Micheál Martin arrived into the Cork city election centre to rapturous applause today. Tallies show that Fianna Fáil on 41% of the vote in the area.
Martin has now stated that his party will nominate him for Taoiseach on March 10
th.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One he states the party remained strong even when it seemed unlikely that they would prevail.
"We had faith, going way back to 2012, and we were consistent and the local elections gave us a great platform," he said.
"I think our message resonated with people. We kept our feet on the ground, we kept connected to communities.
"And that will be the strongest challenge - to stay connected to the realities on the ground. I think the government lost touch too quickly.
He continued to say that the parties core messages will all focus around the family.
“And I think we, in terms of our core message of quality jobs, cutting costs for families, resourcing and strengthening communities, reasserting the principle of home ownership and ending the scandal of homelessness - they were key pillars of our platform that really struck a chord with people on the ground and on the doorsteps."
Fianna Fáil are expected to double their seats in the Dáil and with the unexpected success, Martin admits the party should have attempted to run more candidates but the gender quota made it difficult.
He
continued to say that he will always put the country first.
"We have done that (listened to the Irish people). We have worked very hard over the past five years to listen to what the Irish people had to say.
"We will now listen very carefully to the message they spelled out at the ballot box."
Check out what he had to say when we met him earlier in the week.
