An ‘accidental politician’ set now to be the TikTok Teesh!
HE is the self-described ‘accidental politician’.
And now Simon Harris, 37, is poised to become the country’s youngest Taoiseach – and leader of Fine Gael – seemingly unopposed after Leo Varadkar’s sudden resignation.
In a matter of hours, the Wicklow TD garnered a plethora of parliamentarians, MEPs and councillors to back him as the party’s next leader following Mr Varadkar’s shock decision.
The father-of-two has been described by his party colleagues as ‘energetic’, ‘a great communicator’ and as having a ‘vision for Ireland that is about equality of opportunity’.
A media-savvy and personable politician – boasting an impressive 92,000 followers on TikTok – he has been at the helm of three departments over eight years.
His visibility during his tenure as Justice Minister – covering for Helen McEntee while she was on maternity leave – fuelled speculation over his interest in a leadership bid for the so-called ‘law and order’ party.
A student of journalism at DIT at one point, he has quickly gone from writing about headlines to making them.
As a young boy growing up in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Mr Harris is said to have repeatedly stated that he wanted to be Taoiseach one day.
Speaking on RTÉ News last night, he described himself as an ‘accidental politician’, saying his brother’s journey helped to pave his own.
His sibling Adam is the founder and chief executive officer of AsIAm, Ireland’s National Autism Charity, which provides information and breaks down the stigma surrounding autism.
After cutting his political teeth as an assistant to former justice minister Frances Fitzgerald when she was a senator, and then working as a councillor, he was elected to the Dáil as its youngest TD in 2011 – at the age of 25 – when he took the third seat in the Wicklow constituency.
Mr Harris’s maiden speech in the Dáil was to nominate Enda Kenny as Taoiseach.
He served as a junior minister in the Department of Finance from 2014 before being propelled to the role of Minister for Health in the Fine Gael-led minority government that was formed in 2016.
In one of the country’s most difficult ministries, Mr Harris faced issues such as the ownership of the National Maternity Hospital, the spiralling cost of the National Children’s Hospital and a controversy around the cervical cancer screening programme.
After the public voted to liberalise its abortion laws in a 2018 referendum, Mr Harris received praise – and even adoration – by campaigners who viewed him a strong voice for the Yes campaign.
In the February 2020 general election, Mr Harris was returned on the 15th count and remained as Health Minister.
In the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, he urged people to wear face coverings and adhere to new rules, but was also criticised for an absence of planning for nursing homes.
After incorrectly stating during a radio interview that Covid19 meant there were 18 other coronaviruses, he did a live Instagram video where he showed humility by apologising and stating that he was an ‘awful old idiot at times’.
In a Cabinet reshuffle in December 2022, he was appointed as minister for the newly formed Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
As Higher Education Minister, he toured the country opening and speaking at educational institutions, and during his brief stint as Justice Minister he traversed bogs with families of The Disappeared.
In one of a series of public events that Mr Harris took part in during his last week as Justice Minister, he told a room of gardaí: ‘I want to let you know we have your back.
‘We need to live in a country where we don’t as politicians just wring our hands and condemn, though condemning is
‘Awful old idiot at times’
important – we actually need to update the laws to support the gardaí, and that’s what I’ll endeavour to do.’
He added: ‘It’s very easy for people to sit behind desks, or people like me to go in front of microphones and secondguess the gardaí. I’ll never do that, because I trust your operational judgment.’
In 2017, Mr Harris and his partner Caoimhe tied the knot – with the couple welcoming their first child, a daughter Saoirse, in 2019. Their second child, son Oisín, was born in 2021.
With Mr Harris set to become the youngest Taoiseach in history, breaking the record set previously by Mr Varadkar seven years ago, he has proved that he’s down with the kids – being the most popular Irish politician on TikTok.
On the social media site, he shares highlights of speeches and addresses his 92,000 followers directly – and writes in his bio: ‘Government Minister. Wicklow TD. Optimist.’
And soon to be Taoiseach.