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SEÁN CANNEY HAS been a TD since 2016, and although he has served in two governments, the Galway East representative likes to keep a relatively low profile.
Despite this, he and his disparate group of colleagues in the Regional Independents were front and centre in the political drama that dominated the beginning of this Dáil term, when Taoiseach Micheál Martin refused to be moved in his backing of Michael Lowry during the speaking rights row.
Now the leader of the Regional Independents’ arm of the coalition, Canney represents his colleagues, including Lowry, in the weekly meetings that take place between Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris.
Just before the Christmas break, Canney sat down with The Journal to discuss how things have been going, lifting the curtain on how things work in the Regional Independents.
He spoke to us about how he believes there is no time for grudges in politics, his relationship with Lowry, how this time in Government compares to his last stint, and the respect he has for his counterparts in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Despite the political turmoil that took place at the outset of this year over his involvement in Government, Canney has no qualms about working with Michael Lowry, the Independent Tipperary North TD whose past actions as a minister in the 1990s were found by the Moriarty Tribunal to be “profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking”.
Asked about his relationship with Lowry, Canney said: “I’d describe him as a wise man, from a political point of view.
His advice to TDs who are new, like Barry [Heneghan] or Gillian [Toole] is very important, you know.
“Not so much advice, but guidance, and I think that’s important that you have that.”
On the group as a whole, Canney described the Regional Independents (which includes TDs Marian Harkin, Barry Heneghan, Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, Verona Murphy, Gillian Toole and Danny and Michael Healy-Rae) as a mix of people with experience and people who “have ideas and energy”.
“So it’s great. Everyone works together, and everybody’s treated as equals. There’s no prima donnas in our group. I don’t think as independents we would tolerate prima donnas,” he said.
In Canney’s view, the findings of the Moriarty Tribunal, which Lowry has always rejected, are for Lowry to deal with himself.
“You have to work with people, when sometimes it might not be palatable.
“A good example is myself and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran,” Canney said in reference to the huge row that took place between the two during their last time in Government together in 2018.
The disagreement was over the rotation of the junior ministry with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. Canney believed that the role would transfer back to him after they both served a year in it, but the other members of the Independent Alliance backed Moran to remain in the position, a move that ultimately led to Canney quitting the group.
On how his relationship is with Moran now, Canney described it as “a very good working relationship”.
“It will remain that way, because it’s not about me. It’s about getting things done that will help people.
“And if you’re motivated to go into Government, well, you have to leave a lot of what I would call personal, little things outside the door and get on with the job. And if you don’t, you won’t be very long in Government,” he said.
Only 21 bills were passed in 2025, down from 44 in 2024. However, Canney insists that this Government is flying.
For Canney (who is a minister of state in the Department of Transport with responsibility for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rail and Ports), the biggest difference between this Government and the last he was in, during the period 2016-2020 as part of the Independent Alliance, is that this time around the workload is heavier.
He puts this down to the fact that he now attends Cabinet as a super junior minister and also sits on a number of Cabinet sub-committees.
The weekly meetings with Harris and Martin also mean that Canney is in Dublin more often than before.
The way he explained it, a key focus of this Government has been making delivery more efficient by cutting regulations which are “of no benefit”.
“I would say that Jack Chambers has really and truly grasped that nettle,” Canney said in a nod of approval to the Fianna Fáil minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
In general, Canney is extremely complimentary of his colleagues in Government.
On how the relationships work within the Regional Independents, Canney explained that the group come together most Wednesday nights for a meeting akin to a parliamentary party meeting.
Asked about what the group secured as part of the Government formation negotiations, he said he is “very, very happy” with the funding package that is in place for the next five years.
“There are roads in it, there is Bus Connects, there is rail upgrades, as well as extending railway lines, and I’m delighted to see that we are in what I would call expansion mode with public transport.
“The biggest success story has been our public transport. The most complaints I get now are about buses being full, trains being full, and standing room only,” he said, adding that the government has been “caught unaware” in terms of the demand for public transport in the last decade.
Looking ahead to the remaining years of the coalition, Canney is as complimentary of Simon Harris and Micheál Martin as he is of his fellow Regional Independents.
Asked about Harris’s decision to appoint himself as finance minister following Paschal Donohoe’s exit from Irish politics in November, Canney said he believes it is a move that will not bear any impact on the stability of the Government.
“He’s not too long in Finance at the moment, but I tell you, he’s making a fair fist of it. He has got a good grasp of it… I have every confidence that as Minister for Finance, he will do a good job,” Canney said.
The Galway East TD is equally as impressed with Micheál Martin.
Asked if he has any concerns about the mounting internal pressure facing Martin within Fianna Fáil, Canney said:
“That’s a party issue. It’s not a government issue.
“And I do believe that Micheál Martin is a person of a lot of experience.”
He added: “He has impressed me greatly with his experience, and also with his, I suppose, wisdom, and also his lack of toleration of, say, maybe civil servants at times, dragging the heels. He’ll tell them straight up. And I think it’s great that we have that kind of leadership.”
On his own political ambitions, Canney said he likes being in politics “probably more than people might think”.
“Paschal Donohoe used to say, ‘Remember every day you go into a Cabinet meeting, you’re making history’. Hopefully, what I would be saying is not so much making history, but making a difference for people.
“When I see somebody sending in a thank you card or ringing us and saying thanks for something in the constituency office, I say, yeah, it’s a great job we have. It’s a very fulfilling job, and that’s that now. Long may that continue.”
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