Fallon's Town Talk: Harris’s rise to power is smooth and precisely planned
Simon Harris speaks to the media after being confirmed as the new leader of Fine Gael, paving the way for him to become Ireland's youngest premier, at the Midlands North-West European Election Selection Convention, at the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone.
All those who get involved in politics know how bruising a game it is. Those of us on the outside looking on can only marvel at the ruthlessness of its practitioners. Leo Varadkar is still Taoiseach for a few more days, but from the moment Varadkar announced he was resigning last Wednesday week, he became yesterday’s man. Now all the attention is on Simon Harris, the man who is set to become Taoiseach next week.
While it emerged that the consigliere behind Harris’s accession to power was former EU commissioner, Phil Hogan, the strategy to win the FG leadership was straight from the Leo playbook seven years ago. Just as Varadkar’s allies were out of the traps to extol his virtues to the media with a rota of military precision which left Simon Coveney flat-footed and chasing a lost cause before the contest had even begun, so it was with Harris’s admirers this time around.
First out was Neale Redmond on ‘Morning Ireland’, followed by an array of geographically-diverse supporters. None of the heavy-hitters in the cabinet were among that group but by lunchtime the game was up. Like fellow ‘Roscommon Herald’ columnist, John Mulligan, I was intrigued by the prospect of Heather Humphreys running for the leadership and possibly becoming the first-ever female head of government.
However, Heather showcased her renowned shrewdness by realising Harris had the votes in the bag. It appears she did a deal to become FG’s deputy leader and then went public to back Simon. It was as smooth a coronation as Harris could have wished.
Ivan Yates is the loudest, if not the most insightful or nuanced, political analyst around. Yates was adamant on his knockabout podcast with Matt Cooper, ‘Path to Power’, that Harris is not Varadkar 2.0 because he’s not a private-school educated ‘posh boy’ and is more akin to man of the people, Enda Kenny. However, when Yates got carried away and threw out a comparison between Harris and JFK, his assertion lost credibility.
For many ordinary voters, Harris is best known as the Minister for Health whose travails in that department led to a vote of no confidence which ultimately caused the 2020 General Election. He also comes across as a chameleon without any firm political beliefs.
Harris’s dramatic switch from being an ardent pro-lifer when he entered the Dáil in 2011 to spearheading the Repeal the 8th campaign seven years later raises suspicions for those on both sides of that most emotive of issues.
Of course, that elusive quality means Harris can pivot on the major issues of the day: housing, homelessness, health, education, and immigration. His views on Northern Ireland are unknown and, with turmoil and uncertainty possible in the wake of Jeffrey Donaldson’s seismic resignation on Good Friday, Harris will need to get a handle on the labyrinthine politics of the North quickly. He could defer to the more experienced Micheál Martin but that would not be a good look for a new FG leader.
Michael Ring’s claim that FG has been “too left for too long” was a clever soundbite but only time will tell if the Taoiseach-elect pays heed to Ring’s warning. Some media pundits pushed back against Ring last week and Harris has long been assiduous in cultivating the media.
Harris’s speech in Athlone on assuming the FG leadership was a reassertion of core FG principles. To be honest, Harris reached out to the very same ‘people who get up early in the morning’ that Varadkar promised to help in 2017 without ever following through on that promise.
Harris hasn’t much room to manoeuvre on a front bench reshuffle and it’s likely he will have to mollify some Independents this week to clinch his nomination for Taoiseach. What that mollifying involves should be intriguing.
Whatever the case, Harris has less than 12 months to make his mark. How much less that 12 months his tenure will be could be determined by the Local and European election results in June.
It was a busy and buoyant Easter in Roscommon Town. The weather played ball for most of the weekend with the sun shining for the Easter Parade on Sunday which attracted the traditional large crowd. The Roscommon Easter Festival was a success and deserved reward for the diligent organising committee. Huge congregations attended the Sacred Heart Church for the Easter ceremonies, especially on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Overall, it was a good weekend for the town.
