Irish leader Brian Cowen battles move to replace him

Read more: Political coup to replace Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said to be underway

Irish Prime Minster Brian Cowen has insisted that he will not resign as leader of the party, at the Fianna Fail parliamentary meeting, on Thursday afternoon. He said he will meet with each Fianna Fail TD and Senator before deciding what is best of the party.

Over the past 24 hours rumors have been circulating that Brian Cowen was facing mounting pressure to step aside as the party’s leader but remain as Prime Minister untl the General Election in March.

However from before the Fianna Fail party at 3pm on Thursday it was clear that Mr Cowen would not go down without a fight.

Mr Cowen is now adamant that if his leadership is in question a member of his party should put down a motion of no confidence in him. This will be debated at next week’s parliamentary party meeting.

Although Mr Cowen acknowledged that there were issues concerning his leadership he stood his ground and refused to step aside.

Earlier on Thursday Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin announced that a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach has been proposed by “The Technical Group”, including Sinn Fein and two independent TDs.

His proposal is separate from Fianna Fail’s internal discussions. Their proposal would allow all TDs in Parliament to vote on whether Mr Cowen should remain as head of Government. However, this motion may not be heard until March.