer your resignation. Resign FFS.

Fo Real

Our national broadcaster RTÉ doesn't feel this press conference is worthy of coverage. Nice to see that Her Majesty's BBC hasn't forgotten about their former colony though.

GSF

Its just been on Sky News too

Liam Byrne

Fo Real wrote: »

Our national broadcaster RTÉ doesn't feel this press conference is worthy of coverage. Nice to see that Her Majesty's BBC hasn't forgotten about their former colony though.

Given the rubbish that Cowen spouted earlier when given the national airwaves, I wouldn't blame RTE for being cautious about subjecting their viewers to more of the same.

liammur

Leslie91 wrote: »

What a joke and a disgrace. The country is on the floor and these morons are fighting over a bag of crumbs. Fianna Fail is dead. Get the F off the stage and let's have an election right now. I am sick to death of you pontificating about 'putting the interests of the country first', the only interests you bastards have is yourselves. GTFO now!!.

Agreed.

They are a disgrace.

Fo Real

Don't know why I'm suprised actually. The nation relied on the BBC to inform us that the IMF were in town. RTÉ had their head in the sand along with the government ministers.

This country's media is a farce. Credit due to Politics.ie for breaking a lot of this news recently.

Leslie91

Fo Real wrote: »

Our national broadcaster RTÉ doesn't feel this press conference is worthy of coverage. Nice to see that Her Majesty's BBC hasn't forgotten about their former colony though.

It isn't worthy of coverage. This playground BS while the country goes down the tubes. '

I've told the leader he should GTFO, he said he wouldn't, I told him alright then I resign, he says no need for that, sure we've only got about 2 mths to go, hang on in there for the time we have left like the rest of us powerhungry bastards that we are. And oh btw it will give u more time to get all your Cork mates into the quango positions'.

If the effin Green Party has any moral courage whatsoever they would pull the plug right now. This charade has to stop.

dan_d

Confused.
He's offering his resignation because he's going to vote against the Taoiseach on Tuesday and...what?
Can someone with a better understanding of this fill in the blank please??

later12

Wow. Another scoop for politics.ie. Had it before RTE. Where are all the political hacks on boards? Can't be having this!

Fratton Fred

He is just hoping a new leader will save his arse.

All loyalties have gone, its each man for himself.

darragh16

Typical party politics. Fine Gael showed their true colours a few months ago by putting Party ahead of country, now Fianna Fail are doing the same...

A totally different direction in Irish Politics is needed

liammur

dan_d wrote: »

Confused.
He's offering his resignation because he's going to vote against the Taoiseach on Tuesday and...what?
Can someone with a better understanding of this fill in the blank please??

He should have resigned years ago:
made a balls of the nursing home fiasco
told the germans to f*ck off when they warned him about IFSC
drove our health system into the ground
ignored many regions for IDA jobs, now we have places with 20% unemployment

Min

Micheal Martin had to make a move, Brian Cowen is leading the party down to single figures support.
A senior minister needed to stand up and be counted, despite what some think, we need a strong opposition.
Who would people prefer as leader of the opposition - Gerry Adams or Micheal Martin?
If Martin can put an end to Cowen's reign, it will lead to an earlier general election, possibly in three to four weeks time.

Micheal Martin is acting in the interest of his party but also his country, Cowen may want to stay on but I don't think many people in the public feel the same.
If Martin succeeds and the Taoiseach loses on Tuesday, then it is likely that Cowen will be off to the Phoenix park.

theaceofspies

Cowan would rather have his FF people decide his fate than resign based on what the Irish people want. That is the fate he has choosen.

liammur

Min wrote: »

Who would people prefer as leader of the opposition - Gerry Adams or Micheal Martin?

This is a myth. Sinn Fein have NO chance of getting more than 15 seats.

Euro_Kraut

later10 wrote: »

Wow. Another scoop for politics.ie. Had it before RTE. Where are all the political hacks on boards? Can't be having this!

The thejournal.ie covered it through a live blog. Politics.ie is old school. All about the Journal and Twitter these days.

sligopark

liammur wrote: »

This is a myth. Sinn Fein have NO chance of getting more than 15 seats.

15? :eek:

marmurr1916

dan_d wrote: »

Confused.
He's offering his resignation because he's going to vote against the Taoiseach on Tuesday and...what?
Can someone with a better understanding of this fill in the blank please??

It's reasonably straightforward. Michael Martin is a government minister, appointed by Brian Cowen. He says he no longer has confidence in Brian Cowen to lead FF. As such, he offered to resign from the ministerial position to which he was appointed by Brian Cowen.

What will happen after Tuesday's vote? That depends on the result obviously. If a majority of the FF parliamentary party vote against Cowen, then he will stand down as leader of FF. FF will then have to choose a new leader - MM will put himself forward for the position. If Cowen stands down as FF leader, technically he can stay on as Taoiseach (in fact, Martin has said he wants Cowen to go as leader of FF, but stay as Taoiseach up to the general election) but IMO that would be politically impossible.

However, if Cowen wins, then everything carries on as normal (if you can call the current state of Ireland and its politics normal) until at least the following week, when there's a Labour-sponsored Motion of No Confidence in the government.

Min

liammur wrote: »

This is a myth. Sinn Fein have NO chance of getting more than 15 seats.

There has been total change in Irish politics, on the Marian Finucane show this morning they were saying that FF are heading for an 8 or 9% poll rating.

FF won't win the election but we need a credible opposition and if FF continue on their death spiral then SF could get more seats.

Min

marmurr1916 wrote: »

It's reasonably straightforward. Michael Martin is a government minister, appointed by Brian Cowen. He says he no longer has confidence in Brian Cowen to lead FF. As such, he offered to resign from the ministerial position to which he was appointed by Brian Cowen.

What will happen after Tuesday's vote? That depends on the result obviously. If a majority of the FF parliamentary party vote against Cowen, then he will stand down as leader of FF. FF will then have to choose a new leader - MM will put himself forward for the position. If Cowen stands down as FF leader, technically he can stay on as Taoiseach (in fact, Martin has said he wants Cowen to go as leader of FF, but stay as Taoiseach up to the general election) but IMO that would be politically impossible.

However, if Cowen wins, then everything carries on as normal (if you can call the current state of Ireland and its politics normal) until at least the following week, when there's a Labour-sponsored Motion of No Confidence in the government.

Brian Cowen said it wouldn't be acceptable to be Taoiseach but not the leader of the party.

mornington man

Hi,
FF has started electioneering "in the National Interest". Did you see the stage managed question in Irish at Cowen's press conference. He was able to deliver a pre-rehearsed reply which will be covered by TG4 and RnaG. Also, they will promote youth as a positive as all the old cronies (or most of them) have jumped ship.

Marshy

Min wrote: »

There has been total change in Irish politics, on the Marian Finucane show this morning they were saying that FF are heading for an 8 or 9% poll rating.

FF won't win the election but we need a credible opposition and if FF continue on their death spiral then SF could get more seats.

The geographical spread of these percentages is relavant though (I'd be surprised if FF went lower than 12-15% myself). The likelihood is that FF will be hammered in Dublin but still retain some seats outside Dublin. 30+ seats still probable I think.

liammur

Min wrote: »

There has been total change in Irish politics, on the Marian Finucane show this morning they were saying that FF are heading for an 8 or 9% poll rating.

FF won't win the election but we need a credible opposition and if FF continue on their death spiral then SF could get more seats.

Where FF will do well is in getting seats, in the region of 30-40. Don't listen to the % poll figures. Complete mis-representation

Min

liammur wrote: »

Where FF will do well is in getting seats, in the region of 30-40. Don't listen to the % poll figures. Complete mis-representation

With Brian Cowen that is not guaranteed.

Bottle_of_Smoke

liammur wrote: »

This is a myth. Sinn Fein have NO chance of getting more than 15 seats.

Probably right but the public mood is shifting

This is interesting - you get better odds on Sinn Fein getting 8 seats than 20


http://www.paddypower.com/bet/politics/other-politics/irish-government?ev_oc_grp_ids=91434

liammur

I see Martin isn't resigning lol, you couldn't make this up.

ei.sdraob

Rats leaving sinking ship in whose hull they chewed a hole

sligopark

Marshy wrote: »

The geographical spread of these percentages is relavant though (I'd be surprised if FF went lower than 12-15% myself). The likelihood is that FF will be hammered in Dublin but still retain some seats outside Dublin. 30+ seats still probable I think.

I think you are dismissing the anger at ff outside of Dublin too easily

baldbear

A FF politician called to my house today at 4 o'clock canvassing! I missed the fecker.:mad: He's starting early.

Owen

I'm currently rigging a cauldron of boiling oil above my door for the first Fianna Failure or Green candidate to come knocking on my door. Corrupt corrupt corrupt self serving bank bailing lying FF scum, not to mention the Green Party who've ruined Motoring in Ireland forever with policies which actually encourage polluting rather than eco friendly motoring. Bugger off the lot of you.

liammur

sligopark wrote: »

I think you are dismissing the anger at ff outside of Dublin too easily

If FF do well outside dublin. I give up. The regions are faring far far worse than dublin in terms of unemployment etc

Panrich

Both Cowen and Martin have weakened themselves further.

Cowen should be cutting the two legs from under any challenger to show strong leadership.

Martin should either resign or shut up.

Min

Panrich wrote: »

Both Cowen and Martin have weakened themselves further.

Cowen should be cutting the two legs from under any challenger to show strong leadership.

Martin should either resign or shut up.

By not resigning, Micheal Martin is showing he has more power than he should have, if Cowen had any power then Martin would be gone.
Possibly strengthens the opposition to Cowen.

GSF

IF he had resigned, wouldnt he have been eligible for a big payoff and ministerial pension immediately?

Panrich

Min wrote: »

By not resigning, Micheal Martin is showing he has more power than he should have, if Cowen had any power then Martin would be gone.
Possibly strengthens the opposition to Cowen.

He's dithering. Resign or don't offer. Be decisive. it's a quality all good leaders have.

Mr.Micro

liammur wrote: »

I see Martin isn't resigning lol, you couldn't make this up.

Who is to say the whole thing is not orchestrated. If he had any real balls Martin would have walked. His dithering indecisiveness speaks volumes for a prospective future FF leader.

gandalf

liammur wrote: »

I see Martin isn't resigning lol, you couldn't make this up.

It's strange, either you resign or you don't. These amateurs couldn't mess this up any better even if they planned it.

I am just loving this

CoalBucket

Michael Martin is a cowardly git after that half assed stunt. Offering his resignation and having it refused but yet staying in his position and voting against Cowen.

Cowen is a bigger idiot for not accepting it.

Asked about his record, Martin was bangin on about the smoking ban. He's been a TD since 1989 and his sole achievement has been the smoking ban !!!

He forgot to mention that he was the minister who set up the HSE. He was also the minister who claimed he wasn't "specifically informed " about illegal charging in nursing homes, although in fairness he was backed up by the junior health minister at the time Ivor Callely. Ivor can be very specific:).

His move, he claims is to protect the FF party and not about seats. What he didn't say was that he is in danger of losing his own seat in Cork South Central as FF will probably get only one TD elected and he is under serious pressure from Michael McGrath. In truth he is only going for the leadership of FF to save his own ass.

Irrespective the FF party and their leadership squabbles are an absolute joke at a time when the country's economy is going down the toilet. The only hope I have is that this joke of a government collapse sooner rather than later and a general election is held so we can see the back of these muppets.

ArtSmart

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Probably right but the public mood is shifting

This is interesting - you get better odds on Sinn Fein getting 8 seats than 20


http://www.paddypower.com/bet/politics/other-politics/irish-government?ev_oc_grp_ids=91434

you're not a betting man i take it?

exactly 8.

bookies are usually spot on re-elections. 14-16 seats for the shinners huh. that'll shake things up.

Dyr

4/1 on 11/12 seats for SF is a decent punt. If they even hit 10 they'd be amazed i reckon but there are constituencies where FF's usual vote might not be able to bring themselves to vote FF this time but they will never ever vote blue shirt so they might just give the local shinner candidate first preference over labour...

ArtSmart

Bambi wrote: »

4/1 on 11/12 seats for SF is a decent punt. If they even hit 10 they'd be amazed i reckon but there are constituencies where FF's usual vote might not be able to bring themselves to vote FF this time but they will never ever vote blue shirt so they might just give the local shinner candidate first preference over labour...

i reckon.

PeterIanStaker

liammur wrote: »

'survival of the party' ,,,,,try survival of the country Martin. One of these guys is more selfish than the next.

The party, the party, the party, thats all that goes through a FFer's brain. I really hope that the party will be over for these nincompoops very soon. :rolleyes:

hotmail.com

Martin is on RTE 1 now.

He said several junior ministers came to him to reflect their unhappiness with Cowen.

Bottle_of_Smoke

ArtSmart wrote: »

you're not a betting man i take it?

exactly 8.

bookies are usually spot on re-elections. 14-16 seats for the shinners huh. that'll shake things up.

Ah I see. Well you're right I never bet just use them to check their odds at election time lol

Still though 9-10 at 7/1 and 15-16 at 4/1 is shocking. Any Shinner I know would be delighted with 10

Sibylla

It's difficult to believe Martin is doing this for FF or the people. It seems like they know an election is imminent and want to save as much public support as possible.
I heard Cowen saying he was confident about Tuesday, Surely they will vote him out at this stage but we've all come to expect very little from FF.