Politics

Elaine Byrne: Micheál Martin was a good Taoiseach, but not a great Taoiseach

The outgoing Taoiseach kept a historic coalition together and oversaw one of the best vaccine rollouts in the world, but the pandemic stalled his focus on the major priority policy areas

During his first and only Fianna Fáil ard fheis as Taoiseach, “three keynote speeches” by Micheál Martin were printed and circulated to delegates. Two related to the decade of commemoration, and a third to Ireland’s place in Europe.

There are two observations that can be made. The first is that the speeches, for the most part, looked back in the rear-view mirror of history. Where were the forward-looking landmark speeches by Micheál Martin on housing, ...