Dublin Senator Averil Power has left Fianna Fail.
The politician who championed gay rights in the run-up to the marriage referendum says Micheal Martin is 'a leader without followers'.
She said that over the past four years she has tried hard to deliver change but has repeatedly been rebuffed by the party.
Senator Power says that she was reprimanded by the party leader when she called publicly to expel Bertie Ahern and her strategy to improve female participation in the party has largely been ignored.
But Averil says the party's stance on same sex marriage was the final straw:
The senator will see out her term in the Seanad as an Independent, and has not yet decided if she will run in the next Dail election
Watch this space!
