Youngest Taoiseach Simon Harris faces a challenging political journey

Taoiseach may be very young but has demonstrated he is highly skilled at politics and his Cabinet choices indicate a concern for geography and the next election Taoiseach Simon Harris : All of a sudden, Fine Gael sounds more like a party of rural Ireland. Maxwell Photography/PA Wire

That is not a barrier to success. The great generation that founded the independent Irish State was pretty wet behind the ears. Michael Collins was 31 when he died; Éamon de Valera was president of the First Dáil at the age of 36, a year younger than Harris is now. More than half of the first cabinet of the Free State was under the age of 35.

His Cabinet choices indicate a concern for geography that reflects the proximity of the next election. Fine Gael under Leo Varadkar was sometimes accused of being too Dublin-centric and at times too posh-boy. That did not help the causes of Neale Richmond or Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill, both among the ablest of the junior ministers and who could reasonably have expected to be considered, at least, for elevation.

Harris has said that he wants FG Ministers to concentrate on a small number of priorities. How he wants his Government to give expression to these is something he will have to figure out and then discuss with his Government partners, who are – it is fair to say – on a state of high alert about the new Fine Gael leader’s political ambitions.

Of course, your perception of each of these narratives might depend on your own circumstances. But their enduring strength means that, in many respects, the most acute political competition is not between these two schools of thought – but rather within them.

Taoiseach Simon Harris Young Politics Cabinet Rural Ireland Experience

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