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An ‘as láthair’ Taoiseach, ‘no focal at all’ Fine Gael Ministers, and a ‘ghost’ portfolio

A no-show by Harris in the Dáil provided much of the heat in his first full day in the job.

The Opposition was left unimpressed as Simon Harris did not take his first Leaders' Questions as Taoiseach due to pre-arranged phone calls with foreign leaders.

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Harry McGee
Thu Apr 11 2024 - 08:08

It was a strange first working day as Taoiseach for Simon Harris, replete with non-appearances, confusion over who was Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, and confusion too over whether or not the Mayo TD Michael Ring was offered a junior ministry position.

As we report in the lead this morning, Simon Harris conducted his first Cabinet meeting which appointed new Ministers of State, spoke on the phone with British prime minister Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and began preparation for a whistle stop tour of Brussels and Warsaw today, during the course of which he will meet EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and at least six EU leaders.

In Brussels he will raise Ireland’s intention to formally recognise the state of Palestine with von der Leyen, an initiative being taken by the State along with a small number of other EU States.

But yesterday was all about what Miriam Lord described as his Houdini act, with a no-show in the Dáil for what the Opposition anticipated was his first Leaders’ Questions.

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As you would expect, the Opposition went to town on it. Mary Lou McDonald probed an uncomfortable Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton to find out why he wasn’t there to find out that he had a Cabinet meeting and had to make phone calls to world leaders.

“He is not present because he had to make three phone calls,” declared McDonald. “The last words spoken by the Taoiseach yesterday were ‘Let’s get to work’. It was his first day on the job and he is a no show. He is ‘as láthair’.”

As Miriam notes in her super piece, McDonald did not pass over the opportunity of an open goal.

“No chance of Mary Lou turning down that particular gift horse. After she drove home her winner, delightedly outraged colleagues from the other parties queued up for their chance to hit the back of the net too.”

Marie O’Halloran also captured the essence of the Dáil exchanges on no-show Simon.

The new Taoiseach may not have had time to grace the Dáil with his presence but he had time to do a photocell with the new junior ministers and also to do a TikTok about his first day at school.

That infuriated Sinn Féin which launched a war of words on TikTok excoriating the Taoiseach for not showing up, even providing a screenshot showing his empty seat in the Dáil.

“Totally unacceptable”, harrumphed McDonald in one TikTok. “He said yesterday that he was going to get up and at it and move mountains. That is not the case.”

The TikTok war between Harris and McDonald certainly grabbed public attention – 133,000 views for Harris and a cool 280,000 for McDonald’s riposte.

The disappearing Gaeltacht portfolio

It is the role of the Cabinet to formally appoint Ministers of State. There were no surprises as to their identities with the three appointed – Alan Dillon; Eimear Higgins; and Colm Burke – having been well flagged beforehand. Cormac McQuinn has written profiles of the new Ministers and their portfolios.

The surprises came in the portfolios that were allotted, or not allotted in the circumstances. In the afternoon it emerged that none of the new Ministers of State had been given the Gaeltacht brief even though it was a Fine Gael responsibility in the second half of Government.

Then news started coming out that the gig had been offered to the Fianna Fáil Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne because no Fine Gael minister had been willing to take on the role. That led to some confusion because sources on the Fine Gael side suggested that Hildegarde Naughton would take on the role.

In the end it turned out that the portfolio had been handed back over to Fianna Fáil because Fine Gael could not find a Minister who was willing, or sufficiently proficient in Irish, to take on the job. Byrne, a fluent speaker and a strong supporter of the language, was delighted to take on the role.

For politicians from other parties, it showed the low priority which the Irish language holds in the Fine Gael world view. The word “náireach” was uttered more than once during the course of conversations yesterday.

Michael Ring and the mysterious ministry offer

There were some strange stories yesterday but perhaps the strangest was the comments by Michael Ring on Mid West Radio (MWR) that Simon Harris had offered him a role as Minister of State but he had turned it down.

Ring told MWR he did not think he could “deliver on anything” as a junior minister in the remaining lifetime of the Government which he put at nine months and that he was offered two roles but “none of them that had any spending power”.

Afterwards he told The Irish Times that “when the Taoiseach offered me the job I suggested that Alan Dillion should be the one that would get it.”

Harris was asked about it at the photocall for the new junior ministers, which included the new Minister of State Mayo TD Alan Dillon.

Asked about Mr Ring’s comments that he had turned down a junior ministry Mr Harris replied: “Michael’s a great colleague”.

Mr Ring later declined to say which roles he was offered, telling The Irish Times he did not want to cause the Taoiseach any embarrassment, while standing over his remarks that he was offered two jobs.

It’s a mystery that will never be answered.

Best reads

The normally understated Michael McGrath let fly at Danny Healy-Rae and Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty during a Dáil debate on fuel duties, as Marie O’Halloran reports.

An analysis of the background to the decision by Ireland to press for early recognition of the state of Palestine.

An interesting analysis by former diplomat Bobby McDonagh on the recent The recent report by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) on the estimated costs of Irish unity, prepared by John FitzGerald and Edgar Morgenroth.

In an opinion piece this morning, Israeli ambassador Dana Erlich discloses that the invitation to her to attend the Fine Gael Ard Fheis last week was withdrawn amid a “contagion of anti-Israeli sentiment in Ireland’.

Jack Power and Sorcha Pollak report that Ireland will returned asylum seeker with failed applications more quickly following the passing of new laws, to harden EU borders, in the European Parliament yesterday.

Playbook

Taoiseach Simon Harris travels to Brussels and Warsaw.

In Brussels, he is expected to raise Ireland’s intention to formally recognise the state of Palestine with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

In Warsaw, the situation in Gaza is also expected to be discussed when he meets European Council president Charles Michel and the prime ministers of six EU countries, including Poland’s Donald Tusk, at a gathering in Warsaw later in the day.

Another light day of parliamentary business

Dáil Éireann

10:30: Parliamentary Questions to Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien

12:00: Leaders’ Questions. No Simon Harris today either.

13:44: Statements to mark the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Smoking Ban in Ireland

Seanad Éireann

12.15: Motion regarding opt-in to an EU measure enhancing police co-operation against the trafficking of human beings (Department of Justice)

13.15: Road Traffic Bill 2024 – Committee and Remaining Stages

Committees

Many of the meetings scheduled for Wednesday were pushed back until today, so apologies if the Committee schedule has triggered deja vu.

09.30: Health

Funding and implementation of the National Cancer Strategy.

09.30: Social Protection

Impact of Means Testing on the State Pension and other Social Welfare Schemes

13:00: Select Committee on Housing

Committee Stage consideration of the Planning and Development Bill 2023 (resumed) with Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Housing.

13.30 Finance: Detailed scrutiny of the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023 (resumed)

13.30: Tourism, Arts, Sports and Media

The integration of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and Camogie Association with the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Former president Mary McAleese will attend the hearing in her role as chair of the integration steering committee.

17.30: Education

Discussion on Key Issues for the Department of Education with Norma Foley, Minister for Education..

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