Do we like Micheál Martin?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A decent record on LGBTQ+ inclusion and the State's duty to survivors, held back by a contested migration comment, a soft touch with Trump and the Gavin mess.
Micheál Martin is a Turners Cross, Cork lad, the son of a bus driver and the first in his family to go to university. He trained as a teacher, became Lord Mayor of Cork in 1992, then ran Education and Health, where the 2004 smoking ban became his signature win. He took over a battered Fianna Fáil in 2011 and rebuilt it, and he now sits in the Taoiseach's chair.
His rough patch is the Jim Gavin presidential campaign. The party was asked more than once about a possible tenant issue before Gavin was picked, and a review found little was done after he said he recalled none. Once a tenant came forward, Martin and his deputy told colleagues they couldn't recommend sticking with Gavin. Martin says his leadership isn't in trouble and called some pre-report commentary false and part of an “agenda”, but plenty of his own TDs are restless.
On the harm check, nothing nasty turned up. At Dublin Pride in 2025 he called the Gender Recognition Act “an important step forward for legal recognition and inclusion for our trans community”, and said he wanted a society where LGBTIQ+ people can live safe and fulfilling lives. No campaigning against anyone's rights and no dodgy company turned up. The asterisk is migration: he said in December 2025 that migration had played a part in the housing crunch, and told the Irish Times he rejects accusations of dogwhistling because the point is factual.
Gaza and Trump show a careful operator. In September 2026 he used the UN stage to say the full truth of Gaza “will shame the world”, and he has described Israel's West Bank actions as ethnic cleansing. In March 2026 at the White House he said Europe had been described “wrongly” as “overrun” by immigration, but critics noted he didn't challenge Trump head on and said Trump was “doing his bit” for peace. Where you land depends on whether you read that as sensible diplomacy or as a missed chance.
On the good side, in February 2026 he apologised on behalf of the State to survivors of abuse in industrial and reformatory schools, saying “What happened to you was wrong, shocking and should never have happened.” He also announced extra health, counselling and education supports. That is the sort of stuff a Taoiseach can actually deliver, and it was not a throwaway line.
Overall he's a steady, decent, slightly dull centrist who backs the rainbow flag in his own words and hasn't slid into grievance. His biggest risk to the page's readers is political rather than moral: it is unclear whether he leads Fianna Fáil into the next election, and his own TDs reportedly doubt him. Nothing nasty, a bit cautious, and sorry in the right places.