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The Candidate
The Explainer
10 Jun 2026
We sat down with Tánaiste Simon Harris
00:00

The Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris joins us in studio for a sit-down interview. We asked him why a man on a doorstep in Dublin Central called him the minister for press releases, about how Ireland is a country that's never been richer but has never felt poorer, and what his guiding philosophy is as finance minister


He told Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Jane Matthews that childcare at €200 a month is "entirely doable", that the tax system is "screwing people", and that there will be no stamp duty relief for first-time buyers.


Harris also spoke about the online abuse that nearly drove him out of politics, describing the "bomb that goes off in your home" when someone threatens to kill your children.