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Updated 8.45pm (see below)
FIANNA FÁIL LEADER Micheál Martin has said that Enda Kenny and the government get an E- grade for their performance on job creation as he hit back at earlier criticism from the Taoiseach.
Speaking as the party’s Ard Fheis got underway at the RDS in Dublin this evening, Martin also said that the Taoiseach “tells a different story internationally” as he hit back at earlier criticism from Kenny about spiralling unemployment under the last government.
Speaking about the issue of abortion, Martin said it was about what the parliamentary party decided as the Ard Fheis prepares to hear a number of motions that will call for Fianna Fáil to reaffirm its pro-life position.
Martin accused the government of an “old-style” political attack on his party and its record in the final years of the last government.
“I think today the Taoiseach was trying to shift focus away from a very poor jobs performance. Remember this is the government that promised 100,000 jobs before the last election, net,” Martin said.
“And today he unbelievably gave himself an A grade in terms of the employment issue. Unfortunately I think there are many families across the country that perhaps would not support the A grade for his or his government’s performance on that.”
Martin said that while the Taoiseach has pointed to the role that the European debt crisis played in Ireland’s economic collapse when he speaking to European leaders such as French president Francois Hollande he had not done so on the home front where he had blamed Fianna Fáil.
“So I think again he’s playing politics today,” Martin said. “Fundamentally, I think he is trying to take the focus off the jobs issue and I think it’s ironic you know that a leader of a government of broken promises starts talking about trust in politics.”
Asked what grade he would give the government and Enda Kenny, he said: “Well, an E- on jobs.”
Martin said he expected a “strong debate” on abortion at the party Ard Fheis this weekend and said that any legislation the government introduces would have to give priority to protecting the mother.
But he said there was concern about the “suicide issue” and said the party would “wait and see legislation”.
Asked if it was his own view that the threat to the life of a woman should include the risk of suicide in legislation, Martin said: “In my view, it’s not what I personally think. But of course as a parliamentary party we will be taking our decision on this.
“This issue is in terms of the suicide threat in terms of how you legislate for that. Do you inadvertently create a situation where you have abortion on demand or open the floodgates? So that’s an argument that has been made.”
He said he was not going to “play politics” with the abortion issue.
“It’s too sensitive, it’s too serious, there is a constitutional prohibition on abortion in the country, that is still there and I think it’s important to bear that in mind as well,” Martin said.
He also said that his main objective as leader of Fianna Fáil was “renewal of the party” and speaking about the local elections next year, he said: “The good news is we’re getting a lot of younger people in the party.”
UPDATE: Fianna Fáil has contacted TheJournal.ie to point out that Micheál Martin was not expressing a personal view when asked about the inclusion of suicidal risk in abortion legislation earlier.
When asked about this, Martin said: “In my view, it’s not what I personally think. But of course as a parliamentary party we will be taking our decision on this.”
A Fianna Fáil spokesperson said Martin intended his comment to mean that his own personal opinions – whatever they may be – are not of consequence to the debate.
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Wish they would stop the bitch fest and sort there shit out
These two ladies wanna give it over they are an embarrassment to the people they claim to represent.
An I give M. Martin an A+ 4 brass neck
Why? It keeps the masses distracted and gives them a sense of “real choices” actually exist.
This a side show to distract
I’m just delighted we voted Yes to all those treaties that promised “Vote yes for jobs” Job losses more like !
Do they actually think we can’t see through their personal agenda
They don’t think it Elaine. They know it. Watch the thick paddies vote for them in droves at the next election. Truly depressing.
Enda trying to distract from his own failings,if he keeps on the way he is,he’ll be the most successful director of elections FF will ever have had.GE 2016.
They do yeah. There’s so many crooks and plain idiots in this country that they’ll likely get in next time around.
People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones
Who cares what Meehole Martin says…. I’m no fan of Kenny but FF don’t deserve any airtime
I would expel that c*** …!
Nail on the head, Punch. The illusion of choice that most Irish fall for every 4 years.
FG/FF/LAB etc are all the same. They answer to big business and banks while pretending that they answer to us. That is the true nature of ‘Politics’.
Martin knows as he failed so many times himself. New improved Fianna Fail, I can’t believe its not Fianna Fail…..new but full of the same old crap
*Facepalm*. Kinda awkward when Fianna Fail criticise anyone for anything.
It’s funny. Leaving aside political preferences- in terms of manipulating a moment and despite all the people who regard Enda Kenny as a poor communicator and naive operator, he has done some job hijacking the FF conference and directing the early narrative towards FF’s failure in Government.
but what does it actually achieve vincent?
Getting kinda sick of mono argument kenny constantly harking back to the obvious fail of FF, yes enda we know about FF’s culpability in this disaster but you…yes you… stood on a platform of undoing what FF done and rectifying the immoral debt foisted upon us but you haven’t have you?…you’re just the same and quite possibly worse.
“you’re just the same”. I hear this statement all the time. If you really believe that, could you abstain from voting in the future because you can’t be trusted.
I’ll continue voting if you don’t mind, sorry if that upsets your self appointed position as interference minister.
They are the same. Why does that mean anybody should have their right to vote removed from them?
Dermot- to be fair, I do get where you’re coming from when FG are going on about the last lot. But you might want to consider the fact that no Government in Irish history has ever passed the country over to another party in as dangerous a state as FF did to FG. So 1). it’s beyond galling to be lectured at by those who created the mess and 2). to an unprecedented degree, the decisions being made by this Government have been forced on them because of a). the debt left behind and b). the associated loss of sovereignty that came with it. And to be fair, if you regularly read the Journal you’d have to admit a whole tranche of people seem to have developed an amnesia that kicked in two years ago. So I understand the compulsion to remind people why these unpopular decisions are being made but I agree sometimes its over the top.
Vincent/shaw/Collins/ rogers…what about the good students of dundalk i.t. Turning their backs to your glorious leader…all can be seen on broadsheet
Leslie- as I’ve said elsewhere, Dundalk has had a huge influx of jobs over the last two years so a strange location. SF operation written all over it.
FG’s positions in opposition would have pushed the property bubble even further. In the election before the bust FF struggled to keep up with all the giveaways FG promised. And don’t tell me if they had been in government they wouldn’t have made the same decisions as FF, their kowtowing to Merkel and the ECB shows they most definitely would. It’s only a gigantic stroke of luck on FG’s part that they didn’t win that election. Neither of those parties are worth a damn, they are equally as corrupt and useless as the other and the same can be said for the overwhelming majority of the upper echelons of the civil service. We need only look to the treatment of the whistleblower in the Dept Of Finance when she warned of the property bubble, they ostracised her and shut her up.
I agree Vincent, the recent legacy of FF is one of complete and utter disaster, an absolute and unmitigated disaster but every sane person knows that, we don’t want to constantly hear about it from FG or labour.
FG/Lab – “we wouldn’t have to do this only for you”
FF – “you’re cleaning up our mess the wrong way”
Next government.
FF – “you made a hames of cleaning up our mess now we have to do this”
FG/Lab – “don’t be talking about Enda or Gilmore, they’re not here to defend themselves”
Repeat to infinity.
I think it’s ironic that the leader of the government that sent us down the swanny could even have the audacity to spew this hypocritical bullsh*t. Have a seat Micheal, you won’t win votes this way
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Some brass neck on Martin – a man at the centre of the destruction of the Irish economy.
Micheal Martin put a donation to FF in to his wife’s bank account.
There are few politicians with as brass a neck as his. God help us if we ever have to suffer with him as head of Govt.
We will, clear and simple .
Martin was endlessly and enthusiastically wheeled out to defend the thuggish FF criminal Bertie Ahern when the latter was spewing a bunch of crap at the tribunal and laughing at the rest of us.
Dishonest!
Considering the country was hemorrhaging jobs under his control in the last years of government this statement has to be taken with a stiff drink and some blood pressure tablets….the award for the biggest brass neck this century
Let’s see, he’s ignoring the fact that FF ruined the country?
And ignoring the wishes of the people in 2 referenda on abortion (in terms of not removing the claude re suicide risk).
Sounds like FF still think they have a divine right to make decisions for us.
Two awful, incompetant parties. Don’t point the fingers at each other.
Vintage Fianna Fáil. I wonder why Enda is at pains to point out European involvement in the crisis when in Brussels- trying to negotiate a European debt write-down? Maybe Micheal thinks he should be telling the Germans it’s all our fault? Meanwhile, even in opposition they’re fudging the Abortion issue. If there’s no votes in it, they’re not interested in it. Country be damned. Party first. Always.
Can i just jump in here and say that without a doubt, its 100%….that they are both plonkers.
Pot calling kettle black!!! They should combine forces and they mite make a half arse attempt at a political party between them
Be better if he had just given him an E
Enda and Michael two inbeciles one trying to outdo the the other in stupidity.Amazingly both succeeding.
Fianna Failures performance in this area can’t even be charted.
As a democratically elected member of the Dail Martin is entitled to his opinion … It’s the aliases and hidden faces on sites like this who spit bile and and moan about everything who should be ignored. I’m no fan of Martin but at least he has a mandate from an electorate to speak his mind … Unlike the countless bar stool commentators who offer nothing constructive. BTW .. I personally am tired of this government pre-empting every comment with the failures of the last government to try and dodge their own failures and getting the excuse in first.
Gordon, it doesn’t matter who or what you are, every person is entitled to express an opinion whether you like it or not.
You may be bored of it, but you know what it is the truth, they inherited a shit storm. They would have loved not to have made the tough choices and not to impose the taxes that they are forced to bring in. They are doing a better job than the crowd before them and I do believe that they mightn’t have created a 100,000 jobs but they may have protected another 100,000 than FF plc. would have lost us.
GG — You wouldn’t be a FF man by any chance?
Brian no one forced them to cut respite care grants,no one forced to cut mobility allowance these are choices entirely of their own making.
They saw the Books before they got the asses on the government side of the house,but still lied all the way to the GE.
During the boom years at every budget FG/Lab claimed FF were not cutting taxes far enough or spending enough.They are the bloody same.
FF put the economy in a coffin,FG/Lab seem determined to hammer on the lid.
Norman We are borrowing money for day to day spending. So yes cuts have to be made and its happening across the board. You may have been affected by respite cuts, me by other cuts and other people by other cuts. So as the money in is significantly less than money out they have indeed being forced to make cuts.
Brian i don’t need to be informed of the need for cuts.But the present government has singled out the most vunerable in our society for special treatment when there was no need to.That was my point and no matter what argument is used those cuts cannot be justified not with the ongoing waste in government.
Norman there’s no singling out, there’s cuts being made left right and centre.
Really,i’ve experienced no cuts on the scale that this section of society were subjected too.But i’m not a fan of any political party so not wearing any blinkers i guess.
I remember when he ‘created’ jobs. He set up the HSE and look what a mess that turned out to be. He could not even organise for the payroll software to be done right and remember how much that cost us before it was thrown in the bin.
I’d rather vote for the nazis than for Fianna Fáil
Dont Trust This snake, Michael martin is another traitor and a Liar just like FG and LB get Rid of All the Dirty Rotten Trolls in The DIAL, FF, FG, LB, All Traitors and puppet Masters of Europe, Not for The people of Ireland, Get Rid of Them all,
The civil war is over …. FF & FG need to be dismantled over time . – a number of a referenda .. perhaps
- to bar any political party from leadind government without 5% of population as members;
- to bar anyone participating from more than 3 successive dails
- explicit report from government departments written by head of CS – with a vote on same day as general election to re-elect the office holder – accountability of CS to the people is required
Lots could be done … I look to young an first time TDs to lead … very little progress thus far .
FF – 55000 members in 2004 (exaggerated)
FG – 35000 just from a google
So 100,000 max membership between of 5 million of us === most people have no interest in politics so what happens is that the hard necks ; no experience ; never worked a day off the public teat types end up running the show. Look @ Enda for example – a cheer leader for Bertie to spend more; 30+ years as TD on the opposition benches – what real life business experience has he got. And most around him are the same. So you are leading the dept of finance and here comes a new minister – they all play the game. How many TDs have had a successful career in the private sector?
Is this the same Michael Martin who as Minister for Health set up the HSE and made a mess of our country’s health service? Shame on you!
Can we comment about max clifford here instead,anything would be better than talking about finna fail
oh FFS, its like listening to Hannibal Lecter telling us we eat too much red meat.
We swapped a bunch of corrupt incompetents for a group of morally bankrupt eletists. Opposite cheeks of the same ar$s. Move on, vote different. Time our government worked for US.
Greatest Irish politician alive. Should be leading the country.
Fianna Failure landed us in deep shite (cheapest bailout me arse!) Fine Gael and Labour’s cowardice and ineptitude (not to mention the outright lies) means we continue to drown in it.
Kenny deserves a E at lest for lying Martin don’t start
Is he trying to say he is less corrupt than the other guys? Is this what this boils down to?
Why do Fianna Fáil get to correct what they’re Leader meant?
Their
I’d give them both a G for gombeen!
Two cheeks of the same arse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TFx9u1t1LY
Comes to mind whenever things like this happen.
They were the ones that broke the country I wish they never get into power again . If I get my way they never will . Brainwashing the young wit bull crap about dev … Exporting people is all done . And a great job they done there ….
Martin was part of the discredited government that gave us the housing bubble, Anglo, Fingleton and the bailout. Martin’s party were the one who proposed the House tax. If Irish people vote this clown back into power, they deserve everything they get
We are heading into a lesson in revisionism by the Indo & it’s ilk.
With them talking up a revival of FF.
they have increased its % from 21 in GE to 26 now.With the increase only returning from FG. How is that a revival but only a swing from a same Party.
They will put out the spin of a Party on the rise. Total rubbish!
So I give this Mickey Martin an F grade as in FF !!!
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