Youngest TD says 'reverse ageism' at play in politics

THE DÁIL’S youngest TD, Simon Harris, has complained of “reverse ageism” in Leinster House and called for the party whip system to be reviewed to allow free votes on moral issues.

The 24-year-old Government backbencher, who proposed the nomination of Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, says he is often asked who he works for, while his secretary has been mistakenly assumed to be the politician when the pair walk around together.

“There is a reverse ageism in politics here and it’s really important. Can you imagine me turning around to a nameless TD of an older vintage and saying to him, ‘You’re too old to do this job’? There’d be uproar.”

One of three Fine Gael TDs in the Wicklow constituency, Mr Harris is conscious of the importance of making his mark in light of the Government’s large majority.

He argues the Dáil should follow the example of the UK parliament, which gives MPs more freedom to vote with their consciences.

“I do think that the whip system in the Irish parliament should be reviewed, similar to what they do in Westminster, which doesn’t happen very often.

“But every now and again you have a vote that isn’t a vote on an economic matter,” he said.

“You can’t get complacent about the big majority. We all have an onus to support the programme for government and the manifestos that we got elected on and signed up to.

“But I personally think that the Oireachtas should look at the way the Westminster parliament system is structured to give MPs more freedom on moral issues or social issues.”

He joined Fine Gael at the age of 16. A great-uncle was a councillor in Dun Laoghaire but his parents were not party political.

His political ambitions eventually took precedence over completing his studies in journalism and French at DIT, but he is determined to secure his degree at some point.

Mr Harris worked for former Fine Gael Seanad leader and now Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald in the last Oireachtas, so he knew his way around Leinster House.

What are his long-term ambitions? “I know that Cabinet and department is where it’s at, so obviously I’d love to serve.”

He said his preference would be to be attached to a department that touched on areas he is passionate about.

“For me they’re issues like mental health, disability, education, but we shall see.”

He stressed he is not expecting a call from Mr Kenny any time soon.

Mr Harris was widely praised for the tone of his speech proposing Mr Kenny as Taoiseach. Speaking on the first day of the new Dáil, he told the chamber: “Today, the period of mourning is over for Ireland. Today, we hang out our brightest colours and together, under Deputy Kenny’s leadership, we move forward yet again as a nation”.

He was pleased when Mr Kenny picked up the “brightest colours” phrase in his acceptance speech.

Both men were echoing the words used by the writer George Bernard Shaw after Michael Collins’s assassination in 1922 in a letter to Collins’s sister, Joanna: “So tear up your mourning and hang out your brightest colours in his honour”.