SIMON HARRIS KICKED off his party’s think-in in Mullingar today by telling his party colleagues that what politics needs right now is “less shouting, less bombast”.

“It needs people to roll up the sleeves, to work for solutions, not to divide but to deliver. Let’s do so with clarity, with unity and purpose. Let’s show the country that this Fine Gael party under my leadership is renewed, is ready and is relentless in its focus on delivery,” he told the packed out room of old and new TDs and senators. 

It could be seen as an attempt to reignite the ‘new energy’ he promised to bring when he took over from Leo Varadkar, which some critics within the party have said has been dimming in recent months. 

It’s true that Harris’ popularity has taken a hit.

Yesterday’s Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll showed the Fine Gael leader has suffered a dip in his personal approval ratings. 

Harris’s approval rating is now 36%, down four points from the newspaper’s last poll.

He is now trailing behind Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who has a 44% approval rating, down 1%.

Looking at the same poll, Fine Gael did see a one percentage point rise in its overall support to 21%, just one point below Fianna Fáil at 22%. Meanwhile, Sinn Féin holds steady at 20%. 

Yesterday’s poll was at least better than that the Business Post’s Red C Poll in March which saw Fine Gael support dropping to its lowest level at 17%, five points behind both Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin at the time. 

March’s polling rate at 17% put it one point beneath the party’s previous lowest rating in September 2022, while under the leadership of Leo Varadkar.

But all these poll results are now on Harris’ watch and it has resulted in some whisperings about his leadership of the party. 

A weakness to the party? 

Harris was asked straight out by one reporter if he believed he is weakness for the party. 

“I don’t,” Harris quickly replied. 

It was put to him that he has had a tough summer of it, with criticisms from the family of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, the nine-year-old who had scoliosis and spina bifida, who sadly died on 29 July.

He was also heavily criticised by the mother of private Sean Rooney, who was killed in Lebanon in 2022.

Harris responded by stating that he very much looks forward to meeting Harvey’s parents, stating that he has spoken directly to his mother. 

“I’m hearing far too many families express serious concerns in relation to Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) and I’m not willing to not seek action in relation to that, but I want to listen to the families first. And I’ve already spoken with the Minister for Health in relation to that,” he said.

In relation to private Sean Rooney, Harris said he had a very good meeting with his mother. 

“More broadly, politics has its ups and downs,” he added.

Harris said 18 months ago, people might have thought Mary Lou McDonald would be the Taoiseach and Fine Gael could we be rebuilding from opposition, but that is not the case.

Instead, he said Fine Gael is at the heart of government “under my leadership, with a renewed parliamentary party”.

With a new Dáil term approaching, Harris will be hoping to bring a new gusto to his leadership style, so as to dampen down any chattering about his leadership.

However, such a task could prove difficult for Harris, given that personally, there have been threats made against him and his family in recent days. Bomb threats made against Harris and his family over the weekend followed two other reported threats, both made against members of the Tánaiste’s family online.

In a statement the Tánaiste issued over the weekend, he said threats against his family are having “deeply distressing consequences” and follow a “sinister” pattern with the motivation to intimidate him from public office.

Harris said that over the coming days and weeks he will consult with his party, government, and broader political colleagues about what action can be taken in the face of online intimidation.

“Someone has to call a halt. Protecting my family will remain my number one priority. I will be guided by them on the next steps.”

These last lines in his statement have people talking and extracting their own interpretation of the words, with some stating that it opens the door for him to step down, if that is what his family guided him to do. 

Today, when asked twice to clarify the comments, Harris, instead of shutting down such a narrative, refused to speculate on his political future, repeating that he will be guided by his family. 

The threats made against him did not deter the party leader from attending his party’s think-in in County Westmeath today, though he said he had to “dig deep” to turn up at the event, given the threats made against him. 

There was a notable garda presence at the event, with a number of uniformed and plain clothes gardaí in attendance. 

There was widespread support for Harris from his party colleagues today in relation to the threats and abuse made against him and his family.

There was also a notable excitement in the air from the new TDs and senators who are attending their first ever party think-in. 

But the return to school is fast approaching with the new Dáil term, and that is when political pressure, for both new and old, and particularly for Harris, could ratchet upwards.