Bertie warns Harris to be careful
SIMON Harris is set to be confirmed as the new Fine Gael leader today but has been warned “sometimes it’s the small things that trip you up” as he prepares to succeed Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach.
The Higher Education Minister will be deemed elected as the new party leader if, as is widely expected, no other names are put forward before today’s 1pm deadline.
He will then most likely be appointed Taoiseach on April 9 due to the Dáil schedule.
Harris supporters praised him yesterday saying the party would go back to its “core values” in under his leadership while opposition TDs said he would be a “TikTok Taoiseach” who wouldn’t transform anything.
Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern said Harris has all the attributes to lead the country but echoed the words of another former taoiseach Albert Reynolds when he warned of the danger of small things that could trip him up.
SUPPORT
“A new Government has to be elected, that puts pressure on Simon Harris,” the former Fianna Fáil leader said on RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor show.
“If he was to go pushing too much of the Fine Gael line against Michéal Martin, this Government is over.
“He has all the attributes, but he just has to be careful. Sometimes it can be the small things that can trip you up.”
Fine Gael Minister of State Neale Richmond, who was one of the first to publicly come out in support for Harris this week, told RTÉ that the Programme for Government will not change but the party under Harris’ leadership will go back to its “core values” in the ministries they control.
Labour TD Ged Nash hit out at Harris saying he believed he would be a “TikTok Taoiseach” who won’t transform anything and would “merely tinker around the edges”.