Ministers fear Ronan Glynn will turn down CMO job after Trinity debacle

‘Posts like this are less and less appealing’

MINISTERS fear the debacle over Tony Holohan’s ill-fated ‘secondment’ to Trinity College will also cost the State the services of his deputy, Dr Ronan Glynn, widely regarded as his natural successor as chief medical officer.

Concerns are growing that Ireland may lose both of the most senior medics who guided the country through the Covid19 emergency amid the fallout following Dr Holohan’s resignation last weekend.

It had been envisaged that in the wake of Dr Holohan’s departure, there would be ‘a seamless transition’ to his deputy, Dr Glynn. However, there are fears that deepening political turbulence surrounding Dr Holohan’s abrupt departure from public service have put his deputy off the top job and is instead seeking to follow his old boss into the more financially lucrative private sector.

Dr Holohan, who was CMO for almost 15 years, became a household name throughout the Covid crisis as he headed up the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).

Having confirmed he will walk away from the job in July, the vacant CMO position will be filled by open competition via the Top-Level Appointments Committee (TLAC) process, which recommends candidates to ministers and Government for the most senior positions in the civil service.

A senior Government source told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Dr Glynn was seen as more than adequately filling in during Mr Holohan’s absences [during the pandemic]. In fact he was a steadying influence.

‘Ronan, obviously being a number two, was a lot easier to deal with.’

Another Cabinet member said: ‘After the way Tony was thrown overboard Ronan will be doing a lot of thinking. He will be wondering, why would you do it?

‘Ronan and his bank of knowledge would be very appealing, he could go to the private sector, bank double the rate he would get as CMO and not have to deal with Oireachtas committees and all that.’

A senior health source added: ‘Dr Glynn will have observed the power game closely. There were a lot of spats – outbursts by Leo over bolts from the blue, curbs on Nphet going on air, oversight groups. It wasn’t very pleasant.

‘He will be particularly aware of the end of Dr Holohan’s career; he was abandoned fairly sharpish once political expediency beckoned.’

Other sources suggested the return of the chief medical officer role to pre-pandemic prominence could also be a disincentive for high profile applicants.

One source told the MoS: ‘Don’t forget, prior to the pandemic, the CMO’s office was in a dusty little corner at the back of the office. It wasn’t at the high end of the gravy train.

‘The sorcerer is going, the apprentice may be next and, put bluntly, there may not be a queue of star candidates to replace both. There is no queue of stars, posts like this are less and less appealing. We are at the point of losing both of the medics who guided us through the coronavirus epidemic.’

Two separate reviews are set to get underway into the events which culminated in Dr Holohan’s resignation.

However, Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness, who is head of the Dáil Finance Committee, hit out at the as yet ill-defined private inquiry proposed by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. He insisted public confidence ‘could only be restored by a public inquiry’.

He said: ‘Provide the documents and the witnesses and during the course of a public hearing the truth will out. It is democracy in action. It is what the people want to see.’