Fianna Fáil ‘badly damaged’ by handling of fuel protests, TDs say

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

The Fianna Fáil party has been “badly damaged” by the government’s handling of the fuel protests, Willie O’Dea has said.

The longest-serving TD said that he had received correspondence from constituents who are unhappy with Fianna Fáil after the demonstrations.

O’Dea and former Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó’Fearghaíl expressed concern about the party after its three youngest TDs issued a statement saying it should not take protests for the government to “listen and to act”.

“I’ve got a series of emails from people who I helped out and people who canvassed for me and voted for me in the past, telling me they’ll never vote for me again because I’m representing the wrong party, a party they’ve totally lost confidence in,” Mr O’Dea told RTÉ Radio.

The three youngest TDs criticised the government’s handling of protests which caused widespread disruption and blocked fuel from going to hundreds of forecourts across the country.

On Sunday, the coalition government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and several independents agreed a €500 million package of supports for the transport and agriculture sector – after fuel distribution in the country was strangled by major blockades of critical infrastructure by protesters from those industries.

Despite the package, the political fallout continues after Michael Healy-Rae, an independent TD for Kerry, resigned as a minister of state on Tuesday citing “grave concerns” over Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil TD Micheál Martin’s handling of the fuel protests.

Healy-Rae said: “The leader of the country should have listened.”

On Wednesday, Fianna Fáil TDs James O’Connor, Albert Dolan and Ryan O’Meara expressed “real and deep concern”, stating that “it should not require protests and deep community frustration to get a Government to listen and to act”.

The three TDs said their statement was “not about challenging any individual or singling out any member of Government”, but instead about provoking the party “to do better”.

They said Fianna Fáil should “listen more closely”, “speak more honestly” and “act more ore decisively in pursuit of the common good”.

The TDs said their “most experienced” colleagues share their views.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio on Wednesday evening, Mr O’Dea said being in government was not about “explaining the government’s problems to people”, but instead about “explaining the people’s problems to the government” and getting action.

“We seem to have lost the one virtue on which every democracy depends, namely the ability to hear anger before it turns into rebellion,” he said. “I think we’ve taken our eye off the ball. The leadership, the party and the government have become too detached from ordinary people.

“The Irish people don’t expect miracles, but they do expect to be listened to.”

He said he had “tremendous respect” for justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, who is seen to be a possible future contender for the Fianna Fáil leadership, and said he was a “good, active” minister.

Ó’Fearghaíl has said he was “very impressed” with a statement from the Fianna Fáil party’s three youngest TDs criticising the government and calling on it “to listen and to act”.

The Fianna Fáil TD said that he saw the anger building among the public “for quite some time” and said leaving out measures on agri diesel in the first financial package – worth around €250 million – “absolutely incensed” farm families and the level of rage “was contagious and it spread”.

“Sadly, a number of the government pronouncements served to pour oil on the flames rather than calming the waters,” he told RTÉ Radio.

He said there was “no cohesive” line of communication between government and the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party and said backbench TDs had been treated like “lobby fodder”.

He said he did not believe the social contract was broken but said it was “in need of rapid and urgent attention”.

The statement from the three Fianna Fáil TDs reads: “Too often today we find senior colleagues expect us to just explain their government difficulties to our communities.

“That is not the role we want, nor will we accept it any longer.”

Mary Butler, a Fianna Fáil minister of state and the Government Chief Whip, said she would speak to the three TDs to see how the party could “alleviate their concerns”.

She said her and Martin’s doors are always open, but Fianna Fail “can always do better as a party”.

Butler added that the parliamentary party had signed up to a Programme of Government and it was “doing the very best” to implement that, but had faced challenges arising from “outside influences” of geopolitical tensions, inflation and tariffs.

She said the party was in “listening mode” and that had resulted in the €750 million in measures announced in response to rising fuel costs.

Butler said every member of Fianna Fáil had backed the Government in a confidence vote on Tuesday.

She added: “We are here for the long haul and we are here to put through four more budgets.

“I will speak to all three colleagues later on tonight and see what we can do to alleviate their concerns.”

Last year, Martin’s leadership and decision making was also questioned following the botched presidential election campaign of its candidate Jim Gavin.

In their statement, the TDs said they would commit to restoring “trust and connection” between Fianna Fáil and the Irish people.

“It is a task that has been long neglected, and recent events have not helped to repair the damage,” they said.

“The responsibility now lies with us. We will dedicate our efforts in the weeks and months ahead to ensuring that this vital reconnection takes place.”