Ireland's EU Commissioner Michael McGrath has strongly defended Micheál Martin and said he would be providing leadership during Ireland’s EU presidency in the second half of next year "and beyond".
During a briefing with Irish journalists in Brussels, Mr McGrath was asked if he believed Mr Martin would still be Taoiseach during the Irish presidency, following the controversy over Jim Gavin’s nomination for president.
Mr McGrath said it had been a "very difficult few weeks for him and indeed for his family as well".
He added: "I have full faith in his resilience and his ability to come through this period. He has an extraordinary level of experience and knowledge.
"The EU presidency is an important moment for Ireland. It comes around every 13 years or so, it will come at a crucial time in the negotiation of the next EU budget, the advancing of the work we're doing on security and defence, but also a number of files on competitiveness."
Mr McGrath, who was nominated by the Taoiseach to be Ireland’s Commissioner in 2024, said although he was no longer a member of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, he still took "active interest" in all the issues.
He said the controversy had resulted in "very limited choice for the voters" when it came to the presidential election.
The Fianna Fáil party would conclude a review of the issue shortly and "lessons will be learned".
Mr McGrath added: "That episode doesn't undo 14 years of very strong leadership and delivery by Micheál Martin as leader of the party.
"I had the great honour of working with him very closely for most of that time and I think he will know himself when it is time to depart.
"I don't anticipate that that will be anytime soon. I would certainly expect him to provide the leadership over the period ahead that the country will need in the context of the EU presidency and beyond."
Democracy Shield
Mr McGrath will today launch the so-called Democracy Shield, expected to be the flagship policy of his tenure as commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection.
The legislation is aimed at combating systemic disinformation assaults by foreign actors determined to undermine elections across the EU, with Brussels proposing a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience.
The proposed new centre aims to help member states respond more quickly and effectively to disinformation and election interference campaigns.
In tandem with the Democracy Shield, the European Commission will launch an EU-wide civil society strategy, as well as pushing ahead with the European Media Freedom Act, adopted in August.
Mr McGrath said the act provides "certain safeguards around editorial independence, appropriate level of funding for public service media as measures for the protection of journalists".
He said the Media Freedom Act will require funding from the next EU budget.
Mr McGrath told journalists the new Centre for Democratic Resilience would give member states better capacity to "detect much earlier, to monitor and to respond to Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) threats".
He said there would be further initiatives on fact-checking, investment in digital and media literacy, and a reaffirmation of the need for greater cooperation in the conduct of elections.
The Commissioner strongly denied there would be any censorship involved in the new legislation.
"I'm very much aware that for those who will oppose the proposal, that will be the main line of attack - that it's about censorship, [or] it's about us not liking the outcome of elections. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"We will be reaffirming that freedom of expression within the European Union is non-negotiable. It must be protected. It's part of our Charter of Fundamental Rights."
He added: "This is about recognising that democracy is owned by the people, and all that we are seeking to achieve is that the ordinary people of Europe can exercise their democratic entitlement at the ballot box in free and fair elections and in the absence of any interference, and that they can choose themselves, who they want to have represent them at local, national and indeed, at a European level."
Mr McGrath said that in the recent Moldovan and Romanian elections there had been "unprecedented" and "extensive" interference by Russia.
"They are becoming much more sophisticated and coordinated and much better resourced," he said.
He said the Democracy Shield was designed to help member states with fewer resources to collate evidence of disinformation and interference and to respond more rapidly, through the Centre for Democratic Resilience.
Mr McGrath said the Democracy Shield would complement the work of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which has been targeting the use of deep fakes and wholesale algorithmic amplification of disinformation during election campaigns.
