Micheál Martin

When Fianna Fáil returned to power following the 1997 general election, Martin was appointed to the newly expanded position of Minister for Education and Science. Aged 36, he was the youngest member of Bertie Ahern's first cabinet.[20] As Minister for Education and Science, his tenure was characterised by an increase in spending at all levels of education, while a number of educational initiatives, such as a review of the primary school curriculum and the introduction of special needs assistants, were also initiated.[21]

In a cabinet reshuffle in January 2000, Martin was appointed Minister for Health and Children. Martin's predecessor, Brian Cowen, described the position as "like being in Angola", because 'landmines' can go off at any time.[22]

In spite of tough opposition, Martin introduced a ban on tobacco smoking in all Irish workplaces, including pubs and restaurants. On 30 January 2003 he announced his intention to have the ban in place on 1 January 2004.[23] He visited New York in September 2003 to look at how a similar ban worked there, and signed the UN's framework convention on tobacco control at their headquarters.[24] The smoking ban was introduced on 29 March 2004,[25] making Ireland the first country in the world to introduce a blanket ban on smoking in the workplace.[26] On 4 September 2004 Martin was presented with an award for his work on the smoking ban by the European Respiratory Society in Glasgow.[27]

He introduced an overhaul of the health system, which included the abolition of the health boards and establishment of the Health Service Executive (HSE). He deregulated the country's pharmacies from 31 January 2002.[28]

In October 2003, Martin promised to examine cases of symphysiotomy in Irish hospitals which occurred during the 1940s and 1950s, and offered free health care to those affected.[29]

In September 2004, he exchanged government positions with Mary Harney, to become Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The following September, the government's economic record on the cost of living came under scrutiny from the RTÉ television programme Rip-Off Republic. This led to Martin abolishing the controversial Groceries Order 1987, a piece of legislation which prohibited the sale of groceries below cost price.[30]

Martin with US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez in 2005

Letters containing death threats and shotgun cartridges, from a group calling itself the Irish Citizens Defence Force, were posted to Martin on 29 February 2008, at a prominent Dublin fertility clinic.[31]

On the resignation of Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach in May 2008, Martin supported Brian Cowen's bid for the Fianna Fáil leadership.[32]

In a cabinet reshuffle on 13 May 2008, following the election of Brian Cowen as Taoiseach, Martin became Minister for Foreign Affairs. One of the first issues that he had to deal with was the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.[18]

Martin led the government campaign. Despite the overwhelming majority of government and opposition parties supporting a Yes vote, the electorate rejected the government's recommendation. Martin and Cowen failed to convince the Irish public to support the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, and this protest expressed in the referendum on 12 June 2008 plunged the government into a major political crisis.[33]

In February 2009, Martin travelled to Latin America for the first time, making stopovers in Mexico and Havana; it was the first time an Irish government Minister had made an official visit to Cuba.[34]

In September 2009, he travelled to Khartoum to discuss the kidnapping of Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki with the Sudanese government.[35]

On 7 February 2010, he defended the €4.4 million redevelopment of the Irish embassy in Ottawa, Canada.[36] While in Brussels on 22 February 2010, he questioned Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Avigdor Lieberman over the use of fraudulent Irish passports in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.[37]

On 17 March 2010, he met President of the United States Barack Obama in the White House, alongside Taoiseach Brian Cowen.[38][39]

On 26 May 2010, he met with senior Chinese leaders in Beijing, to discuss relations between China and Ireland, before travelling onward to Shanghai.[40] While there, he visited the Irish pavilion at Expo 2010 in the city.[41]

On 28 June 2010, he began a five-day trip to Uganda and Ethiopia, where he visited buildings and met ministers and businesspeople.[42]

As Minister for Foreign Affairs, Martin was critical of the blockade of Gaza, particularly after being denied access to the area in 2009. He wrote to Spain (incoming holder of the presidency of the Council of the EU) to suggest that the EU send a delegation of foreign ministers to the area in 2010.[43] He made his first visit there himself on 25 February 2010, on a one-day humanitarian mission through the Egyptian border.[44] In doing so, Martin became the first Western foreign minister to visit Gaza since Hamas took control in 2007.[45] While in Gaza, the Minister toured hospitals and schools. He was accompanied by United Nations vehicles.[45]

I would appeal to the Israeli government and all concerned to lift this blockade. Micheál Martin appeals to Israel while in Gaza on 25 February 2010.[46]

The following week Martin wrote about his experience in the International Herald Tribune.[47][48]

Martin was Minister for Foreign Affairs during the Gaza flotilla raid and the aftermath of this incident. He told Dáil Éireann that he had requested that the Israeli government allow the MV Rachel Corrie to deliver its cargo of aid to Gaza instead of involving itself in "further bloodshed".[49]

In September 2010, doubts about Brian Cowen's abilities and political judgment as Taoiseach and party leader emerged following a disastrous early-morning radio interview on Morning Ireland. Cowen survived; however, that same month Martin admitted that he and other cabinet members, namely Brian Lenihan and Dermot Ahern, harboured ambitions to lead the party should a vacancy arise.[50] While some backbench rebel Fianna Fáil TDs and senators called for Cowen to go, no cabinet minister publicly came forward to challenge the incumbent. In spite of this, Martin once again expressed an interest in running for the leadership of Fianna Fáil once the vacancy arises in December 2010 on RTÉ's Saturday View radio programme.[51]

On 16 January 2011, Martin announced that he would vote against Brian Cowen in the upcoming confidence motion in his leadership of the party. He offered to resign as Minister for Foreign Affairs, but his resignation was initially refused by Cowen.[52][53] Following the result of the motion, which Cowen won, the resignation was accepted.[18]

On 22 January 2011, just days after winning a vote of confidence, Brian Cowen announced that he was stepping down as leader of Fianna Fáil, but would remain as Taoiseach. On a special RTÉ News programme that day, a number of Fianna Fáil TDs and senators came on the air and publicly backed Martin for the leadership. Later that evening, Martin formally announced his intention to seek support for the leadership of Fianna Fáil.[54] He was immediately seen as the front-runner; however, a number of other candidates, including Brian Lenihan Éamon Ó Cuív and Mary Hanafin, entered the field to ensure a contest.[55]

On 26 January 2011, the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party met to elect a new leader. Martin was proposed by Dara Calleary and seconded by Áine Brady and received 33 first preference votes.[56][57] After Hanafin and Lenihan had been eliminated from the contest and their surplus votes distributed, Martin emerged with 50 votes and was duly elected the eighth leader of Fianna Fáil.[57][58] After election, he pledged to reinvigorate Fianna Fáil from its traditional centre ground roots, believing that Fianna Fáil has never delivered to the Irish people through the labels of left and right.[57]

Martin led the party into the 2011 general election, which saw Fianna Fáil swept from power in the worst defeat of a sitting government in the history of the Irish state. The party saw its first-preference vote more than halved. Without significant transfers, the count quickly turned into a rout. Ultimately, Fianna Fáil lost 57 seats, representing a decline of 75%–the worst electoral performance in its 85-year history. The party was knocked down to only 20 seats for third place–the first time in 79 years that it was not the largest party in the Dáil.

While Martin and other Fianna Fáil leaders concluded early on that they would not be re-elected to another term in government, they were surprised by the severity of the defeat; they had hoped to hold onto at least 30 seats. In the wake of what has been described as "defeat on a historic scale", Martin pledged to renew the party "at every level".[59]

During the Seanad elections, Martin recommended support for 10 candidates, in an attempt to bring new blood into the parliamentary party. This caused resentment from Fianna Fáil Councillors and incumbent Fianna Fáil Senators.[60] Only five of the recommended ten were elected, although the party performed better than expected winning fourteen seats.[61]

In August 2011, Martin approached Gay Byrne as a possible nominee for the presidential election, but this approach caused controversy within his party, who favoured an internal candidate, Brian Crowley, which was exacerbated on the declining of the nomination by Byrne and the withdrawal from the process by Crowley.[62] In an opinion poll in September 2011, Fianna Fáil's popularity fell to 10%, several points lower than its performance in the February 2011 election.[63]

In 2016, he criticised Fine Gael for plans to cut personal taxation in Ireland to levels seen in the United States.[64]

At the 2016 general election, Martin led Fianna Fáil to a modest recovery, with a representation of 44 seats in the 158-member parliament.[65] In 2016, he was nominated for Taoiseach, but no nominees received enough votes to be nominated as Taoiseach.[66]

Martin was also the party Spokesperson on Northern Ireland.[18]

In January 2018, Martin stated that he would support a relaxation of Ireland's abortion stance, citing "cruel inflexibility and unintended consequences".[67][68] Specifically, he said "he would vote in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment and to allow abortion on request until near the end of the first trimester," leading to some political conflict within Fianna Fáil.[69] 31 of the party's TDs and Senators posed for a photograph showing their opposition to repealing the eighth amendment, with over half of the parliamentary party supporting a No vote.[70]

In October 2018, there was confusion within the party when Sorcha McAnespy said that Martin had told her she was the next Fianna Fáil candidate in north elections, which the party then did not support.[71]

In November 2018, Varadkar and Martin argued over carbon tax increases led to the Dáil almost being adjourned for the day.[72] Martin was given the decision in December 2018 on whether to enter into talks to renegotiate the confidence-and-supply deal.[73] In December 2018, Martin ruled out a 2019 general election, agreeing to a one-year extension between his party and Fine Gael in Ireland's "national interest."[74]

Previous to the 2010s, Martin made clear he opposed the legislation of abortion in Ireland.[93]

In 2017, it became clear that following discussions by the Citizens' Assembly, there would be a subsequent referendum on the legality of abortion in Ireland. This prompted all political parties in Ireland to reexamine their positions on abortion in depth. Following internal debates, a majority of Fianna Fáil declared a "pro-life" position.[97] However, Martin "shocked" his party when came out in favour of abortion and later would endorse a Yes vote in the 2018 referendum on abortion in Ireland.[94] Martin stated that his views had evolved after he heard testimony from women speaking about their pregnancies in the Oireachtas, and that he had become simultaneously both "pro-life" and "pro-choice";

I think certain groups throughout the years have appropriated the term 'pro-life' to themselves and [claim] anyone who doesn't agree with an absolutist position is not pro-life, but I don't accept that. All my instincts are pro-life, and I would argue that changing the law in itself is not going to change the women or doctors of Ireland into abortionists. We must trust women and trust doctors. I don’t believe in the two labels: of course you can be pro-life and pro-choice...To try and say that someone who advocates a humane response to very traumatic situations for women is anti-life, or not pro-life, is wrong".[94]

Despite Martin's leadership of Fianna Fáil and his own personal stance, members of Fianna Fáil were not placed under a party whip on abortion and were free to vote and campaign either for or against abortion based on their personal views. By the time of the referendum itself, a majority of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party supported a No vote.[98][95]

During a 2022 Dáil debate on legislation to decriminalise cannabis, Martin stated his concern about cannabis being "glamorised" and mentioned "real concerns within the health community" about cannabis.[99] In 2023, as Tánaiste, Martin stated he was "concerned" about the legalisation of cannabis, but expressed his support for decriminalisation.[100]

In 2012, Martin clashed with Taoiseach Enda Kenny over the issue of same-sex marriage; Martin needled Kenny in the Dáil to declare a firm position on same-sex marriage and urged him to press ahead with a referendum.[101] In 2015, Martin supported a Yes vote in the 2015 referendum which legalised same-sex marriage.[102] In 2019, Martin voiced his support for a similar referendum in Northern Ireland.[103] In 2021, Martin condemned legislation passed in Hungary which prohibited gay people from featuring in educational material, describing it as "unacceptable" and saying a strong response was needed from the European Union.[104]

In 2021, Martin expressed openness to changing laws regarding transgender teenagers and self-identification, stating he believed that "we should consult young trans people to hear their views".[105] In a 2022 interview with NXF, Martin said he had "no time" for a "toxic" discussion on transgender people, saying "acceptance is key" and "we should fully accept and acknowledge their identity in the first instance".[106]