Who could be the next Fianna Fáil leader? Five contenders to replace Micheál Martin

Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has come under increasing pressure in the aftermath of the presidential election.

In spite of opposition, Martin backed former Dublin senior football manager Jim Gavin as the party’s candidate for the election.

However, Gavin dropped out several weeks ago after it was revealed that he owed a former tenant some €3,300 in overpaid rent.

Since then, the Taoiseach has come under increased scrutiny within his own party, with several party members advocating for a change of leadership.

But who could become the next Fianna Fáil leader? Here’s the five leading contenders to replace Micheál Martin.

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Jim O’Callaghan

The current Minister for Justice has made no secret of his ambition to become the party’s next leader.

In an interview with RTÉ Radio in 2020, O’Callaghan said he was interested in eventually replacing Micheál Martin if the party leader was to step down at some point in the future.

Having previously served as party spokesperson for justice, it was no real surprise to see the Dublin Bay South TD appointed to his current ministerial position last year.

Since his appointment, O’Callaghan has taken steps to reform Ireland’s international protection system, particularly in carrying out a number of deportation operations in recent months.

The highly publicised nature of these procedures suggests a conscious effort to regain the public’s trust in government immigration policy.

He became a somewhat outspoken figure during the presidential election, crossing political lines to criticise a Fine Gael video which sought to shed a negative light on Catherine Connolly’s work as a barrister.

Such a move earned him praise from Connolly’s supporters and the general public, if not from Fianna Fáil members.

Unlike his predecessor Helen McEntee, O’Callaghan has largely been able to avoid major controversies in his first year as a minister.

However, the alleged sexual assault of a young girl at City West and the subsequent riot that followed have seen him come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks.

Darragh O’Brien

O’Brien has come out in defence of the Taoiseach in recent days, telling RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the “vast majority” of the party still support their leader.

His claim that Fianna Fáil members who are questioning the leadership might be “looking at this too deeply” would be unlikely to do him any favours if he was to throw his hat in to be the party’s next leader.

Nonetheless, O’Brien is a senior figure within the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, having served as a TD or senator since 2007.

Although he is currently the Minister for Transport, O’Brien is perhaps best known for serving as Minister for Housing for the entirety of the last government.

In that role, O'Brien presided over what has been described as “the worst housing crisis in over 40 years”.

However, he has maintained his popularity among fellow TDs and survived a motion of no confidence in 2022.

Since his appointment as Minister for Transport, O’Brien has sought to bring a renewed focus on road infrastructure, an area which was seemingly neglected by his predecessor and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan.

Such a move may please more conservative Fianna Fáil voters, but whether his record on housing will prove too hard to look past remains to be seen.

Jack Chambers

At the age of 34, Chambers is the youngest candidate on this list by some distance.

That, as well as his current role as deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, might give the Dublin West TD an advantage when it comes to a potential leadership race.

Despite his relatively young age, Chambers is already serving his third consecutive Dáil term.

Having first been elected in 2016, he has gone on to hold a number of positions as a Minister for State.

As well as that, due to positional changes in the last government, he took on the roles of Government Chief Whip and Minister for Finance for short periods.

After last year’s election, he was appointed Minister for Public Expenditure and worked closely with Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe in delivering the recently announced Budget 2026.

Although the Budget was widely criticised by opposition parties, such dissatisfaction is unlikely to have crossed party lines.

His ability to work closely with Minister Donohoe in recent years, who himself is one of Fine Gael’s top dogs, could earn him bonus points from Fianna Fáil members.

However, as Director of Elections for the presidential campaign, Chambers will likely have to bear the brunt for the Jim Gavin debacle and face criticism from within his own party.

Dara Calleary

Having served as a Mayo TD since 2007, Calleary’s longevity is unmatched by anyone else on this list.

Numerous posts as a Minister of State in the time since suggest he has the experience to match. However, his political career has not been short of controversy.

In 2020, Calleary was deputy leader of Fianna Fáil and had been the party’s chief negotiator during talks to form a government.

In July of that year, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture by Micheál Martin. However, just two months later, Calleary was found to be complicit in the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal.

He was forced to resign as both a minister and as the party’s deputy leader in the aftermath of what became known as ‘Golfgate’.

Calleary has kept a low-profile since and has slowly regained the confidence of party leadership.

In 2022, he was re-appointed as a Minister of State following the departure of Robert Troy. Having been re-elected in the 2024 general election, he was appointed Minister of Social Protection.

However, despite this political comeback, there is a feeling that Calleary’s chance at political leadership may have passed him by.

Norma Foley

Having only been appointed to the Dáil for the first time in 2020, Foley has enjoyed a rapid rise to political prominence.

Remarkably, Foley was only a a late addition to Fianna Fáil’s general election ticket five years ago and was the party’s third candidate in the Kerry constituency.

However, she polled 6,856 first preference votes and secured the fifth and final seat at the expense of her party colleague John Brassil.

Her subsequent appointment as Minister for Education came as an even bigger shock.

Foley underwent something of a baptism of fire in her first ministerial position, tasked with guiding Ireland’s education system through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her decision to use predicted grades during the Leaving Certificate examinations of 2020 and 2021 was welcomed by many at the time.

Following her re-election in 2024, she was appointed to her current position of Minister for Children, Disability and Equality.

Although Foley has faced somewhat less media scrutiny in her new role, she has been the subject of questioning amid a number of controversies surrounding state body Tusla in recent weeks.

However, Foley would likely garner significant support if she was to run for party leader, particularly in rural areas.

The fact she is the only female candidate on this list may also prove to be a factor, especially if Fianna Fáil members express a desire for Ireland’s first ever female Taoiseach to come from their party.

However, such a scenario will likely only be discussed if Micheál Martin does succumb to political pressure in the coming weeks.

Whatever the outcome, there is no doubt that the future of Ireland’s largest political party hangs firmly in the balance.