Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said technology companies have to “pony up” and face up to regulations. 

Mr Martin is attending the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis in Dublin today, with over 1,500 members expected to attend the event. 

Among the issues on the table is growing issues of misinformation online, particularly in the wake of Mr Martin bringing Google to the High Court over “fake adverts” that he says were used to defame him. 

He told The Anton Savage Show fake adverts suggesting he was promoting cryptocurrency is one drop in a wider, treacherous ocean of misinformation. 

“The problem for us in politics is what happens in the middle of a general election if more refined methodology emerges?” he said. 

“I think the technology companies have to pony up. 

“They really have to get to grips with our model, and really understand that they're part of a society.” 

Martin on Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil

Mr Martin was also told a former colleague of his said the next Government will “definitely [be] Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil”. 

“The numbers don’t add up in many different directions,” he said. “I think that lazy analysis that my former colleague seems to have talked himself into, it's just that - lazy analysis. 

“Anyone who looks at the figures over the years, this is wide open. 

“It’s a fragmented Dáil - the current Government, if we take the three constituent parties, they’re well over 40%. 

“If we've learned anything from recent general elections and referendums, it's the last 10 days are crucial – forget the polls.” 

Sinn Féin 'taken by the nose by the far left'

Mr Martin also said a coalition between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin would be completely incompatible. 

“Sinn Féin is always taken by the nose by the far left,” he said. “Whatever the far-left do, Sinn Féin isn’t far behind on housing, the economy. 

“I mean at one stage on the energy crisis, they have the same proposals as Liz Truss - and you saw what happened with Liz Truss when she tried to do that. 

“It seems to me extraordinarily difficult for us, given our policy platform, to go into Government with Sinn Féin. 

“For example, they oppose trade agreements – I was back from Canada recently [and] Irish exports to Canada have gone up from one billion to four billion. 

“That’s Irish jobs, yet Sinn Féin believes we shouldn’t have ratified the CETA deal.” 

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