Sean Defoe

He's only starting out.

We don't do well in Dublin Central anymore anyway.

There was sort of more passive acceptance of it than the anger you might have expected in years past that Fianna Fáil would be doing so badly.

Yeah, well, there was a great outpouring, I think, when we had a by-election where we only scored about 5% in Dublin South East some years back.

And I think people will reflect on these results because, you know, there's no point holding on to the fiction that they're going to be a big party again if you're recording these kind of results, you know.

And so, you know, one of the ironies, of course...

with Neil Martin's tenureship, is that, you know, the vote hasn't really got back to where the party is still a medium-sized party as opposed to a large party.

And, you know, the ambition of everybody, I suppose, that joins Fianna Fáil is that it would be a big party again, playing very dominant roles in governments.

And, you know, obviously, the party's got used to the idea of sharing power and coalitions and stuff, but...

I think the ambition levels could be an awful lot higher.

And I think the fact that they're already minimising their prospects of even winning or doing well in these elections tells its own story.

They're simply not at the races in these contests.

Is Neil Martin in any immediate danger if these are particularly bad today?

Or do you think the EU presidency sort of has him as a get out of jail free card for six months?

Yes, well, that seems to be the case, yeah.

That's the orthodox wisdom.

When I talked to my colleagues down in the Dáil, when I managed to go in there from time to time, yeah, they accepted orthodox wisdom that there won't be a move against them while we're waiting for this presidency of the EU to take place.

So, you know, that's the expectation.

And then I suppose at some point,

And during that presidency, Mr. Martin may perhaps plan his own exit from the stage.