Odds of Laois Offaly TD taking over Fianna Fail slashed

The odds of Laois Offaly TD Barry Cowen taking the reins at Fianna Fail were halved this week after he questioned the performance of the party. 

A tight battle could be on the cards to succeed Micheál Martin as leader of Fianna Fáil as Barry Cowen made a notable move up in the betting.

A new Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks opinion poll made troubled reading for the Fianna Fáil leader with the party lagging behind both Sinn Féin (35%) and Fine Gael (20%) despite their share of support rising one point to 17%.

Now speculation on a successor to Martin as party leader is on the up and Barry Cowen is being backed as a possible contender after he tabled a motion at an internal Fianna Fáil meeting last week questioning their performance in government.

The Laois-Offaly TD has been cut into 6/1 from 12/1 by BoyleSports making him the fourth most likely successor behind long-time favourite Jim O’Callaghan.

The Dublin Bay South TD remains the frontrunner should a vacancy arise, but his odds of 6/5 at the start of the year have eased out to 2/1.

Lawrence Lyons, Spokesperson for BoyleSports commented: “The betting on the next Fianna Fáil leader is now a lot closer than it once was and Barry Cowen is closing in on the favourites. He has been vocal in challenging the leadership and is clearly in punters’ minds having moved into 6/1 from 12/1, so perceived frontrunner Jim O’Callaghan certainly has competition.”