Michéal Martin confirmed the party’s stance on Friday morning.
Fianna Fáíl have
followed in the footsteps of Sinn Féin by tabling a motion of no confidence in Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald.
Speaking to Today with Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio One on Friday, Martin confirmed that a motion of no confidence in the Tánaiste had been lodged and tabled at a Fianna Fáil front bench meeting on Friday morning.
The motion of no confidence in the Tánaiste comes after
Fine Gael came out fighting in defence of Frances Fitzgerald in a statement on Thursday night, declaring that they wouldn’t be bullied by the opposition and labelling the actions of Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil as “a political stunt, pure and simple”.
Speaking to Sean O’Rourke on Friday, Martin insisted that he was open to meeting the Taoiseach following an invitation from Leo Varadkar and confirmed that he had made his position clear in conversations with Varadkar earlier this week.
https://twitter.com/fiannafailparty/status/934017013550329856
Martin said that he and Varadkar were in disagreement “on the core issue” and while Varadkar was insistent that Fitzgerald had done nothing wrong, Martin believes she should step aside and that if she was to do so, an election would be avoided.
https://twitter.com/fiannafailparty/status/934018801204695040
Speaking about the Gardaí's alleged legal strategy to question Sergeant Maurice McCabe's credibility and an email received by Fitzgerald on the issue in 2015, Martin said: “It’s extraordinary that document never made its way to the Charleton Inquiry. We have to agree to disagree on the core issue.
“There’s a big failure to stand by the character of Maurice McCabe.”
https://twitter.com/fiannafailparty/status/934016768737206273
When tackled that he always knew the strategy around Maurice McCabe, Martin responded: “I didn’t know that two years ago, Frances Fitzgerald was aware of the strategy around Maurice McCabe. My patience has been stretched on this issue.
“We didn’t know that the government knew about this. Alan Kelly got an answer to question he didn’t ask and that raised alarm bells.
“I got reply from the Taoiseach saying “there’s nothing to see here.” It turns out there was a lot to see here as the Taoiseach was misled.
“The rights of citizens must be protected. The State cannot be complicit in undermining a man’s character.”
