O’Brien and McConalogue favourites for plum EU job
FF pair lead race but FG say Commissioner post up for negotiation
THE race for Ireland’s next European Commissioner ‘is firmly between’ two Fianna Fáil Cabinet ministers, the Irish Daily Mail has learned.
The contest for the €248,000a-year job is between Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, sources indicate.
Ireland will nominate a new Commissioner following the European elections in June. The current office holder is Fine Gael MEP Mairéad McGuinness, who holds the Financial Services portfolio.
Mr McConalogue, a TD for Donegal, is viewed as the favourite to replace her, with his possible departure prompting the political reemergence of party veteran Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher, who lost his Dáil seat in 2020. Mr McConalogue has a fight on his hands in the area in the next general election, with the mica crisis in particular having cost him support locally.
Were he to depart for Brussels, a seasoned campaigner like Pat The Cope would be a prime candidate to replace him.
Earlier this month Mr Gallagher, 75, said he would not allow his name to be put forward for consideration for the Fianna Fáil nomination for the European Parliament.
Mr Gallagher, first elected as a TD for Donegal in 1981, wrote that he would ‘remain active’ in the constituency to ‘best prepare’ the party for the upcoming elections, fuelling suspicion that he could return to national politics.
The Fianna Fáil veteran polled 7,469 first preference votes in the 2020 General Election, 2,000 more than Independent TD Thomas Pringle, who was ultimately elected on transfers.
Minister O’Brien would be a surprise candidate, but notably refused to rule himself out of the contest recently. He told the Business Post last month: ‘Any time in politics I’ve been asked to do a job I’ve never refused it because we’re here to do a job. To be straight, there’s been no discussion about it. I’ve been in the Dáil since 2007, I genuinely love the job I do.
‘It continues to be a real honour and pleasure to serve at Cabinet in a very important portfolio that we are making progress in.’
Asked if he would like to be a European Commissioner, Mr O’Brien said: ‘That’s a different question. The European Commission holds a very, very important role.
‘So if someone was lucky enough to be asked to do that, of course you’d consider it. Whenever I’ve been asked by my party leader to do a job politically, I’ve never refused. My big focus though is the next election.’
One party source said that while they believed Mr O’Brien would be a ‘capable’ candidate for the role, he should remain here to focus on continuing on delivering the Government’s housing plan.
Despite an understanding under the terms of the historic deal to form a government between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens, that the Commissioner position would be filled by a Fianna Fáil candidate, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar indicated before Christmas that he believed the role was still open to negotiation.
Before Christmas, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said there was a ‘clear understanding and agreement’ that the nominee would be selected by the Fianna Fáil party.
Around the same time, Mr Varadkar said there was ‘no written agreement’ on the matter.
Asked on RTÉ Radio One’s Drivetime in January whether there was a clear understanding that the Commissioner would be selected by Fianna Fáil, the Taoiseach said: ‘That may well be the case, but that’s something that we’re going to discuss when the situation arises.’
Ms McGuinness has indicated that she would like to serve a second term as Commissioner.
A bid by Fine Gael to seize the Commissioner role could cause tensions in the Coalition, given that Fianna Fáil allowed Paschal Donohoe to retain the job of Eurogroup president when it was due to rotate to Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath.
The appointment is further complicated by the requirement to nominate a male and a female candidate for selection.
Minister would be a surprise candidate