Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin is defending his party’s track record in protecting rural Ireland.
It comes as Clare FM understands that former Fianna Fáil general election candidate Michael ‘Malty’ McDonagh is poised to stand in May’s local elections as an Independent, having previously criticised the party.
Deputy Martin has also called for transparency on the rising costs of the National Children’s Hospital on his visit to Clare today, as Clare FM’s James Mulhall reports:
Mícheál Martin is pressing the flesh in West Clare today, where he’ll visit local schools and canvass on the streets and at homes in Kilrush.
But his visit to the county comes as frustration has been expressed both nationally locally at Fianna Fáil’s faclitation of the current Fine Gael-led government, and particularly its policies with regards to rural Ireland.
Among the critics, 2016 general election candidate Michael ‘Malty’ McDonagh.
At a public meeting last year, he said he was ashamed of Fianna Fáil’s track record on rural Ireland, and Clare FM now understands that he is poised to stand in May’s local elections as an Independent
Despite remarks such as this, Deputy Martin has been quick to defend the party.
In a wide-ranging interview on Clare FM’s Morning Focus, Mícheál Martin has also called for transparency from the government on the spiralling costs of the National Children’s Hospital.
It follows Longford-Westmeath Fine Gael TD Peter Burke hitting out at Fianna Fáil, saying the party made “irrational” spending calls last year.
But Deputy Martin says the focus should be on the government’s own spending, including the rising projected costs of the planned National Children’s Hospital.
