The reaction in Irish political and diplomatic circles when the news came through that Michel Barnier had been appointed French prime minister was one of unqualified delight.
While his new job will be overwhelmingly domestic-focused, there are few if any foreign politicians who are spoken about in Dublin in such glowing terms. Barnier is reckoned to be a firm friend of Ireland. And it’s never any harm to have friends in high places.
Barnier was the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator during the long war of attrition with the UK over the terms of its exit from the bloc. At the time of the Brexit vote the commonly-held view among the Brexiteers who held the commanding heights of British politics was that the desire of the Germans to sell their cars to the UK (and of the French to sell their cheese and wine, and the Spanish and Italians to sell their olive oi, and so on, and so on) would mean that Ireland’s interests and wishes would be suborned to the interests of the big countries.
To summarise a very long story, that is not what happened. The EU – to British fury – insisted that Ireland’s priorities were the EU priorities, and any deal would have to recognise that. The man fronting this policy was Michel Barnier. He became a hate figure in the UK and a sort of national champion in Ireland.
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He worked closely with the then minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney, with whom he developed a close political and personal relationship which endures to this day. Barnier texted him when Coveney stepped down from Cabinet before the summer; on Thursday the former Fine Gael minister was texting the new prime minister his congratulations and good wishes.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Coveney recalled how, during the Brexit negotiations, he invited Barnier to Dublin for a France-Ireland rugby match. He came with his son; another son was living in Dublin at the time. As Coveney and the Barniers walked down Lansdowne Road towards the stadium they were frequently stopped by other match-goers who wanted to thank Barnier personally for his support during Brexit. It clearly made an impression on him.
“He listens,” Coveney says. “He really did listen to Ireland, he met people on the ground in Border counties and he really made the effort to understand it from our perspective. He’s good on detail, a very tough negotiator but he’s willing to find common ground.”
Former Irish ambassador to the EU Declan Kelleher said that Barnier and the Irish government had developed “an enormous degree of mutual trust” during the Brexit negotiations.
Similarly, former Irish diplomat Rory Montgomery remembers “a steadfast friend of Ireland in the Brexit negotiations, though so were the EU institutions and the major member states. Of course it was a matter of head more than heart – once the European Council adopted its negotiating mandate he followed it rigidly and there was no conflict in his broader objectives and ours.”
Montgomery remembers “a particularly good relationship with Simon Coveney, and his team worked very closely with officials”.
Another of those officials says that in everything Barnier was “meticulous” – and his account of the negotiations certainly bears this out – in everything: presentation, preparation, personal relations. “His manners are exemplary,” one official recalled. “He remembered me every time I met him. He said hello to everyone in our delegation.” He remembered everyone in the Irish embassy in Brussels, right down to third secretaries, the lowest diplomatic rank.”
“A very measured, experienced and astute politician,” said Tánaiste Micheál Martin, while Taoiseach Simon Harris called him “a great friend of Ireland and a politician of substance and experience”.
All agreed that Barnier faces a daunting task in his new role. But Coveney stresses his ability to “build political alliances”, adding “he’s been doing it his whole career”.
Barnier is a montagnard, a mountain-dweller, whose home is in the Alpine highlands of the Savoie. “We montagnards always move forward,” he once said. “We never retreat.”
But he faces some steep slopes ahead.
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