Significant challenges for the new leader
OUR congratulations go to Leo Varadkar, the new leader of Fine Gael, and Taoiseach-in-waiting. If he spends the weekend celebrating, that is understandable, but the party will be short lived. Abroad, much has been made of his ethnic background and personal life, but the only thing we really care about is his performance in the job – and that is why he might have grounds for worry.
In part, due to his own constant pressure on Enda Kenny and to his clear leadership ambitions, he has contributed to a general air of instability that has prevented this Government from properly doing its job. Mr Kenny did not help by signalling, so early after last year’s election, that he would not lead the party into another.
Every new leader needs time to bed in, and it was for the best that the baton was passed after a year in power, and not towards the back end of the term. The prevailing hesitancy has not been good for us, though. Allied to the flimsy pact with Independents and the prickly confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fáil that keeps this minority Government afloat, this is a precarious administration, always just one major spat away from returning to the country for a fresh mandate.
To be fair, Mr Varadkar appears to have hit the ground running – by meeting with his defeated opponent Simon Coveney and planning early meetings with Fianna Fáil and the Independents. That is good news.
Immediately, though, he also must start to clear the legislative logjam. This government has passed fewer Bills in its first year than any in recent memory. Wellmeant attempts to solve the homelessness crisis are proceeding far too slowly. The health service is in crisis and Brexit is on the horizon. Confidence in the management of An Garda Síochána is dwindling. These are significant challenges and they must be addressed head on. A new justice minister, for example, might allow speedy action on the gardaí.
Mr Varadkar never has been shy of providing a soundbite, but now he must show real substance. Foreign media also have highlighted his age, and associated him with the likes of France’s President Macron and Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau. Both of those men have been galvanising, inspirational politicians in their own right, but Mr Varadkar must forge his own way in very different circumstances. If the so-called new politics means anything, then the new regime led by a young, vibrant taoiseach must embrace the many challenges of what, with the elevation of Mr Varadkar, is a very new Ireland.