Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien has said he has "100%" confidence in Taoiseach Micheál Martin's leadership, and that it was time for Fianna Fáil members left disgruntled by the controversy around their presidential campaign to move on.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin this morning said he was made aware of a potential issue between Jim Gavin and a former tenant, before Mr Gavin was selected as Fianna Fáil's presidential election candidate.
An internal party review published yesterday outlined that Mr Gavin was asked five times about a reference to a dispute with a tenant, including twice before he was selected.
Mr O'Brien this afternoon said he believed Mr Martin will lead into the next general election, rejecting a suggestion that he should set a timeline on when he could potentially step down.
He said: "We all know the presidential campaign was not good for Fianna Fáil. We've carried out the review independently, that's been published, been debated.
"Learnings will and have been made from it and changes will be implemented. I've absolute confidence in Micheál Martin as our leader and as our Taoiseach.
"There is no need whatsoever to set out a timeline. My view is that Micheál Martin will lead us into the next general election after this Government does it's full term."
Mr O'Brien said that Fianna Fáil is a party that allows its people to have a point of view and that it was a "good thing" that members were allowed express their disappointment with the presidential campaign.
He said: "The review has been carried out independently, there's nothing omitted from that review.
"It's now time that people move on, that they have rightly so been able to put their views forward and indeed their disappointment.
"In Fianna Fáil, we're a party that allows people have a point of view and allows them to articulate that point of view, we don't shut down discussions.
"So this has been a good thing but we need to move on and focus on what we have been elected to do."
'The party has to move on', says McGrath
Ireland's EU Commissioner Michael McGrath also said he continues to have faith in Mr Martin's leadership of Fianna Fáil.
Mr McGrath said the issues surrounding the party's presidential campaign "would have hurt him more than anybody".
"But it doesn't define his leadership and all of his significant achievements and indeed his resolute focus on the issues that really matter to people," he said.
Mr McGrath, who remains a member of Fianna Fáil after leaving the parliamentary party to take up the commissioner role last year, said it had been a "very difficult number of weeks" for the party.
"But it's behind us now and the party has to move on," he added.
A 'gross mistake' but not a resigning matter for Taoiseach - Ní Mhurchú
Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, who said she had contacted Mr Martin seeking the nomination before Mr Gavin was selected, said in a statement that the review was "unsatisfactory and a missed opportunity to fully place the facts on the public record".
While acknowledging that no public records existed to document the dispute, Ms Ní Mhurchú said the party could and should have pursued the matter more robustly. She said that it was a "gross mistake", but did not feel it was a resigning matter for the Taoiseach.
Ms Ní Mhurchú said that "strengthening procedures to ensure that similar mistakes are not repeated in the future should now be a key priority for the party leadership"
"The grassroots were deeply upset by this episode. Rebuilding trust will take time, but decision-making must be shaped more by members and carried out by leadership, not imposed from the top down."
'We can't draw a line in the sand having expended €400,000' - Gallagher
A former Fianna Fáil minister has said that the controversy is not over and that questions remain to be answered.
Donegal TD Pat The Cope Gallagher said Fianna Fáil had to learn that nobody in the party is infallible although he said that impression had been given in recent weeks.
"I said very clearly last night that this was not the end of it. We can't draw a line in the sand having expended €400,000 and expecting our organisation to provide those funds over the years."
Mr Gallagher also questioned how Mr Martin could decided on the candidacy of Jim Gavin after just one meeting with him.
"How could anyone decide in that short time that that was the person to garner enough votes across the country to win?"
Mr Martin's handling of the selection of Mr Gavin as the party's candidate was heavily criticised at a party meeting in Leinster House last night which lasted almost five hours.
Several TDs and Senators expressed frustration at the process and accused Mr Martin of sidelining the parliamentary party.
Meeting was at times tetchy, nasty affair
Last night's parliamentary party meeting was at certain moments a tetchy and even nasty affair, as the party met to consider the review of its botched presidential campaign.
There was shock expressed that Jim Gavin was nominated without any polling data and the fact that the party leader's imprimatur was given after he had just a single meeting with Mr Gavin.
A revelation by the Irish Independent of a historic dispute with a tenant ultimately derailed Jim Gavin's campaign.
The review found that he was asked about a possible problem on five occasions and had no recollection until he checked his records on 4 October.
The review says that this was despite advice from the party that any disgruntled tenant would almost certainly raise their grievance publicly. The campaign will cost Fianna Fáil between €350,000 and €400,000 the review found.
It all leaves Micheál Martin politically wounded with senior figures from the party's centre ground warning that he is now walking on thin ice.
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Taoiseach aware of Jim Gavin tenant issue before presidential candidate selection
