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Taoiseach insists party `in unison´ in support for his leadership
PA Media
Fianna Fáil is having a think-in.
Received: 10:14:42 on 7th September 2026
The entire Fianna Fáil parliamentary party is “in unison”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has insisted, when probed about support for his leadership.
Mr Martin said his focus is on “what matters”, citing cost-of-living and housing issues, as the party met for the annual think-in ahead of the new Dáil term.
The Taoiseach has previously insisted he will lead the party into the next election, despite facing pressure over the past year following criticism of the handling of the fuel price protests and the presidential election.
Fianna Fáil ministers, TDs and members are meeting in Tullamore in Co Offaly for the annual think-in event.
When asked about support for his leadership, Mr Martin said: “The entire parliamentary party is in unison, focused on the issues that matter to the people in respect of cost of living, in respect of housing, and in respect of a range of issues that concern them.
“People want us to focus on on issues that concern them. And I’ve always been very steadfast in that regard, never taken my focus away from what matters.
“In terms of the implementation of the Programme for Government, the commitments we gave in the Programme for Government in terms of infrastructure, which we’re delivering on.
“This government will be defined as marking a very significant turning point in terms of the level of investment in infrastructure, but also the pace and changing the delivery capacity of government to get these projects done faster, and particularly the legislation we passed recently in terms of critical infrastructure, the prioritisation of that, I think, is already making a difference.”
Mr Martin said one of the biggest challenges for Government has been the “international backdrop” of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Each one in their own would be seismic, but we’ve managed to navigate all of those with an economy that is resilient,” he added.
“Fiscally, we’re still strong, although we have to be careful because there is an over reliance on corporate tax revenue, we’re using some of that windfall taxes to go into the Future Ireland Fund and the Climate Infrastructure Nature Fund.
“But overall, if you stand back, we have a very clear focus ahead of us in terms of what we must do and what we want to deliver. Housing being always there as the core one that we campaigned strongly on in the last general election.”