Fianna Fáil has agreed to support a move to legalise nuclear energy.
At its parliamentary party meeting last night, TDs, Senators and MEPs agreed to support Cork East TD James O'Connor's bill to reverse the ban on nuclear energy in Ireland at a time when the Coalition grapples with the ongoing energy crisis.
It is understood Deputy O'Connor told his colleagues that his proposal was not a vote to build a nuclear power station, but rather a vote to remove a blindfold and to allow Ireland assess all serious options.
The proposal was supported by several TDs from the floor.
Minister for Energy Darragh O'Brien said while he was agnostic on the use of nuclear power, he believed it should be open to consideration by Ireland.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland "should not have a statutory bar" on the consideration of nuclear energy.
The parliamentary party also discussed Fianna Fáil's weekend bye-election results, which included the party's worst bye-election showing in 100 years.
The party accrued 4.2% in Dublin Central with Councillor John Stephens and 8.8% with Councillor Cillian Keane in Galway West.
Mr Martin told the meeting how bye-elections were not a predictor of general elections to come and pointed to bye-elections in Dublin Bay South in 2021 and Dublin South West in 2014 where the party held or gained a seat in the subsequent General Election.
The Dublin Bay South showing was the party's worst ever bye-election performance before the weekend.
Mr Martin also referenced the Dublin Mid-West bye-election in 2019 where the party's candidate, Shane Moynihan, returned to win a seat in the 2024 General Election.
However, several speakers expressed disappointment in the vote accrued by the Fianna Fáil candidates over the weekend.
They said they were a number of different factors which they felt needed to be addressed.
Speaking afterwards, one TD critical of Mr Martin's leadership described the parliamentary party discussion of the weekend's bye-elections as "tame enough", a further indication the Fianna Fáil leadership question has been parked for the duration of the EU presidency at least.
