'For God's sake': Taoiseach rejects claims he spends too much time abroad

James Cox

Micheál Martin has rejected claims he has spent too much time abroad since he became Taoiseach in January this year, and also hit back at criticism from Fianna Fáil TDs.

In the last 10 months, he has travelled abroad 20 times.

He has been to Brazil and South Africa for COP30 and the G20 in the last three weeks, and it has been confirmed he will fly to China at the beginning of next year.

However, speaking from Angola today where he is attending the EU/African Union Summit, Mr Martin said any time he goes abroad, it is for the good of the country.

"Are people thinking we go back to a sort of isolated position where we don't attend any meetings? This is ridiculous... whoever is asserting that.

"You're saying mutterings... noone has ever said to me [that he travels too much]. In terms of my visits and so on... I've limited them to just functional meetings, I don't go abroad for any other reason but to advance the country's agenda."

“Most people in the country accept that the leader of the country has to engage internationally,” he added.

“So much emanates from the international world in terms of influence. The first crisis we had to deal with was the tariffs issue. It is important for jobs in our economy, for the technology industry, for the life sciences industry. We navigated that well both within the European Union and indeed with the United States. That’s why international engagement matters, for God’s sake."

“Are people saying we shouldn’t attend COP?," he asked.

“There’s a need for a bit of common sense, a sense of perspective."

Asked if he was referring to criticism from some members of Fianna Fáil, he replied: "Yes."

He also denied that his travel had delayed the publication of the review into Fianna Fáil's candidate selection process after the disastrous Jim Gavin presidential campaign.