‘THE RECOVERY STARTS NOW’
▪ Martin promises ‘no settling in time’ ▪ Helen McEntee and Norma Foley in Cabinet ÷Heavy criticism of no ‘minister for west’ ▪ Internal rancour from rejected FF hopefuls
AFTER taking the reins of power yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin vowed that his Covid Coalition would get a national recovery under way with ‘urgency and ambition’.
His pledge came after a war Cabinet from the three new parties in power was announced – with a number of surprise appointees and omissions.
Helen McEntee’s elevation to the Justice ministry was the big shock of the day, while new Fianna Fáil TD Norma Foley was among a number of Munster-based deputies who received Cabinet
positions. However, the geographical make-up of Mr Martin’s A-team came in for immediate scrutiny.
In announcing his Cabinet, Mr Martin made it clear he planned for his Government to hit the ground running and that recovering from the pandemic was his first and most important priority.
Mr Martin showed zeal in choosing his Fianna Fáil team, shunning coalition negotiator Anne Rabbitte and putative leadership rival Jim O’Callaghan, while promoting a coterie of Munster-based Fianna Fáilers including new TD Norma Foley.
The Cabinet did come in for significant criticism for its lack of geographic spread, however, with no senior minister on the western seaboard between Limerick and Donegal, and with two ministers based in Wicklow’s Greystones.
For his part, Fine Gael leader, new Tánaiste and Minister for
Jobs Leo Varadkar, pulled a rabbit out of his hat and put Helen McEntee forward as his pick for Justice – a surprise appointment that nobody saw coming.
In announcing the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green team to get the country back on track, Mr Martin, just shy of his 60th birthday, pledged that his Government would immediately get to work.
‘The Government which I am nominating will be committed to working together in a new way and with both urgency and ambition,’ he said Mr Martin in a speech at the National Convention Centre on Dublin’s north quays, which acted as the Dáil chamber for his ascent to power.
‘There is no time for quietly settling in,’ he said. ‘Every minister has a substantial role to play not just in delivering the commitments for the departments but also in the Government’s collective work. The challenges we must overcome are both immediate and, in many cases, long-standing.
‘They can only be met and overcome if we work together across our responsibilities.’
The venue for the formation of the Dáil was moved from Leinster House for the first time since the foundation of the State to accommodate social distancing.
The trepidation over the months ahead that hung over the glass edifice of the National Convention Centre was accentuated by Mr Martin’s acceptance speech.
‘There is no question about our first priority – continuing the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and moving decisively to recover from its devastating social, economic and cultural impact,’ he said.
And the financial recession that will come with the autumn was foremost in his mind too.
‘We will immediately begin the work of preparing an investmentled, jobs and recovery initiative which will be brought to the Dáil for approval next month,’ he said.
‘This will be a whole-of-Govern
ment initiative about more than just the enormous task of getting our people back to work.’
In another act of urgency, Mr Martin immediately announced his 11 nominees for the Seanad.
That allows the Upper House to sit as early as tomorrow and means the Government can pass the vital Offences Against the State Act security legislation. But another piece of immediate business is the passing of a Finance
Bill that allows the Government to draw down emergency funding from Europe to fund Covid-19 emergency payments to workers and those out of work.
Mr Martin did not sidestep offending a lot of egos in Fianna Fáil, and Leo Varadkar was forced to sack a swathe of senior Fine Gael ministers to form this new Covid Coalition. Only the Green Party, with three of its 12 TDs getting Cabinet seats, will be happy.
Mr Varadkar moves from the office of Taoiseach to Tánaiste and to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Green leader Eamon Ryan was appointed to the Department of Climate Action, Communications Networks and Transport; Paschal Donohoe stays at the Department of Finance; Michael McGrath is the new Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform; Simon Coveney stays at the Department of Foreign Affairs and takes on Defence; Norma Foley is the new Minister for Education; Roderic O’Gorman was appointed to the Department of Children, Disability, Equality and Integration; Barry Cowen is Minister for Agriculture and the Marine; Helen McEntee was promoted to the Department of Justice; Heather Humphreys is the new Minister for Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands; Darragh O’Brien is Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Greens’ Catherine Martin is Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht. The new Health Minister is Stephen Donnelly, while Simon Harris moves to a new Department of Higher Education, Innovation and Science.
The Attorney General is a former incumbent Paul Gallagher.Dara Calleary’s appointment as Chief Whip was another shock, given his profile as FF deputy leader.