HARRIS AND VARADKAR MEET AHEAD OF SWITCH
All eyes now on reshuffling of the Cabinet
LEO Varadkar and Simon Harris met in Government Buildings for over an hour yesterday as the transition between Taoisigh gets under way.
Attention is now turning to a Cabinet reshuffle and whether Simon Coveney will be dropped from the top table.
Mr Harris will become Taoiseach on April 9.
A spokesman for Mr Varadkar said: “The Taoiseach briefed the Fine Gael leader on upcoming national and international issues.”
While the idea of bringing the Dail back next week so that Mr Harris could be appointed Taoiseach had been mooted, several senior sources told the Irish Mirror it did not come up at the meeting. Rumours and speculation are
now rife about how Mr Harris will chop and change his Cabinet.
Minister Coveney has the biggest question mark hanging over his head and it is being widely suggested that he may be axed from Cabinet after 13 years.
Many of his party colleagues noted his energetic and “witty” performance at the Fine Gael Midlands–north-west selection convention in Athlone on
Sunday. At one point, he welcomed the Ministers to the event, noting that they were “ministers for now at least”. He quickly added that he was not including himself in that statement.
There are also questions about whether Helen Mcentee will remain in the Justice portfolio.
Calls are growing within Fianna Fail for the next General Election to be held before March 2025. This is despite Harris saying on Sunday that the Government will run full term. A General Election must be held by late-march 2025.
Veteran TD Willie O’dea told RTE’S Today with Claire Byrne that it could be “bad practice” to call an election at the “last possible moment” in case a scandal erupts and the Government has no time to push the poll back.
His Fianna Fail colleague John Mcguinness said he believes there should be an election “immediately after the summer” or in September.
He also said Taoiseach Simon Harris “wasn’t part of the original deal”.
Last night, the White House said President Joe Biden spoke with outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to recognise “his seven years of service”.