Haughty Martin bites back over confidence and supply

Good morning.

After the chest beating at the Fine Gael ardfheis over the weekend came the counter-raspberry from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin on Monday.

Martin - at his haughtiest - told RTÉ's Sean O'Rourke that he would not engage in "megaphone diplomacy"with Fine Gael on the review and possible renegotiation of the confidence-and-supply deal.

The need to rapidly accelerate the confidence-and-supply talks - which have been continuing on and off for around a month - was a recurring theme of the Fine Gael gathering in the Citywest Convention Centre. Fine Gael is keen to move the talks on to renegotiation and extension, while Fianna Fáil insists the retrospective review of confidence and supply is not yet complete.

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Not only did Minister after Minister urge Fianna Fáil to sign up for an extension of confidence and supply, even the usually mild-mannered Richard Bruton and Simon Coveney said Fine Gael is election ready.

In truth, Fine Gael was putting on a show for its members, and Martin’s aggressive riposte was largely about reassuring his own TDs, senators and grassroots that he will not take such criticism lightly. As the noise of the weekend subsides, the negotiating teams from both parties will reconvene today to resume talks.

Three sessions are due to take place this week, with the departments of children, transport and rural affairs under the microscope.

A watchful eye is also being kept on the report on the national broadband plan, ordered by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the midst of the controversy last month over meetings between former minister for communications Denis Naughten and the leader of the sole remaining bidder, the US businessman David McCourt.

The report from auditor Peter Smyth has been delivered to the Government and is being considered by Attorney General Seamus Woulfe. Broadband, as well as the two big-ticket items of health and housing, are the main items of concern for Fianna Fáil in the talks.

Martin, in his interview yesterday, indicated Fianna Fáil may return to housing and health in the review, even though some on the Fine Gael side felt they had largely been dealt with. The Fianna Fáil leader also suggested the retrospective review of confidence and supply could continue to Christmas before any renegotiation of a possible extension is considered.

However, even some in his own party believe that stretching this process out too long, particularly against the backdrop of a Brexit political crisis in the UK, could damage the party’s credibility.

Senior figures in both parties acknowledge why a review - which has examined how and why policies have not been implemented - is needed from a Fianna Fáil point of view. If the party is to extend the confidence-and-supply deal, it will surely have a price. It must be confident that whatever it asks for can be delivered before the next general election.

That assumes, of course, that Martin wants to extend the deal. His TDs believe he does, but only the Fianna Fáil leader - and perhaps one or two people close to him - know exactly what he wants to do.

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