Stephen Collins: Simon Harris can invigorate Fine Gael and attract new candidates

The focus of the Opposition and much of the media following Varadkar’s decision to step down has been on his failures and mistakes, with little reference to his achievementsLeo Varadkar with party colleagues at Government Buildings after announcing he is stepping down as Taoiseach. His frank admission to the Irish public that after seven years in the Taoiseach’s office he was no longer the best person for the job was astonishing in its honesty.

The downside of politics was on display in much of the response to Varadkar’s decision, with the focus of the Opposition and much of the media on the failures and mistakes of his time at the top with little or no reference to his undoubted achievements.

And underpinning it all was the careful management of the economy by Paschal Donohoe, which provided the Exchequer with the resources to cushion the population against the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis which followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One of Varadkar’s strengths was being able to deal effectively with that kind of misrepresentation, either in the Dáil or in media interviews. Unfortunately for him his calmness under pressure in political debate did not translate into the public support that his TDs expected when they rushed to his side to make him leader seven years ago.

That mood encouraged the widespread feeling in the party that it was drifting towards an inevitable defeat at the next election. The decision of so many TDs not to run again was a symptom of that malaise but the timing of Varadkar’s departure has given the party a chance to turn the tide.will have a better chance of reinvigorating the organisation and attracting viable new candidates to take the place of those TDs who are stepping down.

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