How ‘articulate’ Harris was once a budding young playwright

Greystones locals unanimous in their praise for ‘vibrant’ politician, writes Tom Galvin

It’s nigh on impossible to find anyone in the hometown of Simon Harris who has a bad word to say about the taoiseach-elect. After all, this is the man who had a fine way with words ever since, at the tender age of 13, he wrote his first play and performed it, with a cast of 50 friends and students, in front of a home crowd in his local St Patrick’s Hall.

Harris’s On the Run was a play that broached the darker shades of life: alcoholism, child abuse and death – unusual for a 13-year-old from the sunny seaside town on the east coast.

Written in three to four weeks, according to local lore, the play got the approval of the legendary Abbey playwright and fellow Greystones resident,

Bernard Farrell. Charging £4 a seat – and, being a young man of the people, just £2 for OAPs and children – Harris’s play ran for five nights in August 2000 and sold out every time.

A review in the Bray People, somewhat presciently, pointed out how “drama can be mere child’s play” and went on to say that the punters who packed out the hall “would have had difficulty telling that the production they were witnessing was the fruits of the work of an enthusiastic group of young performers”, including the youthful second-year student from St David’s Secondary School who had recruited them.

“It went fantastically and I’m absolutely thrilled,” said the young playwright, who was cheered on by younger sister Gemma and parents Mary and Bart.

Now, 24 years later, and as the drama reaches its highest point for the Greystones native – who once told the local Greystones Guide that he “never wants to leave” – it seems the script couldn’t have been written more perfectly as those supporters still have his back.

At a coffee morning for the Greystones Active Retirement Association last Friday, those who would have been adults when Harris was a budding playwright, remarked how he consistently turned up to support local events down through the years.

“Articulate and well capable” was how Carmel, “who met him several times”, described the local hero. When pressed on his youth – he is only 37, after all – she wasn’t concerned as he had “enthusiasm”, was “very articulate” and has always been “the spokesperson of choice no matter what the crisis has been”.

“I met him many times as he would often turn up at a function like this,” said Carmel’s husband, Charles.

“He’d be sitting at one of the tables, then he’d come around and say hello to everybody. He was very personable. Now that wouldn’t mean I’d know him, but I’ve shaken his hands many times. He was always the one I wanted for taoiseach.”

While giving Harris his blessing, another local, Brian, was more restrained in his praise.

“I think it’s a question of wait and see. While he’s been in a number of ministries, he is still very young. As long as he doesn’t promise too much, that’s the danger,” he said.

“It’s great that he’s vibrant and full of life,” said Bill Black, who is the founder

of Ó Cualann housing body and who, in 2021 endured a 24-hour fast and protested outside the Dáíl to get the Government to support his vision to provide affordable housing for the country’s “working poor”.

“Having said that, he’s a bit young,” he said, and added that he was worried Harris lacked the nous of a true businessman, “someone who has worked for himself, then employed a thousand people and knows how to operate a company – if you can operate a company, then you can run the government”.

In the award-winning children’s bookshop, Halfway up the Stairs, Harris is well-known for his visits with his children, owner Trish Hennessy said, as she fondly recalled a card sent by the politician when she was shortlisted last year for the An Post Bookshop of the Year, which she subsequently won.

“I think he’s going to make a great taoiseach, I think he’s a great guy,” she said. “He’s somebody who is really trying to make a difference.”

Across the way at La ToucheWines, it’ s a case of “what happens in the wine bar, stays in the wine bar”, as staff stuck to the code and refused to disclose whether Harris is a red, white or even a bubbly man. But there, sellotaped to the wall behind the counter, is the taoiseach-elect’s business card.

The Happy Pear staff greet the mention of Harris’s name with some enthusiasm, while local Siobhán Hanley maintains he “has a great presence” not just in the town, but in the county of Wicklow.

“He’s just one of the nicest guys, he’s never changed over the years,” she said. “I’ve met him loads of times. He’s helped so many people here and he quietly does things. I think he’ll be president one day.”

“I think he’s going to make a great taoiseach, I think he’s a great guy. He’s really trying to make a difference”