Micheál Martin: The beginning of the middle of the end?

[Brabantje]

The heave is on:



This is the equivalent of a football manager saying, "yeah we've been unlucky with decisions and a few lapses in defence recently, but this team will turn the corner..."

You just know the manager is days or even hours away from the sack.

[midlander12]

The heave is on:



This is the equivalent of a football manager saying, "yeah we've been unlucky with decisions and a few lapses in defence recently, but this team will turn the corner..."

You just know the manager is days or even hours away from the sack.

At no stage was he ever going to lead FF in the next GE. He'd be nearly 70 for a start. Mind you, that's young by today's standards.

[Berties_Horse]

Martin has been enormously damaged by this fiasco, Kelleher had far superior credentials and got stepped over. And then instructing the FF orthodoxy to block independent candidates like Steen or there would be negative repercussions. Evidently he never recovered psychologically from the pasting he received in debate with Steen last year. It's a small miracle he was ever rehabilitated after Bertie fled the coup in 2008, chief lieutenant that presided over a disaster. Long overdue Micheál is kicked into the ditch, his departure won't be lamented for long.

[midlander12]

Waterford Whispers are at it again, the fekkers:

RATINGS agency Moody’s has downgraded the Irish Presidential election from a ‘shitshow’ to a ‘total fecking disaster’ following the exit of Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin.

Gavin, who was found to owe a former tenant €3,300 for the past 16 years and had ignored several solicitors’ letters, withdrew from the Presidential race with immediate effect yesterday evening.

“You’d think being an unscrupulous landlord would make the perfect Presidential candidate to represent Fianna Fáil, but apparently times have changed,” a government source said, describing the mood in Leinster House.

Previously downgraded from a shambles to a shitshow last week after Catherine Connolly was found to have hired someone fresh from serving a Special Criminal Court conviction for unlawful possession of firearms, Moody’s warned the race could still sink even further, with all eyes now on the remaining two candidates.

“All we need now is Heather Humphreys to be found operating a cobalt mine in South Africa to reach the next Moody’s level, ‘a jackass jamboree’,” the report stated

https://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2025/ ... -disaster/

I think we're at the 'Trump doing a drive-by on Fifth Avenue and not losing a vote' stage. I suppose the 'dead girl or live boy' thing hardly applies in this case, and even if both were dead it probably wouldn't matter at this stage.

If Catherine Connolly were found to be torturing kittens in her basement, that might swing it. Everyone loves kittens. Or maybe Heather carrying out weird experiments on new-born lambs.

[John]

In fairness, back in June 2020 absolutely everybody expected Martin to stand down as FF leader when his term as Taoseach expired at the end of 2022. In 2022, his odds on the betting sites to be Taoseach after the next General election was 100/1, so can we really rule out him not wanting to lead FF at the 2029 election?

[jmayo]

O'Cuiv out this evening getting the digs in.

He mentioned how the 10,000 membership no longer have a say and everything now comes from the top.

Also when that plonker Cuddity mentioned how he resurrected the party after 2011, O'Cuiv countered how they got 17% despite everything against them and how Martin now is happy with 20%.
He was lamenting the days when they could get 40% to 50%.

Of course the slimeball (O'Cuiv and indeed the Newstalk langer) forgot to mention the reason everything was against them in 2011 was the fooking useless shytes had sunk the country with their Galways fooking tent.

He really is a typical FF piece of self entitled shyte.

People seem to forget Martin was part of the Bertie and Cowen years.

[Brabantje]

At no stage was he ever going to lead FF in the next GE. He'd be nearly 70 for a start. Mind you, that's young by today's standards.

The problem is that he has so successfully emasculated FF, that there's no obvious replacement that anyone could have any faith in.

[jmayo]

After listening to the background from Fionnan Sheahan this morning, and the Jack Chambers, I think the issue here is political rather than moral.

Sheahan contacted the party last week for comment on the €3k debt. After talking to Gavin, official party comment was there is no record or recollection of anything like this, strongly suggesting the tenant was making it up. Within 24 hours that was clearly nonsense and Gavin had been fibbing to his party bosses.

Make no mistake, Gavin was stood down rather than personally withdrawing after mature reflection. As far as FF are concerned, the bigger crime is the not the financial irregularities, but the fact that Gavin led them into giving a demonstrably false statement to the press.

On the financial irregularities, I saw this on twitter and it made me chuckle:

Worse still for FF was they pushed the Gavin version of events and by some accounts the former tenant contacted them to set them straight.
Could that tenant have a case against FF it they persisted with that falsehood.

Also it is claimed some people in FF knew about this back in August.

I guess the old FF mantra of do what you like, but don't get caught came into play in the end.

[midlander12]

The problem is that he has so successfully emasculated FF, that there's no obvious replacement that anyone could have any faith in.

O'Callaghan will probably win it anyway. Certainly not Chambers or Norma Foley. Who else is there?

[Brabantje]

O'Callaghan will probably win it anyway. Certainly not Chambers or Norma Foley. Who else is there?

You'd think so, but often there's a dark horse.

[midlander12]

You'd think so, but often there's a dark horse.

There's Dara and Darragh, I suppose, if they're going down the charisma route.

[schmittel]

There's Dara and Darragh, I suppose, if they're going down the charisma route.

Urgh, Darragh O'Brien, please no. Anybody else will do.

[midlander12]

Urgh, Darragh O'Brien, please no. Anybody else will do.

Yeah, that's kinda what I meant. There's always John McGuinness, of course, another ever-shining star in the FF firmament.

[Gatsbygirl]

Yeah, that's kinda what I meant. There's always John McGuinness, of course, another ever-shining star in the FF firmament.

Christ, no.

Not John McGuinness

[schmittel]

Or Niall O'Connor Collins.

They're not short of horrific candidates.

[Berties_Horse]

FF would be wise to shed the skin of yesteryear, if they want to survive as a credible entity. Martin has to walk the plank.

[midlander12]

Or Niall O'Connor Collins.

They're not short of horrific candidates.

He could be both leader and deputy leader using both his 'species'.

[Statsman]

Cometh the hour, cometh the Timmy Dooley.

[Brabantje]

Cometh the hour, cometh the Timmy Dooley.

He might be too busy paying money to Éirigi after making the exact same mistake as John McGuirk.

[Berties_Horse]

Cometh the hour, cometh the Timmy Dooley.

Feeble effort. At least he only claimed phantom expenses to the Dáil, not NUIG.

[Gatsbygirl]

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/fia ... 14846.html

Indo headline saying they contacted FF about Gavin having a tenant issue before any selection was made, yet Martin claimed to know nothing about the tenant issue

Surely if this is true, it has serious implications for Martin?


From the indo article -

The email sent by the Indo on Sept 8th, (a day before the selection on Sept 9th) to FF was:

“Following on from the request for an interview, would you mind letting me know when Jim Gavin will be responding to media queries,” the email said.

“I have some specific questions I wish to put to him about property interests and a particular issue arising with a tenant when he was a landlord.”

And according to FF, Gavin denied there were any issues when this was put to him.


Last edited by Gatsbygirl on Tue Oct 07, 2025 11:37 am, edited 2 times in total.

[Statsman]

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/fia ... 14846.html

Indo headline saying they contacted FF about Gavin having a tenant issue before any selection was made, yet Martin claimed to know nothing about the tenant issue

Surely if this is true, it has serious implications for Martin?


From the indo article -

The email sent by the Indo on Sept 8th, (a day before the selection on Sept 9th) to FF was:

“Following on from the request for an interview, would you mind letting me know when Jim Gavin will be responding to media queries,” the email said.

“I have some specific questions I wish to put to him about property interests and a particular issue arising with a tenant when he was a landlord.”

And according to FF, Gavin denied there were any issues when this was put to him.


Last edited by Gatsbygirl on Tue Oct 07, 2025 11:37 am, edited 2 times in total.

It seems the tenant in question chased JG repeatedly for the money, including contacting his mother when he got no response.

[Gatsbygirl]

It seems the tenant in question chased JG repeatedly for the money, including contacting his mother when he got no response.

So according to the Indo today, they sent an email to FF telling them they wanted to interview Gavin over an issue with a tenant

This was the day before the selection process

Martin still let Gavin go through, presumably having asked him if there was any truth in the rumour, Gavin denied it

But surely this was a huge red flag for Martin?

The housing issue, tenants, landlords,---these are hot issues which can enrage voters. Remember the uproar with Robert Troy and his eleven properties....

This does not look good for Martin.

[Statsman]

So according to the Indo today, they sent an email to FF telling them they wanted to interview Gavin over an issue with a tenant

This was the day before the selection process

Martin still let Gavin go through, presumably having asked him if there was any truth in the rumour, Gavin denied it

But surely this was a huge red flag for Martin?

The housing issue, tenants, landlords,---these are hot issues which can enrage voters. Remember the uproar with Robert Troy and his eleven properties....

This does not look good for Martin.

He's fecked, one way or the other.

Meanwhile, Gavin's posters are still on the poles as a constant reminder of this cock-up.

[midlander12]

So according to the Indo today, they sent an email to FF telling them they wanted to interview Gavin over an issue with a tenant

This was the day before the selection process

Martin still let Gavin go through, presumably having asked him if there was any truth in the rumour, Gavin denied it

But surely this was a huge red flag for Martin?

The housing issue, tenants, landlords,---these are hot issues which can enrage voters. Remember the uproar with Robert Troy and his eleven properties....

This does not look good for Martin.

He was convinced GAA glory would see him through. In many ways this is the best thing that has happened in Irish politics for years, a rude reminder to the political class that a real world still exists outside their spin-osphere. It's a shame the immediate result is probably going to be a very uninspiring President who has herself got away with some very basic howlers.