Cork TDs not placated by FF election report

Two of the three Cork TDs who were reputed to have featured on a ‘naughty list’ of suspected Fianna Fáil rebels have said that this week’s review of the party’s disastrous presidential election campaign has not quelled their concerns.

Rumours of a list of party representatives opposed to Micheál Martin’s leadership circulated at the end of October, in the recriminations around Jim Gavin’s withdrawal from the race following reports of an unpaid debt to a former tenant.

Mr Gavin’s name remained on the ballot, and he subsequently polled 7.18% vote in the election.

Among those said to be on the ‘rebels’ list were Pádraig O’Sullivan, James O’Connor, and Séamus McGrath — Cork TDs politically close to Cork MEP Billy Kelleher, who had lost out to Mr Gavin on the Fianna Fáil nomination.

This week Mr O’Sullivan told The Echo that the report had resulted in “more questions unanswered than answered”.

He added: “The whole scenario of due diligence being appropriately conducted I think is farcical.

“On at least three occasions, potential issues with a former tenant of Jim Gavin’s were flagged with senior members, and bar confronting Jim Gavin directly themselves, no other follow-up was done. That’s no way to run a modern, professional political party.”

James O’Connor TD added: “In respect of putting this behind us, I feel this is only the beginning.”

Asked whether Mr Martin’s days as Fianna Fáil leader are numbered, Mr O’Connor said: The Taoiseach deserves the respect of the parliamentary party because the role he occupies deserves that respect … but he needs to understand that he’s lost the dressing room.”

Mr McGrath said the matter of the presidential election is now closed, and the party needs to move on, “I think it is time for the recriminations to end and it’s time to move forward, take the lessons from the whole episode, try and restructure how we approach such nominations in the future,” he said.

During the week, Clare TD Timmy Dooley was reported to have suggested that Mr Martin and Mr Kelleher have “a cuppa or maybe a pint” to clear the air. Mr McGrath was the most amenable to the suggestion, saying: “I would love to have a pint with the Taoiseach.”

Mr O’Sullivan said: “If the Taoiseach was buying, I’d have no problem taking a pint.”

Mr O’Connor, however, was blunt in his response: “People who know me will know that I am black and white. After what happened to Billy Kelleher, I don’t think that I would.”