Martin Is New Fianna Fail Leader

Micheal Martin (50) has been elected as the eighth leader of Fianna Fail.

He easily overcame the challenges of Brian Lenihan, Eamon O'Cuiv and Mary Hanafin in a vote among elected TDs from the party last Wednesday, winning more than double the votes of his nearest rival.

Mr Martin's election came just one week after he led a failed leadership challenge against Brian Cowen.

But after the Taoiseach resigned when he botched an attempt at a cabinet reshuffle, Mr Martin was in pole position in the race to succeed him.

Mr Cowen remains as caretaker Taoiseach during the election, but Mr Martin will lead Fianna Fail in the campaign.

Previous leaders of the party include Bertie Ahern, Albert Reynolds, Charles Haughey, Jack Lynch, Sean Lemass and Eamon DeValera.

Some political observers believe that Mr Martin could be the first leader of Fianna Fail who will never serve as Taoiseach such is the scale of their expected collapse in support in the upcoming election.

But nevertheless Mr Martin said he was honored to have been selected, and he believed there was a strong future for Fianna Fail.

"At its most creative and effective we have always been committed to a middle-way which believes that a commitment to both economic growth and social progress can and must go hand-in-hand," he said in his acceptance speech.

He immediately set a new tone as leader - apologizing straight away for mistakes the party made during its term in office.

"I'm sorry for the mistakes we made, and that I made as a minister," he said, "but the most important thing is that we learn the lessons and ensure that in the future we don't make the same mistakes."

Mr Martin pointed out that he was not born into politics.

He was the son of a bus driver, and the first in his family to complete second level and university education.

Micheal Martin has been a TD for Cork South Central since 1989 and has served in four senior Ministries since 1997 - Education, Health, Enterprise and Foreign Affairs.

His biggest political achievement was the introduction of a workplace smoking ban while Minister for Health, making Ireland the first country in the world to adopt such a hardline approach.

He also established the Health Service Executive (HSE), abolishing regional health boards.

As Foreign Affairs minister he oversaw the successful second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and was central to the Farmleigh initiative for a global network for Irish diaspora.

His critics say he can be indecisive, but his supporters point out that he is an excellent communicator, something that was severely lacking in his predecessor.

That will stand him in good stead in the upcoming election campaign, and he immediately put it to good use.

Mr Martin stole a march on the other party leaders by calling for a series of TV debates with the three main leaders.

In his personal life, Micheal Martin has known family tragedy.

He and his wife Mary recently buried their youngest daughter, Leana, who died from a heart condition, and also lost a son Ruairi as an infant.

They have three other children.

The new Fianna Fail leader will have little time to prove himself with an election just a few weeks away.

His party is still selecting candidates in some areas, and he will not have much time to devise and implement an overall campaign strategy.

With Fianna Fail languishing in the polls, it remains to be seen if having Micheal Martin's face on the poster instead of Brian Cowen's will make any significant difference.