Coveney up for promotion as Brexit tops the agenda
BREXIT will become the political priority following a day of drama which saw Frances Fitzgerald forced to resign as Tánaiste.
After being paralysed by political rancour for almost a week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has pledged to focus on securing a deal that will prevent a Border with Northern Ireland.
But his political capital within Fine Gael has been severely damaged, and a general election has likely only been postponed until early next year.
Fianna Fáil has eased the pressure on Mr Varadkar’s limp Government over the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe so that preparations can intensify for the EU Council summit on December 14.
In the Dáil, Mr Varadkar admitted: “An important summit is coming up in only two weeks’ time and I have been unable to give that any of my attention for the past number of days.”
Sources say the Taoiseach is now looking at the possibility of appointing Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney as the new tánaiste.
Such a move would help the embattled Taoiseach on two fronts as it would boost the Brexit minister’s standing at a crucial moment in the negotiations, and may also help appease grassroots members who have been shaken by his own handling of the recent crisis. An announcement on the new deputy prime minister is expected as early as today – with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe also in the running.
Confirming her resignation to Cabinet yesterday morning, Ms Fitzgerald said she did not want the controversy surrounding her position to distract any further from the work on Brexit.
“It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve in Government, but I believe it is necessary to take this decision to avoid an unwelcome and potentially destabilising general election at this historically critical time,” she said.
The now former minister, who was last night selected to run in the Dublin Mid-West constituency whenever an election occurs, said she will “always be grateful” to Mr Varadkar for his support in the past week.
She added that she will now go to the Charleton tribunal, which is investigation allegations of a smear campaign against Sgt McCabe, in a bid to “vindicate” her good name.
Among the names being tipped for promotion in a mini-reshuffle as a result of the vacancy in the Department of Enterprise are Heather Humphreys, Helen McEntee, Josepha Madigan, Damien English and Martin Heydon.
Ms Fitzgerald’s resignation is being viewed as a major win for Fianna Fáil leader Micheál
Martin, who risked a general election by playing hardball with the Taoiseach.
He has also outsmarted Sinn Féin, which placed the original Dáil motion of no confidence in Ms Fitzgerald in a bid to destabilise relations between Fianna Fáil and the minority Government.
Mr Martin said himself and the Taoiseach “worked genuinely” to avoid an election.
“Our positions on Brexit have always been aligned in terms of the national interest. That will continue, and we will continue to facilitate the workings of government in the coming months and beyond, in line with the confidence and supply agreement, to ensure this country has the necessary stability to meet the very fundamental challenges that are facing our nation at the present time,” the Opposition leader said.
Briefing the Dáil on Ms Fitzgerald’s resignation, the Taoiseach said she offered it up at her volition. Mr Varadkar said: “A good woman is leaving office without getting a full and fair hearing.”
He blamed the Department of Justice for creating “a sorry state of affairs”, saying if officials had provided accurate information more quickly it would have prevented a “feeding frenzy” that engulfed Ms Fitzgerald.
Mr Varadkar said it “was never, and will never, be my intention to plunge this country into an unnecessary general election”.
“I did everything I could over the last number of days to ensure that was not the case because we have a lot of work to do as a Government, not least with phase one and two of the Brexit talks coming up,” he said.
“This country does not need to find itself in a situation whereby we have a caretaker Government for three or four months potentially during that very important period.”
Mr Martin said: “No one in this House takes any pleasure from deputy Fitzgerald’s resignation as tánaiste and minister; rather, everyone must learn lessons, the most fundamental being the nature and quality of the relationship between this Parliament and Government.”
He said Fianna Fáil pushed for her resignation because “at the core of this has been the appalling mistreatment of Maurice McCabe by the institutions of the State”.