MacSharry exit weakens rebels waiting to oust Micheál Martin
Recent events have solidif ied Taoiseach’s position
FORMER Fianna Fáil TD Marc MacSharry’s resignation from the party has virtually assured exiting Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s smooth transfer of power next month, sources said this weekend.
A rump of rebels within the parliamentary party had been counting on Mr MacSharry’s vote in any move against the leader ahead of the Taoiseach’s rotation with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
With numbers now so tight, it is believed unlikely any grouping could accumulate the required 10 votes to force a leadership debate.
Several Fianna Fáil TDs and senators this weekend said they believed Mr MacSharry has been treated harshly by the leadership. Other supporters of Mr Martin were not unhappy to see the vocal critic of their leader now firmly out of the Fianna Fáil tent.
But almost all agree the matter has been handled badly.
One minister told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘My view is that whatever happened, Marc [MacSharry] was innocent until proven guilty, and to exclude him from the parliamentary party while an investigation had not been concluded looked like a stroke to keep a critic out. It was very damaging to our reputation as a free-speaking, freethinking party.
‘Fianna Fáil is always bigger than Micheál Martin or Marc MacSharry and this has all been unedifying.’
Some senior party figures expressed surprise at Mr MacSharry’s resignation.
One source told the MoS: ‘Marc has walked into the leadership’s trap, he should have continued to fight from the inside, and it could now be construed as a cunning plan paying off by the leadership.’
Among the so-called ‘pay-roll’ group – ministers or committee chairs – there is relief that Mr MacSharry will not be attending parliamentary party meetings in the countdown to next month’s rotation.
One minister said: ‘Marc is clearly an opponent of Micheál’s, and whatever lies ahead for us in the new year we must do everything to avoid an eruption in these couple of months. It’s probably best for all.’
However, a stormy recent Fianna Fáil meeting in Sligo is also believed to have been a significant factor in Mr MacSharry’s resignation.
The MacSharry faction’s defeat in the appointment of a constituency delegate was seen as an indication of the political dynasty’s waning influence in Sligo.
Sources who attended the meeting, just over a week before Mr MacSharry’s resignation, claimed the TD was involved in ‘robust’ exchanges with elected members.
It is understood tensions erupted over the controversy involving a local Fianna Fáil councillor, Donal Gilroy, who made a bullying complaint against Mr MacSharry over messages directed at him in a WhatsApp group.
Mr MacSharry and his father, former Tánaiste Ray MacSharry, were among the 140 party members who attended the October 24 meeting to elect the constituency delegate to Fianna Fáil’s prestigious Ard Comhairle.
One member who attended the meeting said Mr MacSharry voiced his frustrations with some attendees, saying the TD ‘gave a dressing down’ to one particular elected member for not supporting him.
‘There were certainly some tensions there,’ they told the MoS.
Another person who attended the meeting claimed other members of the MacSharry family who are involved in Fianna Fáil were also ‘agitated’ at the lack of support for the TD. However, a source close to the MacSharry family denied claims Mr MacSharry gave any member a ‘dressing down’, saying ‘nothing of the sort occurred’.
At the convention, held in the Sligo Southern Hotel and chaired by Roscommon Senator Eugene Murphy, longstanding Fianna Fáil
‘Looked like a stroke to keep a critic out’
‘There were certainly some tensions’
activist Gerry O’Connor retained his place in the party’s Ard Comhairle, despite a challenge from Kevin McGlynn, a candidate backed by the MacSharry dynasty.
Some party members who attended the meeting said the failure of the MacSharry candidate was a signal the family was losing its political
grip on the constituency. One told the MoS: ‘Look, it does come as a surprise that the MacSharry’s runner had less than 50% of the backing in their own backyard. They have traditionally had such a stronghold in Sligo.’
Another local source said: ‘I don’t think they would have given someone their backing like that if they didn’t believe they would have won it. It might come as a surprise to some that the candidate with their support didn’t clinch the seat, but at the end of the day Gerry has a lot of experience in the role and he has a lot of support around Sligo. Kevin is more of a new face, and he’s just not as well known.’