A NUMBER OF TDs have said they would prefer a leadership contest to take place in Fine Gael.
The Fine Gael National Executive met in Dublin this evening to set out what the next steps and processes are for the election of Leo Varadkar’s successor.
It was decided that nominations for the next party leader will open on Thursday morning at 10am and close next Monday 25 March at 1pm.
Candidates must be nominated by at least 10% (six members) of the parliamentary party comprised of TDs, senators and MEPs.
If there is a contest, and before any votes are cast, there will be three regional meetings taking place Tuesday 26 March, Wednesday 27 March and Thursday 28 March which will be livestreamed on Fine Gael social media channels.
Voting for almost 20,000 eligible Fine Gael party members will take place nationwide at more than 20 polling stations from Tuesday, 2 April to Thursday 4 April.
Speaking on the way into the executive meeting Fine Gael Senator Regina Doherty said a leadership contest “would be healthy” .
“I think we have a number of people that could fill the boots. I think we’ve also had a very stable period within the last 22 years, we’ve only had two leaders and two very good leaders.
“And so now it’s time for us to move on and choose the person for the next 5, 10, 15 years. We have an array of people that are really good, authentic, classy people to choose from. So I think competition would be good for us,” she said.
Doherty added that “the world still turns” and tonight it is the job of the executive to decide how to find Varadkar’s replacement.
In a shock move today, Varadkar resigned as Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader.
Varadkar has just returned from the annual St Patrick’s Day trip to the US where he met with President Joe Biden.
He told The Journal this afternoon that he made the definitive call on his time as leader over the weekend, while in Washington DC, telling some close staff on Saturday that he planned to step down.
Varadkar told reporters today that a new leader will be elected by 6 April when the party will hold its Ard Fheis in Galway.
With such a tight window for a new leader to be appointed, all eyes are on who will be Varadkar’s successor. There are a couple of possible candidates, though none have made any public announcements, just yet.
“A big day,” reporters said to Minister Paschal Donohoe as he walked out of Government Buildings this afternoon. “Indeed,” he replied giving nothing away of his intentions.
“Any news?” Heather Humphreys was asked in passing on the corridors of Leinster House this evening. “Don’t you have enough news today,” she joked, again, keeping schtum.
Speaking on the way into the executive meeting this evening, TD John Paul Phelan said it would his preference that a contest be held, stating:
I think it’s important.
However, he said that no one knows yet how many candidates are in the field.
He added that there a good number of “decent candidates” in the party.
The last time around, when a leadership contest was held, the competition was over before it started, as Varadkar had sown up the support of the parliamentary party by the time he announced, putting Simon Coveney on the backfoot.
When asked if there would be a concern that could happen again in a contest, Phelan said: “I don’t know what is going to happen, this is all completely out of the blue.”
'Contest is healthy': Fine Gaelers say a leadership race would be the best option for the party
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) March 20, 2024
Read: https://t.co/F3hDM7KNA0 pic.twitter.com/Dejc5WMUWG
Though Varadkar had won over the support of the parliamentary party in his election contest in 2017, Coveney won the majority support of the grassroots members, though their vote does not carry the same weight in terms of the election, something party members have been exercised about and eager to change.
Phelan said the grassroots “will have their say and they’ll have more of say than last time around I think”.
As there is no declared candidate it is a matter of “wait and see” to ascertain what the level of interest is, he added.
“We are still a bit in shock,” he said, adding that Varadkar’s leaving “is completely unique, I don’t think any taoiseach in the history of the state has caught everyone completely by surprise”.
Phelan recalled how one “very prominent member of the parliamentary party from the west of Ireland” was in the bath this morning when the news broke.
He thought he had plenty of time for a “good soak” before the Dáil started this afternoon, but had 42 notifications on his phone when he got in, Phelan said humorously.
Doherty said “stunned doesn’t go far enough” in terms of how she received the news about Varadkar’s resignation.
At the party’s parliamentary party meeting, TDs and senators paid tribute to Varadkar, but no one spoke up to say they were interested in taking over the reigns.
Varadkar was described as being very emotional at the meeting with members this evening, whereby he said:
I couldn’t find anyone to stab me in the back, so I fell on my sword instead.
Varadkar said he was enormously privileged to lead Fine Gael for seven years and be a member of the parliamentary party for 17 years, stating that there was”no perfect or easy time for today’s announcement”.
The Taoiseach said the next leader of Fine Gael will have his unequivocal support.
There has been much speculation today as to the reasons why Varadkar decided to step down now.
He said in his speech today it was for “personal and political reasons”.
Senator Doherty said there were nice things said about their party leader this evening.
However, she said had such niceties been said before today, and Varadkar had been shown more support from the party members, perhaps today’s resignation announcement from Varadkar not have been forthcoming.
Senator Regina Doherty on the way into the Fine Gael National Executive tonight says perhaps had Leo Varadkar been shown more support there wouldn’t haven’t been such an announcement today. pic.twitter.com/57Q4nOhcuH
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) March 20, 2024
She said the politics of today is a “different place” than it was five or ten years ago.
Phelan said tonight that it was almost fitting that the announcement came just as Ciaran Cannon announced he was not contesting the next election, adding that it is sort of an “end of an era” vibe as a lot of people that came into politics around the time of Leo Varadkar are now moving on.
Cannon jokingly said today in Leinster House that Varadkar had “stolen his thunder’.
Phelan went on to tell reporters that the reasoning Varadkar gave to the party is that he had given the leadership “his best shot”, adding that nowadays, it is not a job or something you do for life.
One Fine Gaeler told The Journal that Varadkar told the party meeting tonight that he had been thinking about what the right time to go would be for some time now.
Varadkar recounted how he rarely found it difficult to write his own speeches for party events, but at the recent special conference at the end of last year, he said he struggled to be able to map out ideas to move the party on for the next five years.
Those within the party that spoke to this publication said there was no heave of any kind against Varadkar, that it was a decision of his choosing.
Phelan said that no one believed Varadkar when he said previously that he would not hang around “to be ousted”, stating that Varadkar has said in previous years that if he ever decided that he didn’t want to be leader then he would be off.
“No one really believed him, until tonight,” the Carlow-Kilkenny TD said.
John Paul Phelan says Varadkar always said that once he decided he didn’t want to be Taoiseach that he he’d be off and that he wouldn’t hang around to be ousted. pic.twitter.com/bzNJjNGlya
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) March 20, 2024
In the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, Tánaiste Micheál Martin spoke about the surprise decision from Varadkar.
It is believed that Martin feels he must step in to “steady the ship” as one person close the Tánaiste acknowledged today.
Martin told his members this evening that he will be consulting with them over the coming days, noting that the Programme for Government makes provision for this type of situation arising.
He told members he believed the government should go the full distance, stating there is still 12 months of this Dáil’s mandate to go.
The Tánaiste said it is essential we deliver another budget and finalise the Planning Bill.
The Tánaiste recalled the uncertainty and instability created by the breakup of the governments in 1989 and 1992. Stable governments that run their term deliver the best policy outcomes for the nation, he said.
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