A snag arose as it turned out there was no provision to stand down the ministers’ civilian drivers and under their contract they could be employed as long as the minister kept their job.

Amid talk that the rest of the Cabinet was to lose their civilian drivers, a number of ministers — Simon Harris, Norma Foley, and Charlie McConalogue — made it clear they did not want Garda protection.

Others were, let’s just say, more than happy to get the ‘Mercs and Perks’ arrangement and lobbied to get it.

The civilian drivers spent the year with a sword of Damocles hanging over them not knowing when their job was to be culled, only to get the news in recent weeks that they were for the heave.

Soaring electricity prices

The biggest challenge that faced the Government towards the end of 2021 but dominated discussions in 2022 was its plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis as inflation soared.

Energy bills began to increase before Russia invaded Ukraine but the war exacerbated and fuelled price increases.

In January 2022, the Cabinet agreed initially to a €100 energy credit to households across the country as part of one-off measures as pressure mounted on the Government from opposition benches.

The energy credit was later increased to €200 and was deducted from bills in March following the passing of legislation.

There were also increases in the fuel allowance, a lowering of the drugs payment scheme threshold, cuts to the cost of public transport, and increases to the working family payment.

As Russian president Vladimir Putin cut off gas supplies to Europe which in turn saw energy providers hike their prices, the Government was forced to act again with the announcement of three €200 energy credits between now and March 2023 as some households have been hit with a €500 increase or more to their bills.

Cork fishermen v Russia

Cork fishermen hit headlines across the globe after they vowed not to back down from the Russian Federation which had planned a military naval exercise off the Irish coast.

The South and West Fish Producers Association said it was concerned about the safety of trawlers and fish stocks and 60 Irish trawlers were due to set off to fish close to the area where the Russians planned to test their war skills.

The fishermen staged a diplomatic intervention and secured a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Ireland who, after consulting with officials in Moscow, got the Russian Federation to relocate its controversial military naval exercises to outside Ireland’s exclusive economic zone.

The fishermen’s attitude to face down Russian warships caught the attention of the world as the planned naval exercises were against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.

A nation shocked — Ashling Murphy

The nation was shocked by the death of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy in January. The brutal day-time attack became a pivotal moment and sparked public debate and conversation around society’s approach to gender-based violence.

For days after the killing, members of the public silently made their way to Leinster House to lay floral tributes and leave candles where thousands of people also turned out for a vigil in her memory. Gender-based violence and the safety of women dominated the Dáil agenda.

In June, Justice Minister Helen McEntee published the much-anticipated zero tolerance five-year strategy on combatting domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence and the attitudes which underpin it.

Leo flies 30% tax kite

Known as a politician who is acutely aware of the concerns of people who get up early in the morning, Leo Varadkar dropped the idea of a third rate of income tax long before budget chatter had started when he addressed the Institute of International and European Affairs in March.

The possibility of a third 30% rate of income tax, which would require a substantial remodelling of our taxation system, immediately gained attention but put Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe in a sticky position. In the end, the new rate never materialised but was pushed off as a possible measure in the coming years.

Micheál and Joe, just never meant to be

After two years of restrictions, lockdowns, missed opportunities, and difficult decisions, it felt like Michaél Martin was finally getting to do what a Taoiseach should do. But Covid had other ideas.

The Taoiseach, who had been seated next to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the vast banquet hall for the Ireland Funds dinner in Washington, got a discrete tap on the should by a member of his background team before being whisked away.

Pandemonium ensued when minutes later Ireland’s ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall announced from the stage that Martin had tested positive for Covid, ending his hopes of the traditional St Patrick’s Day meeting in the oval office.

Having been grounded by the virus the previous year and forced to talk to Joe Biden via Zoom, Martin again found himself speaking remotely to the president but this time from quarantine in Blair House, just across the street from the White House.

Jobs for the boys

The end of Covid heralded the planned departure of Tony Holohan as chief medical officer, not into retirement, but rather a plum secondment to Trinity College Dublin.

The plan, hatched up by controversial official Robert Watt, which would have seen TCD benefit to the tune of €20m over 10 years, was not communicated to or signed off by any minister, who said they were “very annoyed” at the affair.

All hell broke loose and Dr Holohan was forced to abandon his switch to academia and his departure from the stage was marred in controversy.

For Mr Watt, his battles with various committees in the Oireachtas continued as they accused him of being arrogant for refusing to disclose documents and information relating to this decision.

A report into the botched appointment has been sitting on Stephen Donnelly’s desk for several months and its publication is keenly awaited.

Marc MacSharry implodes

After a year in the wilderness, the way had been cleared, it appeared, for Sligo TD Marc MacSharry to return to Fianna Fáil.

At the last minute, however, chief whip Jack Chambers told a meeting of the parliamentary party that “an issue had arisen” which needed to be examined.

It turned out MacSharry was the subject of a bullying complaint from councillor Donal Gilroy and the party had to investigate the matter, said Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Gilroy said he was left with “no option” but to contact Fianna Fáil headquarters when MacSharry would not apologise for comments he made in a WhatsApp group for local representatives.

At a subsequent meeting, Martin made clear he wanted the matter dealt with quickly but suggested MacSharry had not acted in good faith by leaking his conversation with him to the media.

Martin told a private meeting of his own party that it is “outrageous and reprehensible” to suggest that he or the party leadership orchestrated the delay to MacSharry rejoining Fianna Fáil.

Then last month, MacSharry announced his resignation from the Fianna Fáil party, citing the Taoiseach’s alleged failure to properly investigate the complaint made against him.

Chaos at Dublin Airport

Transport ministers Eamon Ryan and Hildegarde Naughton came under fierce fire and Dublin Airport was branded a “national embarrassment” following major chaos which saw up to thousands of people queuing outside terminal buildings and hundreds missing flights as a result at the start of the summer.

The June bank holiday weekend tipped similar anarchy with more than 100,000 passengers facing hours of chaos, with hundreds missing flights as a result.

While the scenes at Dublin Airport were seen at other airports, given our island status and the importance of aviation to the country, the chaos drew a ferocious public backlash.

Airport bosses were forced to issue a grovelling apology to affected passengers who had their travel plans ruined and promised to refund those forced to rebook flights, insisting no one will be left out of pocket.

The Daa management had to account for the chaos in a meeting with the Government but was subjected to savage political criticism from ministers and the opposition alike.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the situation as “not satisfactory” while Labour’s transport spokesman Duncan Smith said the problems at Dublin Airport had turned into a national embarrassment.

Things were compounded by reports of poor service delivery and filthy terminal buildings but matters eventually calmed down as more staff were hired.

The real end of Civil War politics

Micheál Martin became the first Fianna Fáil leader to address the annual Michael Collins commemoration at Béal na Bláth. Marking 100 years since his death, Martin said Collins was “one of the great heroes of Irish history”.

He told a crowd of around 5,000 gathered at the historic spot that “in his short 31 years Michael Collins made a deep, lasting, and positive impact on our country".

“He is a key reason why we have been able to build a country which, while it still faces major challenges, has been transformed for the better.”

However, it appeared the enormity of the event became too much for one soldier standing directly behind Martin who fainted during the speech.

Robert Troy resigns

At a time when politicians like to get a break from their political duties, the Government found itself embroiled in a major controversy in August when a Fianna Fáil junior minister, Robert Troy, resigned following 10 days of intense scrutiny.

The Westmeath TD insisted his failures to declare several property interests and payments from state housing schemes were “genuine errors and human errors and not intentional”.

He admitted he had misinterpreted the rules of declarations of assets and stepped down following what he said were errors he made in the declaration of his property interests.

Troy extraordinarily revealed in an RTÉ interview that he either fully owned or part-owned 11 properties, including seven flats which are sublet as part of larger houses.

The Government had been trying to defend its housing policy while battling with record homelessness figures.

Coalition TDs had become furious over Troy’s handling of the matter which they said had the potential to undermine confidence in the political system. However, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste backed the junior minister right up until the end.

In a resignation statement, Troy accepted he had made mistakes but also attacked the media and the opposition, saying the narrative “that landlords are villains is simply wrong”.

The Return of the High King of Ballina

Troy’s resignation paved the way for the ministerial return of Mayo TD Dara Calleary.

Calleary paid a “very heavy price” for his attendance at the 2020 Golfgate event in Galway, and there is “always a route back to Cabinet” for someone of his calibre, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in February.

Martin, speaking after all charges against four defendants were dismissed in court, said Calleary’s decision to resign so quickly helped to maintain the national solidarity in the fight against Covid-19.

Calleary resigned from his post of agriculture minister on the morning of August 21, just 12 hours after the Irish Examiner first reported on the Oireachtas golf society event in Clifden.

“There is always a way back, of course, the door’s always open and there is always a way back to a person of the calibre of Dara Calleary,” he said.

Surely enough, when Troy resigned in August, there really was only one name in the mix for the post and it was Calleary who took up the role of junior trade minister.

It was a bittersweet appointment as Calleary and his family suffered the loss of their mother, Doris, a few weeks before.

Fuck Sinn Féin, Fuck Fine Gael

One of the true highlights of the year came from Fianna Fáil senator Erin McGreehan who let rip at the other main parties in a meeting of party backbenchers in July.

“Fuck Sinn Féin and fuck Fine Gael” was the rallying call given at the meeting of 29 backbench Fianna Fáil members. In a rip-roaring contribution from McGreehan, the party members (who met while Taoiseach Micheál Martin was out of the country) heard that the party needs to stop looking behind them and around them, and start worrying about themselves.

“Stop looking around us. We are concentrating on our role in Government, we are concentrating that Sinn Féin are this and that. Fuck Sinn Féin, fuck Fine Gael, fuck them all. We are Fianna Fáil.

“We are the largest party in the Seanad, the largest party in the Dáil, the largest in local government,” she said, according to sources at the meeting.

While the Coalition barely trembled on foot of her outburst, it certainly gave everyone a good laugh.

Joe McHugh bows out

Crumbling blocks resulted in the erosion of the Government’s technical majority in July. Under intense pressure from his constituents, former education minister Joe McHugh resigned from the Fine Gael parliamentary party over the Mica redress scheme.

“I am making this decision with a clear head,” McHugh said, adding that he “couldn’t in good conscience” vote for the bill on the €2.7bn redress scheme for homeowners affected by the mica scandal.

President Paschal reigns supreme

On December 5, Paschal Donohoe was formally re-elected president of the Eurogroup for a second term.

This was despite him vacating the finance portfolio as part of the December 17 reshuffle and concern that Ireland would now have two ministers at the top table in EU finance.

His successful re-election had followed some clashes with Fianna Fáil who had pushed back against blatant Fine Gael attempts to keep Donohoe in finance, at the expense of Michael McGrath.

It was the sort of row that had the potential to boil over, but eventually calmer heads prevailed and it became clear that Donohoe’s stock was high enough to allow him to keep the chair’s position and for McGrath to attend on Ireland’s behalf.

The fact that Ireland has been represented by some anonymous official for the past two years may have had some part in smoothing things over.

A nation bids farewell — Vicky Phelan

Four years after Vicky Phelan first came to prominence when she refused to sign a non-disclosure order as part of a High Court settlement, the fearless CervicalCheck campaigner was taken from us.

The mother of two made it clear that she didn’t want tributes or accolades, instead she wanted to see real change for the women of Ireland. 

Yet, in the wake of her death in November, politicians paused in the Dáil to remember the woman whose actions led to the establishment of the 221+ group, the Scally review, the rollout of HPV testing, and a State apology.

An Bord Pleanála

The planning body became mired in a continuing scandal that only seemed to unearth more questionable practices as the months went on.

The controversy has seen chairperson Dave Walsh retire early, has resulted in former deputy chair Paul Hyde facing criminal charges, and ultimately has eroded public confidence in the board.

The story blew up in April when it first emerged that Hyde had made a number of decisions involving potential conflicts of interest on his part. 

Senior council Remy Farrell was tasked with examining the allegations and his report was subsequently referred to the gardaí by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.

Further questions were raised when it was revealed that now former chair Walsh had also commissioned an inquiry into allegations against the board’s director of planning, Rachel Kenny. An Bord Pleanála’s woes are likely to continue into 2023.

Just before the recess, the Government brought forward its plans to reform the board, give it a new name, and overhaul its powers.

Alan Kelly ousted

Labour TD Alan Kelly learned the brutal reality of politics having been approached by three members of the party and told him his two-year term as leader of the party was at an end.

His abrupt resignation rocked Leinster House and even the Tipperary TD was left rattled when he was informed he no longer had the full support of the parliamentary party.

It emerged that secret meetings between TDs and senators were happening behind closed doors and a plan was mapped to get Kelly out.

Kelly became emotional as he addressed reporters and said he agreed to step down as party leader following “a number of frank discussions”.

Despite concerns over poor polling, it appeared unhappiness among members over the manner of an appointment made to a backroom position within the party was the ultimate trigger to oust Kelly.

He has yet to reveal whether he will run in the next general election.

Simon Coveney bomb threat

Simon Coveney was forced to evacuate a peace-building event in Belfast back in March following a loyalist bomb threat.

He has been speaking at an event that was organised by the John and Pat Hume Foundation, which was established in honour of the Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume and his wife.

An electrician was hijacked at gunpoint and told to drive what he believed to be a live bomb to the centre in his van.

Minutes into his speech, Mr Coveney was approached on stage by an official who told him he had to leave. A controlled explosion was carried out and police later declared the security alert a hoax.

The PSNI has said it believes the UVF may have been behind the hoax attack.

Returning to finish his speech in October, Coveney said: “For God’s sake, in this day and age we should be beyond having to call out paramilitarism and its role in society in Northern Ireland.”

When is a mansion not a mansion?

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald found herself politically bruised through the latter half of the year as she faced accusations of threatening to sue for defamation in order to silence critics.

It emerged McDonald was suing RTÉ in the High Court over an item on the Morning Ireland radio programme in February in which the controversial exclusion of Coalition politicians from a National Women’s Council rally was discussed.

An RTÉ interview with former Cabinet minister Shane Ross, who wrote a book about McDonald, did not make it to air which in turn instigated Ross to question whether the interview was dropped out of fear of further legal action.

Micheál Martin also took aim at McDonald, hitting out at what he said was the party’s legal tactics which had “a chilling effect on public debate and on democracy”.

Leo Varadkar said that three elected Fine Gael members have received legal letters from Sinn Féin figures.

In more recent weeks, McDonald and the party’s relationship with former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall have been under the spotlight as he was sentenced to four years for helping a crime gang to murder David Byrne in a shooting at Dublin’s Regency Hotel.

McDonald has also rejected allegations in the Special Criminal Court that she used the Hutch family for money and votes, claims which emerged in the high-profile gangland trial of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.

‘Keep your rosaries off our ovaries’

A non-surprising row emerged over the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital which caused intense debate over whether there would be any religious influence in services provided at the much-needed hospital.

Politicians and medics who questioned the move said they felt the Government had failed to understand the public’s scepticism of the plan for the hospital.

Much of that centred on concerns a Catholic ethos would influence healthcare decisions because the land where the hospital is due to be built was once owned by the Religious Sisters of Charity.

Despite the nun’s shareholding being transferred to a charity which will oversee the running of the new hospital, many people demanded to see correspondence between the religious order and the Vatican, something that clinicians said they did not have and wasn’t needed.

There were also queries on who would own the hospital.

The Government moved to clarify the phrase “clinically appropriate” in a memo after a number of female Cabinet ministers sought reassurances that procedures should as abortions would be permissible and patients would not be denied such services.

More money for less work

The cost-of-living crisis was felt across the board in 2022, leading public sector unions to trigger a review of the 2020 Building Momentum pay agreement.

Record inflation meant that the deal’s proposed pay rises would not come close to matching rising prices but the Government balked at a 10% pay rise across the board, leading to a summer’s negotiation, with a number of unions threatening industrial action unless a satisfactory result could be found.

In August, a deal was finally struck, coming in at around 6.5% for all public sector workers with a price tag of over €1.2 billion a year. The unions did not have to agree to any extra hours or productivity measures.

The new deal will see a 3% pay increase backdated to February of this year, a further 2% at the beginning of next March, and finally either a 1.5% or €750, whichever is greater, increase coming on stream in October 2023.

This is in addition to a 1% or €500 hike due to be applied at the start of the coming October which was previously agreed under Building Momentum.

A village torn apart

Tragedy rocked the country in October when an explosion at a petrol station in Donegal killed 10 people and left a small community in despair.

The victims — ranging in age from five to 59 — lost their lives in the disaster in the village of Creeslough.

The explosion was said to be heard from miles away and took place at about 3.20pm on Friday, October 7, in a complex that includes residential apartments and the Applegreen service station and convenience store.

Dozens of rescue workers tried to locate people as part of a search-and-recovery operation, tractors were used to work through rubble while sniffer dogs were used to find victims.

The entire nation was left in mourning following the explosion and politicians including Micheál Martin visited the site.

Pope Francis sent a blessing to “all the people of Ireland” following the incident.

‘Goodbye to all that’

The arrival in December of the Omicron variant of Covid meant that Ireland began 2022 as it had 2021 — under some form of Covid restrictions. While this was far from the previous year’s lockdown, public fatigue was at a high.

However, entering the third week of the year, the mood shifted as ministers became confident that Nphet would roll back at least some of the remaining restrictions, encouraged that the hospital and ICU system had held firm in the face of high case numbers.

What wasn’t expected was just how optimistic Nphet had become — gone was 8pm hospitality closing, two metre social distancing, and vaccine certs.

The Taoiseach confirmed the news the following day in his 23rd State of the Nation address. It was time, he said, to “be ourselves again”.

Sabina of Dublin 8 opines

The role of the President’s spouse is one which is largely uncontroversial for the most part.

However in July, Sabina Coyne Higgins, wife of President Michael D Higgins, wrote a letter to the Irish Times urging peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

She said the fighting would go on until the world “persuades President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations”, prompting critics to accuse her of not being supportive of Ukraine after the Times revealed that the Russian ambassador welcomed the comments.

A number of Fianna Fáil senators rounded on Higgins and demanded statements from the President himself on the basis of the publication of the letter on the President’s website.

In a subsequent statement, Sabina Higgins said that she “strongly” condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said the letter had been taken off the website.

No Room at the Inn, again

Throughout Covid, emergency measures across the Government had managed to keep a lid somewhat on homelessness figures, but the ending of an eviction ban in April was the breaking of the dam as numbers ticked up.

In February, the Department of Housing released the November figures, showing that the lows recorded just a few months earlier were well and truly over as 9,000 people now found themselves without a home.

In May, as figures topped 10,000, Fr Peter McVerry, who has worked in homelessness services for over 40 years, said he has “never been more despaired or depressed” about the state of Ireland’s housing.

What followed was month after month of grim new records being set before November’s figures showed that the 11,000 figure had been crossed.

The latest report issued by the Department of Housing showed 4,974 of those homeless in October were males, alongside 2,973 women and 3,480 children.

It is the first time the monthly tally breached the 11,000 barrier. 

Added to this was the influx of nearly 70,000 Ukrainian migrants and those from other countries, which has seen an unprecedented response from the Government.

Tensions surfaced in Killarney over the proposed move of more than 200 Ukrainians to Westport, which was called off. Equality Minister Roderic O’Gorman had to deny he was swamped when more than 80 Ukrainians were told there was no room for them one weekend in October. 

There too were protests in East Wall in Dublin in November after 200 migrants were placed in a former ESB building with questions mounting about the State’s ability to accommodate such large numbers.

Leo’s criminal troubles end

As Leo Varadkar settles into the Taoiseach’s office once more, it is easy to forget that he started the year with a criminal investigation hanging over his head.

Gardaí launched the investigation after Varadkar confirmed he had leaked a copy of a proposed new GP pay agreement, agreed upon by his Government and the Irish Medical Organisation, to a rival GP group, the National Association of General Practitioners, while he was taoiseach in 2019.

In April, gardaí confirmed that they had passed a file on the leak to the Director of Public Prosecutions, sparking months of questions about whether Fianna Fáil and Green Party TDs would vote for him if the case was still ongoing.

That scenario was avoided as the DPP confirmed in July that no action would be taken. That was followed in November by the Standards in Public Office Commission saying that it, too, would not be censuring the now-Taoiseach.

The Centre Must Hold

It is the job of opposition parties to, well, oppose.

And, if they get a sniff of forcing an election that they could win, then the vast majority will do just that. So, when the Government’s majority in the Dáil was lost in dramatic scenes in early July when former education minister Joe McHugh voted against its mica legislation, Sinn Féin moved.

The party moved a motion of no confidence in the Government, with Mary Lou McDonald appealing for support across the opposition benches.

“Two years on, we believe that this Government has now run out of road. They’re out of time. They’re out of ideas,” she said.

In the end, it was a comfortable win for the Government as Micheál Martin’s coalition secured 85 votes in the motion.

Independent TD Matt Shanahan abstained in the ballot, while 66 TDs voted against the Government.

Independents Joe McHugh, Marc MacSharry, Cathal Berry, Peter Fitzpatrick, Michael Lowry, and Sean Canney voted with the Government.

Sinn Féin, fresh from the loss, had to deny allegations from the Government that McDonald had tried to leave the Dáil chamber before the vote was carried out.

Violet-Anne Wynne and Sinn Féin consciously uncouple

Sinn Féin’s time in this Dáil has been characterised by a cohesion rarely seen in mid-sized or large parties.

That sense of complete unity was punctured in February when Clare TD Violet-Anne Wynne announced she was leaving the party. Moreover, her parting message was not complimentary.

Wynne alleged she was the victim of a campaign of “psychological warfare” in which she felt she was being gaslit and her unplanned pregnancy was used “as a stick to beat her with”.

She told the Irish Examiner that her late addition to the ticket in 2020’s election was unpopular among some locally, with leaflets being delayed, very little availability of canvassers from the party, and no contact from head office whatsoever during the campaign.

Initially nominated by a local cumann, she was asked to remove herself from the nomination just weeks before the convention as she was informed the cumann “had changed their mind”.

“I refused,” she said, “and it got worse from there.”

Wynne has since returned to the Dáil as an Independent and made history in September, bringing her baby Collins Montaine into the chamber whom the Ceann Comhairle called the “first actual baby” to enter the Dáil during a sitting.

‘Thems the Breaks’ as Boris and then Liz implode

If Irish politicians were ever concerned about the stability in Dublin, they needed only to look across the water this year.

Boris Johnson, who was one of three prime ministers in 2022, started the year off by defending his attendance at parties in 10 Downing Street during lockdown, for which he received a fixed penalty notice from the police.

Having weathered that storm, Johnson would be toppled by allegations against his former chief whip when Rishi Sunak quit as chancellor and Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary. Bowing to the inevitable after losing more ministers and MPs, Johnson said “thems the breaks” as he started a race to be his successor.

Liz Truss would outlast Sunak in the race and took office in the first week of September. However, her mini-budget along with chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng quickly became a fiasco, causing a 37-year low in the value of the pound.

Kwarteng would pay the price after just five weeks in the job, but Truss would not last much longer. Her new chancellor Jeremy Hunt started his role by criticising the mini-budget and MPs soon began agitating for Truss to leave.

Suella Braverman then quit as home secretary, citing a “technical infringement” of the ministerial rules, and criticised Truss’s “tumultuous” premiership.

On October 20, just 49 days after assuming the role, Truss announced her resignation, with Sunak the only candidate to replace her.

From Taoiseach to, eh, co-Taoiseach

Having coveted the role of Taoiseach for so long, Micheál Martin finally took office in June 2020 amid a pandemic that had shuttered schools and large swathes of the economy.

Added to that, he was forced from the outset to have a set departure date just two and a half years later, as well as having to share the Cabinet room with previous foes Fine Gael.

That did not stop Martin from assuming the role and avoiding the ignominy of becoming the first Fianna Fáil leader in history to fail to do so.

Even if his early weeks were plagued by teething problems, a banishment from north Cork, and the sacking of one agriculture minister and the resignation of another, Martin played down the idea that his arrival into office could have been smoother. Martin’s departure, likewise, comes at a time of international flux with the war in Ukraine compounding record inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

The now-Tánaiste has maintained he will lead Fianna Fáil into the next general election, so he has a chance of reaching the office once more, but if this was his sole effort as leader of the country, Martin will point to the end of Covid restrictions and a massive effort in assisting Ukrainian refugees as major achievements.