Politics

Simon Harris adds support of five Independents, bolstering slim majority

Fine Gael members to gather for ardfheis ahead of leader’s expected confirmation as taoiseach on Tuesday

New Fine Gael leader Simon Harris: he has ruled out doing deals with Independents in exchange for their support, and said his meetings with them would not be 'transactional'. Photograph: Tom Honan

Cormac McQuinn
Fri Apr 5 2024 - 06:00

New Fine Gael leader Simon Harris can expect the support of at least five Independent TDs in next week’s Dáil vote which is set to see him take office as taoiseach.

Noel Grealish is the latest Independent TD to confirm he will support Mr Harris as at least three more non-party TDs remain open to backing him in Tuesday’s vote. It comes as between 1,500 and 2,000 Fine Gael members are expected to gather in Galway this weekend where they will see Mr Harris deliver his first ardfheis address as leader.

Amid votes on around 200 motions there is expected to be intense speculation among delegates on who will be selected to serve on Mr Harris’s ministerial team.

The support of the Independent TDs has bolstered the current Coalition’s slim Dáil majority during any confidence votes in the Government and Ministers. Mr Harris has ruled out doing deals with Independents in exchange for their support, and said his meetings with them this week would not be “transactional”.

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Aside from Mr Grealish the other Independent TDs who have indicated they will vote for Mr Harris on Tuesday are Roscommon-Galway TD Denis Naughten; Sligo-Leitrim TD Marc MacSharry; Tipperary TD Michael Lowry; and Donegal’s Joe McHugh, a former Fine Gael minister who is without the whip.

Green Party Dublin Central TD Neasa Hourigan, who currently suspended from her parliamentary party for a vote against the Government last year, has also confirmed she will vote for Mr Harris, further increasing the expected majority.

Other Independents remain open to supporting him. Kildare South TD Cathal Berry, who has called for extra supports for small businesses and farmers and a mini-budget before the Dáil summer recess, met Mr Harris on Thursday. He said the pair had a “good discussion” on “national security, a financial support package for sectors in difficulty, how best to address the cost-of-living crisis and the need to expedite school-building projects”.

He told The Irish Times he would discuss the outcome with his supporters, and “then consider how best to proceed” in advance of next week’s Dáil vote.

Waterford Independent Matt Shanahan has also yet to decide if he will vote for Mr Harris. He said he has “consistently pressured Government to fulfil their programme promises to Waterford and the southeast”. He remained open to supporting Mr Harris “on the proviso of comprehensive discussion and agreement around the final-year priorities of Government” before Tuesday’s Dáil vote.

Independent TD Galway East’s Seán Canney said he was waiting for the Fine Gael leader to revert to him on some issues, and he had not yet decided which way he would vote.

[ Analysis: What Independent TDs get for supporting the Government is far less clear than in decades past ]

Topics to be debated at Fine Gael’s ardfheis include income tax cuts, with a call for the party to increase the entry point to the higher tax rate to at least €50,000 within the next two years.

There will be a debate on “safer streets across Ireland”, with a motion calling for an increased Garda presence and another seeking the reopening of more Garda stations.

Other motions call for efforts to deliver childcare at primary schools in the mornings and evenings, and the introduction of a “premium salary” for frontline workers stationed in Dublin.

Members will also vote on a proposal for Fine Gael in Government to provide “lethal military aid to Ukraine to support its struggle against the brutal Russian invasion”.

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn is a Political Correspondent at The Irish Times

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