Simon Harris became Ireland’s youngest ever Taoiseach on Tuesday and within hours appointed his first cabinet. In a three-party coalition his Fianna Fáil and Green ministers remained in place. Of the five Fine Gael ministers, Harris left Paschal Donohoe as minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Heather Humphreys as minister for Social Protection; and Department of Rural and Community Development, and Helen McEntee as minister for Justice. They are joined by two new faces Peter Burke as minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and Patrick Donovan as minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Fine Gael minister Hildegarde Naughten remains as Chief Whip with a seat in cabinet.
On Wednesday there were three new Fine Gael ministers of state, Colm Burke for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Emer Higgins for Business, Employment and Retail and she will have a role at the Department of Social Protection. Alan Dillon becomes minister for Local Government and Planning at the Department of Housing.
In changes for Fine Gael junior ministers the Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughten takes over responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion. Jennifer Carroll MacNeil moves from Finance to Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for EU Affairs; and the Department of Defence. Her previous role at Finance is taken by Neale Richmond who has special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance. Kieran O’Donnell has moved from Local Government to the Office of Public Works (OPW).
The voluntary departure of former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his deputy leader and Enterprise minister Simon Coveney gave Harris two senior slots to fill. He chose not to move Justice minister Helen McEntee to another department, though he clearly identified law and order as an issue Fine Gael must do better on. The reshuffle is modest in scale and while avoiding sacking a Fine Gael colleague, it may also turn out to be a modest effect.
The premise of Simon Harris’s initial offering as Taoiseach and party leader is that he brings new energy. He has just over eight weeks to save the seats of vulnerable Fine Gael councillors and MEPs. At the last local and European elections Fine Gael polled over 25% of the vote. An average of opinion polls puts them about five points behind that, which spells imminent electoral trouble.
In making his limited choices on cabinet formation, Harris has pivoted away from the metropolitanism personified by Leo Varadkar towards Fine Gael’s previously rural base and small business. He has chosen initially to emphasise housing, which is the overriding issue for aspirational voters who might vote Fine Gael. Farming is also emphasised, while he has had less to say about climate, which is seen by many in rural Ireland as a policy burden. In tandem the Green Party and its leader Eamon Ryan are unpopular among potential rural Fine Gael voters. There is also a sense that crime is on the rise and that there are not enough Gardaí. Harris has only weeks to address and staunch this disaffection before his first electoral test.
He is running against the clock and in very constricted circumstances. The Government is in its last year. Most of its important decisions are made, and Budget 2025 in October or late September will be the last significant act, barring an unforeseen crisis. Then there is momentum and morale. 11 of 33 Fine Gael TDs have announced their retirement, and that does not include Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney. In addition, there are others in the offing.
Holding on to councillors and MEPs is an immediate imperative. Having a candidate base to replace retiring TDs is another. Overarching that is the challenge of reaching again former or likely Fine Gael voters who no longer identify with the party. In that regard Harris will attempt to reset his party’s identity as more focused on bread-and-butter issues rather than social change, and on the traditional concerns of his party that formerly prioritised law and order, small business, farmers and rural Ireland more generally.
