Exclusive Interview with Peter Kelly in Cork
All eyes are on Micheál Martin becoming the next Taoiseach after his Fianna Fáil party secured the highest vote in the new Dáil in last week’s Irish national election.
And the Tánaiste had a special message for the Irish diaspora: “You are going to have a government that will continue to prioritize Irish-America in all of our policies and immigrant supports … very substantial support.”
Micheál Martin was speaking at Cork city’s Nemo Rangers GAA club as the election count was finalized there for Ireland’s second city’s two constituencies. He has represented Cork South Central as a local TD (Teachta Dáil) in Dublin since 1989.
Following last Friday’s contest, TD numbers elected to Dáil Eireann after all 174 seats were filled are as follows. Fianna Fáil 48, Sinn Fein 39, Fine Gael 38, Labour and Social Democrats 11 each, and Independents 16. The remaining seats were shared between smaller parties in single digit numbers.
Former Green Party coalition partners were decimated to a single TD, their leader Roderic O’Gorman, and saw their numbers dramatically evaporate from their 12 TDs elected in 2020.
With 86 seats, the combined total of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs is just two short of an overall majority.
Negotiations between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and prospective coalition partners have therefore begun and are expected to be drawn out. It is unlikely that a new government will be formed before Christmas.
The new Dáil is due to sit for the first time on 18th December, but it may be as late as February 2025 before a durable partnership is sealed.
Micheál Martin said, “It’s now a very fragmented Irish political system. That means the pathway to government can be complex, but it’s there, I think. But we have to wait.”
The ‘Republican Party’ leader was upbeat about Ireland’s continuing relationship with the United States. He pledged to work energetically with the incoming Donald Trump administration, which begins on Inauguration Day, January 20th, 2025.
“We respect the decision of the American people and the people have spoken,” said Mr Martin. “We have worked with him during Trump’s previous time in government, and we will do the same on this occasion.”
The Tánaiste spoke of his pride in Ireland’s envious links within Washington and its partnerships through Embassy officials, headed by Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason.
“The diplomatic-political relationship is always strong,” he reassured. “We have good support on ‘the Hill’ on both sides of the aisle. That will continue to be our approach.”
The former Cork teacher added, “we both have a really strong, robust economic relationship. So obviously we’d be interested in discussing and engaging on those issues.”
Mr Martin was in Manhattan in September during the United Nations General Assembly session. He opened Ireland House at 200 Park Avenue in the famous MetLife building which formerly housed Pan Am Airways. It now hosts Ireland’s Consul-General offices, Enterprise Ireland, Tourism Ireland, CIE Tours, and the Ireland Funds under one roof.
He sought to reassure Irish diaspora groups in the US of his government’s continuing support. “I was in New York recently, and in the new Consul-General in New York, which is a beautiful facility, in the Ireland House facility. I think from an Irish-American perspective, that will continue.”
During his time as Taoiseach in the rotating partnership with the Fine Gael coalition government since 2020, Micheál Martin visited the White House for St Patrick’s Day to meet President Joe Biden in March 2022. However, he dramatically contracted Covid-19 en route and instead had to isolate in nearby Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue.
When asked if we should expect his return to Washington as Taoiseach in 2025 to engage with President Trump on St Patrick’s Day, the Cork TD remained characteristically guarded. “That would be very enjoyable if that was to turn out to be the case. We’ll wait and see.”