Future of Micheal Martin

He managed to bankrupt the country twice in 10 years.

Hopefully he'll retire.

I think this thread could be broadened out to Fíanna Fáil more generally to be honest — as right now they come across as irrelevant, incompetent, spineless and utterly lacking in vision or political identity. Micheal Martin as a person I’m sure is a decent man, but he comes across as nothing more than someone who just really wanted to be Taoiseach because, well, that’s it — he just wanted to be Taoiseach. He offers nothing beyond that — no imagination, no ambition, no vision. The Covid crisis has exposed, almost cruelly, just how poor a leader he is. At a time when people, especially younger people whose enjoyment of youth has been placed on hold for two years, really need to see something, anything, that looks like vision — Micheal continues to come across like little more than a parish priest delivering his post-Gospel musings to a dwindling congregation that isn’t listening anymore.

I’m no Fine Gael cheerleader, but while it’s hard to differentiate them from FF too greatly on an ideological basis, on a capability basis the distinction seems clear. They just look a better version of FF. If SF pull off a big election and get into power, I’d have some degree of faith that FG could take the humbling and come back better (perhaps even picking up some capable defectors from FF). If SF takes up a position on the left, with Fine Gael sitting kind of centre right — suddenly Ireland finds itself with something starting to resemble a classic left-right spectrum and the old Civl War duumvirate broken. Where would FF go from there?

I think he will have to stay in place as there's nobody to take his place as the moment that doesn't have baggage with them.

I'd say he'll turn up in the EU...cleansed...he wants nothing to do with a backwards idea of sovereignty!

Unless it pays better, he is as mean as pi55 when it comes to money.

I think he will see out his term as Taoiseach and carry on as Tanaiste.

After that I'd say it's 50/50 whether he will lead FF into the next election.

Too many variables to be sure what will happen.

I thought ff should have gone with someone else as leader but saying that I think he's done a pretty decent job.

He could join the DUP but is possibly too extreme for them. He seems to hate Irish nationalism more than them.

But if he fully intends to quit at the next GE is he really going to take over as tanaiste? If he has FF's interests at heart surely the thing to do is let someone else take over and serve in that role so they will have made an impression on the voters before the election? He's done nearly every big job in politics, can't see much thrill for him in a couple of years as Leo's deputy.

NPHET is tasked with the following: providing direction, guidance, support and expert advice on the development and implementation of a strategy to contain coronavirus in Ireland. It facilitates the sharing of information between the Department of Health and its agencies. It provides a forum for ageementr on strategic approaches to public health emergencies.

Yes, NPHET was designed for all that but they could never be called a truly "expert panel". In reality, they got so much obvious stuff wrong mainly due to arrogance and egomania but were never properly interrogated and questioned by the leader of the country. MM.

NPHET modellers continually and deliberately put forward outrageous predictions yet I never heard them taken to task on this by the leader of the country. MM.

Maybe you can confirm otherwise but NPHET's don't make decisions on public policy - they simply advise the government. They don't have any power really except that people listen to what they have to say.

You are quite wrong to say that NPHET had no power. Their strategy was obvious - and clever. They made sure that their advice to Govt. was out in the public domain in advance on every possible occasion which left the Govt. with no alternative but to comply often with ludicrous, inconsistent and ill-thought out restrictions. The leader of the country should have but failed to put a stop to that. In effect, they were handed power by the leader of the country. MM

To add to all this he appointed a completely clueless Minister for Health, Stephen "NPHET said" Donnelly

MM comes over as a decent, honourable man and I wouldn't question his honesty for one second but, I'm sorry to say, that he failed as leader of the country in a critical time. I don't see how he has any future in Irish politics.