TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS got a lashing in the newspapers at the weekend over the fallout from his handling of the recent political controversy involving Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan and his sudden illness.

It was confirmed this afternoon that Enterprise Minister Peter Burke will take over O’Donovan’s duties while the Limerick TD continues to recover. 

There has been much written and speculated about when it comes to just what went on between the two men, with a particular focus on a phone call that took place directly before O’Donovan took ill. 

Harris has staunchly denied that it was a tetchy or angry exchange, instead pointing to how he has a “duty of care” to his ministers. 

The Tánaiste will be hoping that a statement issued by O’Donovan today might put some of the speculation to bed. 

“I want to particularly thank the Tánaiste for his consistent and ongoing support for me and for my work, which I look forward to returning to in due course,” that statement read.  

However, there are even bigger fish to fry for the party leader this week.  

It’s just a few days out from the Fine Gael ard fheis in Cork where he will be hoping he can reset the narrative, not just around his leadership, but also the direction of his party. 

There are promises of the big reveal of the party’s white paper on Irish unity.

However, much to Harris’ annoyance, no doubt, Taoiseach Micheál Martin was out speaking about his grand plans of an independent unit being set up to look at the practicalities of a united Ireland. 

While Harris’ leadership is not at risk, it still might not be an easy outing for him.

Poll results

The Sunday Independent’s Ireland Thinks poll over the weekend put his personal rating at its lowest level since he became leader in 2024.

The poll also found that six out of 10 voters consider him unqualified to be minister for finance. Fine Gael support remained unchanged at 18%. 

Reflecting on the drama surrounding the party ahead, one Fine Gael TD told The Journal there aren’t any jitters in the party around the poor poll results in recent weeks or around the unfavourable media coverage of Harris.

“Simon is getting blamed for the missteps of others. I don’t get the sense from anyone [in the parliamentary party] that this is Simon’s fault,” they said.

“Anyone I talk to feels like there was a combination of missteps, not from Simon, combined with bad luck in terms of Patrick’s health, and the timing of Simon being absent on paternity leave has made the run into this not great; let’s be honest.

“Simon is a very popular leader amongst the members and parliamentary party. That I suppose does mark him out in a way that is maybe different to Leo, more like Enda,” they said. 

This TD said everyone in the party is annoyed with whatever minister briefed The Sunday Times about Patrick’s health.

“I think, universally, everyone thinks that was below the belt and shouldn’t have happened,” the TD said, adding that broadly most people agree that O’Donovan’s response to that was “over the top”, pointing out that it should have been something that was dealt with behind closed doors.

This TD claimed the party is “very unified”, and that O’Donovan is a “very popular person in the party”, but they also believe he got it wrong with RTÉ and how he handled its budget.

“I think most people feel he got it wrong by accusing whoever did [the anonymous briefing] of betrayal and elevating this story again and I suppose, bringing trouble on all of us.”

While this TD said the polling numbers are of little concern right now, the increasing poll numbers for right-leaning parties, such as Aontú and Independent Ireland, of late might explain why there has been talk of Fine Gael giving up on ‘woke’ ideals.

A motion is being put forward at the ard fheis for the party to move away from ‘woke’ issues.

Move away from ‘woke’ issues

Fine Gael leaders, such as Leo Varadkar and Harris, have long laid claim to leading the country in a progressive direction, with the passing of the marriage equality referendum and the repealing of the Eighth Amendment when it came to abortion rights.

Related Reads

Harris says 'hundreds of euros' in income tax cuts will make a real difference to families

Has Harris forgotten his goal of making Ireland the best country in the world to be a child?

Ten years young for the Social Democrats — is it becoming a viable alternative for some SF voters?

But now it seems the Fine Gael party is saying “that’s enough of that now, we’ve made enough progress”, and are instead talking about getting back to their “core principles”.

It will be interesting to hear this week just what exactly those core principles are.

In the midst of all the O’Donovan controversy last week, Harris did put out a statement, addressing the need for more scrutiny of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), something parties such as the Social Democrats hit out against. 

There was also mention of a recent ad on consent produced by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre where Harris said citizens don’t need to be “lectured” through ad campaigns. 

The controversial ad, which was removed after intervention by Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, depicted a child shown as uncomfortable with receiving a hug from her grandparents. 

It sparked intense backlash online before its removal, with some commentators querying the funding behind the ad.

The ard fheis in Cork this weekend will be an important juncture for Harris. 

His address to his party members will be closely watched, particularly when it comes to any hints of baby steps to the right for the party.

While some TDs are batting away suggestions that the polling numbers matter that much, the recent controversy surrounding its leader and the mile-long column inches that have been filled by it may well knock the confidence of party members.

The mood of delegates at the University College Cork (UCC) venue will be closely observed this weekend. 

With additional reporting by Jane Matthews