SÉAMUS MCGRATH IS not too pleased with some of the malarkey that goes on inside Leinster House. 

The first-time Fianna Fáil TD has admitted that a year into the job, he is already sick of the “time wasting” that goes on within the national parliament. 

“And I’m not putting all of that on the Opposition,” McGrath tells The Journal in a candid interview. 

“You’re sitting in the chamber there some days, and you’re listening to long debates, and you just get the impression that some of it is just politics at play.

“If you really want to make progress on issues, there are probably other ways that you can be doing it,” the Cork South Central TD said.

“We do votes, for example: Everybody knows what the outcome of the vote is going to be, but yet, we have to go through the motions of having that vote.

“I feel the parliament probably could be more time-efficient, and it could be more effective in getting things done.”

For McGrath, it is this inefficiency that has been the low point of his time as a TD so far. 

And yes, if you are outside of Cork and thinking McGrath looks familiar, that’s because you know his brother – European Commissioner Michael McGrath. 

Séamus was elected to the Dáil for the first time in the 2024 General Election, keeping the McGrath seat in Cork South Central and receiving the second most first preference votes in the constituency while doing so (he was beaten only by his party leader, Micheál Martin).

For those in Cork, Séamus has been a well-known figure for some time, having sat on Cork County Council since 2007 and topping the poll in the most recent local election of June 2024.

McGrath celebrating with his brother Michael after being elected in Cork South Central. December 1, 2024 Alamy Alamy

Grievances about the “time wasting” aside, the new TD said he has been adjusting well to national politics so far. 

“It certainly was a very steep learning curve…But broadly speaking, I think it was similar to what I expected,” McGrath said, although he admits it has been helpful to have his brother’s experiences to draw on. 

“Michael is always there, and I can always have a word with him. But to be perfectly straight about that, I don’t engage with him a whole lot on it.

“He’s exceptionally busy in his role, and I could go a number of weeks without speaking to him. And that’s the reality.

“We’re both exceptionally busy. We obviously might be messaging back and forth the odd time, but in terms of face-to-face meetings or even telephone conversations, now they can be as little as every few weeks.

“We would be close as brothers, we would be close politically, obviously, but I’m not in his ear constantly. Let’s put it that way.”

Up until Michael McGrath left national politics in 2024 for the European stage, Séamus was heavily involved in his brother’s political affairs and has often been described as his closest political confidant. 

On whether this is still the case, McGrath said that it has changed since Michael became Commissioner. 

“When he was in national politics… I think that [was] a fair description. We were very close politically and we worked closely together. It is different now. He’s in Europe, I don’t engage with him anywhere near as much.

“We both have very busy roles, and we’re obviously still very close on a personal level, and we’re family, but in terms of politically, it has changed. I suppose the nature of that relationship has changed,” McGrath said. 

TD highlight

McGrath points to becoming his party’s housing spokesperson as the highlight of being a TD so far. 

“Obviously, we have the Housing Minister in James Browne, but I think there was a recognition that, because housing is such a critical issue, a defining issue for the government, that as well as the minister, we did need a spokesperson as well because there’s a lot of demands in the role. And you need someone at a committee level, for example,” he said. 

McGrath sits on the Housing Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community.

Asked about his relationship with Housing Minister James Browne, McGrath said he finds him “very accessible and very engaging” and that he believes he is doing well in an “enormously difficult” job. 

On whether he has his sights set on the role someday, McGrath is coy in his response: 

“I’d love to have a ministerial role at some point.

“I’m fully cognizant of the fact I’m only 12 months in the Dáil. Many TDs have to wait a long time to get that opportunity.

“I’m not one of these TDs with any sense of entitlement. Absolutely not.

“As housing spokesperson, I have a lot of time put into housing, but we have a very good, effective minister, and unless the vacancy arises at some point in the future, I don’t see that happening.

“But I think I have a range of skills that could suit other ministries.” 

• You can read our interviews with other new TDs in the 34th Dáil here.