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What kind of taoiseach will Simon Harris be? His record gives us some indication

Record from his 13-year Dáil term discloses a pragmatist with orthodox Fine Gael views on the economy

Harry McGee looks at Simon Harris's TikTok following and what impact the platform will have in upcoming elections. Video: Enda O'Dowd

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Harry McGee
Sun Mar 31 2024 - 07:00

In 1933 the US president Franklin D Roosevelt began a series of broadcasts on radio to tell ordinary Americans how the country was going to recover from the Great Depression.

Mining his skills as a communicator, he addressed his audience directly and explained policies and ideas in a simple manner, employing a tone and persona that was homely and familiar. The broadcasts became known as the “fireside chats” and were seen as a huge factor in maintaining his popularity during his 12 years in office.

It could be argued that new Fine Gael leader Simon Harris’s ability to use modern communications to fashion modern ‘fireside chats’ separated him from all other putative rivals in the succession race. However, under the other key metrics of leadership – political integrity and delivery – the record is less certain.

Communications

Harris has already landed the sobriquet the TikTok taoiseach. It’s a slight misnomer, as the social media platform that was the making of him was Instagram.

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During Covid-19, there was a daily briefing on numbers and restrictions, given by chief medical officer Tony Holohan and others. Given the scale of the pandemic, the tone was negative, sometimes doom-laden. From the start, Harris adopted a different tack with his ‘live’ social media broadcasts.

“When he started doing Insta Live, they were very amateur,” said a Government source. “To be honest, we thought they were a waste of time. Then one evening, I went home and my flatmates were listening to him on Insta and hanging on every word. I realised then that they were making an impact.”

Dressed casually, he would speak non-stop, often for 10 minutes or more, answering questions as they came in on the feed. He used informal language as if it were a one-on-one conversation, conveyed empathy aligned himself with the fears of the public.

“I just wanted to say hello, to check that we’re doing okay, look after each other, remind each other to be kind to each other. This is a bloody tough time,” he said on one.

Unusually for a politician, the responses were positive. One comment read: “I’m not like you. I am really a nobody but I’d just like to say, out of everyone in Government you are the only one I turn to. You don’t talk to me from a piece of paper, you talk to me from your heart.”

[ Diarmaid Ferriter: Will TikTok taoiseach Simon Harris succeed in his promise to fight populism? ]

Political views: sticking to the party line

His wider political approach and views won’t be mined from his social media feed, which focus on engagement. One has to look elsewhere to find his stance on key issues.

The earliest record comes from 2008 when the 22-year old Harris, as yet unelected, addressed the party’s ardfheis, expressing an orthodox Fine Gael view on the need for long-term planning and encouraging enterprise.

After his election to the Dáil in 2011, he was a frequent contributor to Dáil debates. There is no record of him varying from the party line, or from the pragmatic approach to current issues that has been the default of centrist political parties. During a Sinn Féin Private Members’ motion on tax in 2014, Mary Lou McDonald pointed to Harris and commented that “the best boy in the class” had been wheeled out to defend the Government line.

He has orthodox Fine Gael views on enterprise; on corporation tax; on FDI; on income tax (he defended the three Fine Gael Ministers of State who jointly called for €1,000 tax relief for middle-income earners in advance of last October’s budget); and on taxes.

If there is a policy area for which Harris has had consistent conviction views throughout his career it is campaigning for the rights of people with disabilities, tempered by his experience as a teenager in advocating for his brother Adam, who has autism and is chief executive of AsIAm, Ireland’s national autism charity.

Fintan O'Toole: What does Simon Harris stand for?

Listen | 56:43

When Harris was temporary Minister for Justice in 2023, the bulk of his focus was on the ‘law and order’ side of the portfolio – facial-recognition technology, tougher sentences on attacks on gardaí, tougher laws to punish the grooming of children. Interestingly, though unstated, in a nod by the new leader to the current mood, Helen McEntee’s hate speech legislation looks like it could hit the buffers.

He gave the most comprehensive account of his wider political views when delivering the oration at the Collins-Griffith commemoration in Glasnevin in 2023. He called for a new social contract for the Republic, “one which balances rights and responsibilities”.

Expanding on it he said: “If you work hard and play by the rules, the State will play its part too ... your hard-earned money you pay in tax must be linked to the delivery of the services.

“The Republic will recognise the need to create true equality of opportunity – that no matter who you are, where you live or what your parents did before you, you can reach your full potential.”

Performance: relatively unscathed after ministerial appointments

Before the general election in 2011, Harris wrote a letter saying he would not support any legislation to allow abortion services. He had moved from that position within two years, but he was not dissimilar to many of his colleagues – Leo Varadkar, Regina Doherty, Hildegarde Naughton – who pivoted from conservative to liberal on social issues over a number of years.

That was early evidence of a flip-flop. A colleague said privately to The Irish Times that “Simon wants to be everybody’s friend”, which does not lend itself towards tough decision-making. However, there is scant evidence from the Dáil, Government records or media of big pivots, more of a cautious approach.

There are exceptions. When the CervicalCheck scandal erupted in 2016 during his time he was minister for health, he quickly sided with the 203 women affected and also turned against the management of the programme. Asked if he has confidence in it, the minister replied: “Truthfully I can’t say I do.”

That statement had far-seeing consequences, with several senior resignations, and spawned a debate, impossible to settle, as to whether Harris was adopting a strong and independent stance or following a populist line. He did show courage, however, in insisting on an independent inquiry (headed by Gabriel Scally) when the chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, expressed a preference for an internal inquiry.

What gave him the biggest headaches as minister for health was his own promises that could not be delivered – reducing waiting times for scoliosis operations to four months; setting ambitious timelines for the introduction of free GP care, promises on the completion of the national children’s hospital (a project which he inherited); hospital waiting lists; and medical staffing.

In Higher Education, a new department, he pushed hard to raise the status of apprenticeships, and also encouraged students to explore alternatives to the CAO points reach, both of which were neglected quarters.

As against that, he has “talked the talk”, as is his wont, on student accommodation and the funding of universities. However, despite all the vocal determination, there is still a chronic shortage of accommodation and the university sector has a €300 million shortfall annually.

Will any of that sully his record? Unlikely. Harris has emerged relatively unscathed from his ministerial career, through a combination of silken communications, pragmatism and subtle populist pivots.

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