'They'll never vote for me again': Limerick's Willie O'Dea responds to unease in party

LIMERICK’S Willie O'Dea has said that people "tell me they can never vote for me again”, after his party’s handling of the fuel protests. 

The Limerick City TD was speaking on the RTÉ Radio 1 programme Drivetime in response to three young Fianna Fáil TDs releasing a statement criticising their party for being out of touch with the public over the past week. 

TDs James O'Connor, Ryan O'Meara and Albert Dolan wrote that "it should not require protests and deep community frustration to get a government to listen and act", and “our politics is not working".

READ MORE: Scarlett Faulkner’s ex-partner refused compassionate bail to attend funeral

Mr O’Dea of Fianna Fail echoed these sentiments, saying that the party is “not in rude good health”.

"The government has become too detached from ordinary people on the ground."

"The government has become more and more beholden to process, and allergic to humanity," he continued. 

“Judging by the reaction I’m getting from my own constituency and beyond, it appears that Fianna Fáil has been badly damaged by this recent debacle”. 

He told presenter Katie Hannon that he believes that “the ability to hear anger before it turns into rebellion” has been lost by his party. 

“The Irish people don’t expect miracles, but they do expect to be listened to,” he said. 

Mr O’Dea praised Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, and voiced dissent about party leadership. The TD did not name Micheál Martin, but did say: “The leadership must take a good chunk of responsibility for the way that this has developed.”

“We must look at the party top to bottom.”

“I’ve great respect for Jim O’Callaghan”, Mr O’Dea said. “He’s seen to have taken action on various issues that have been left unattended […] He’s a good, active minister for justice.”