The standard that Taoiseach Harris will be measured against is a better Ireland for all

ON Wednesday, Leo Varadkar shocked the country and his political colleagues by announcing his departure from a role that he seemingly spent his entire life seeking to attain.

His departure means a general election in 2024 is a more remote possibility. Today, Simon Harris will be crowned as the new leader of Fine Gael and presumptive taoiseach. It is highly unlikely that he will not take all of the time left on the clock to try to turn around the impending political catastrophe that has been forewarned by political observers, in these pages and elsewhere.

The idea that the truth dropped so slowly for Mr Varadkar that he could only realise he was not the right man for the job mere hours after returning from the perk of a reception in the Oval Office is somewhat laughable.

The reality is that the Taoiseach must have made his decision well in advance of his trip to Washington DC and, indeed, of the two referendums he foisted upon the electorate. His listless performance in the campaign is called even further into question if, as is beyond all probability, he knew this would be his last spin on the merry-go-round.

So it’s onward to the imminent ascension to the highest office of Minister Harris. His relative youth, demonstrable intelligence, and occasionally irksome energy will hopefully prove assets that he can deploy for the betterment of the Irish people.

Although he has been given the job to secure the fate of his party, we would urge him to realise that the quickest way to salvation is to start to listen to the critics of the Coalition Government he will now be tasked to lead.

The housing issue is the single biggest reason his immediate predecessor was forced to admit that he was not going to be able to turn around Fine Gael’s electoral fortunes.

For many years, radical action has been required in the housing market and, even at this late stage, there are things that can be done immediately to get us on the road to ending this generational crisis. The Construction Industry Federation has insisted we have the capacity, skills and people to annually build 60,000 houses. We have said it here before; if we can do it, we should.

Mr Harris also comes to power at a time when a sinister force stalks the land, where elements attempt to use the thorny topic of immigration to leverage political power. A failure to properly grasp the issue and deal with the concerns of local communities on the one hand, while tackling the unlawful actions of far-right agitators on the other, has only led to further division.

As a former minister for Health, Mr Harris knows better than most the mess that our health service continues to be, bringing unnerving reality to the cynical quip that Ireland is no place to be sick. Altering that perception must be a priority. While a general election may be further away, the local elections are looming ever closer, giving the new leader little time for a honeymoon.

We wish Mr Varadkar well in his political retirement, and we wish the incoming taoiseach a fair wind in his attempts to get to grips with the challenges that face us as a nation.

As we have done with Mr Varadkar, we will cover Mr Harris’s tenure without fear or favour, seeking to hold him to account, but we will do so in the hope that he will realise that the standard by which his success is measured is, as ever, a better Ireland for all of its citizens.