TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS has said the accusation that he is a populist is an attempt from the left to “caricature” him and “shut me down”.

In an interview with The Journal, Labour TD Conor Sheehan said that in his view, the Tánaiste is “quite populist”, citing his recent comments on migration as well as comments made in the 2024 election about the drug decriminalisation. 

“I think Simon Harris is actually quite populist. I think he’s very reactionary. I think Fine Gael like to lecture people about populism. They like to lecture us in the Labour Party about populism.

“But like, you look at what Simon Harris said during the election about drugs, that’s populism, because it’s not evidence-based,” he said.

Sheehan said, in his view, Harris is trying to position Fine Gael “to the right of everyone else, as being, you know, ‘we’re tougher on law and order. We’ll come down harder on this’”.

“It’s like what he said on on immigration a couple of weeks ago, that, to me, was just populism. Like it was just Simon Harris saying something A) to distract and B) to divide,” he said.

Sheehan doubled down on those remarks when asked about them this morning. 

Earlier this month, Harris said that the general migration figures, outside of asylum applications, were “too high”.

He has been accused by the opposition of dogwhistling and of mirroring the politics of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, which Harris has denied.

Speaking at a Fine Gael agriculture event in Kildare this morning, the Tánaiste said that, as citizens were talking about migration, it should also be raised by politicians as he accused the Dáil of being the only forum in Ireland where it was not discussed.

He said he was “shocked” at “how reluctant” Irish parliamentarians were to discuss migration.

He stressed once again that migration was “a good thing” and that Ireland benefits from migrants contributing to society in Ireland and making it their home.

It would be “bizarre” if the country did not have a national migration strategy, he said. 

“The effort to shut down this debate is kind of stark, and it’s really worrying, and it’s one of the reasons why so many Irish people feel disconnected from politics,” he said.

“I intend to play my part as a political leader, and Fine Gael intends to play its part as a political party in having a constructive engagement,” adding:

The only populist stuff (has come from) the left in an attempt to caricature me and shut me down and they won’t succeed.

He added: “I’m really quite shocked and taken aback by how reluctant politicians in our national parliament are to discuss migration.

“It must be the only forum in Ireland where people don’t discuss migration.

“In every community in Ireland, these conversations are taking place, and it’s actually time to show a little bit of political leadership here and actually be willing to discuss issues.

“It’s easy to discuss issues that everybody agrees on. It’s easy to discuss straightforward issues,” said Harris. 

The Tánaiste said it takes more “political courage” to be willing to talk about an issue that is complex.

Asked about a proposal whereby asylum is only granted on a temporary basis, so that if conditions change in a country of origin, that people would be returned, Harris said it was “an interesting idea that merits consideration”.

“This country is a compassionate country, I want to really clear on this, I don’t want us to lose that in the debate,” he said.

“The far right try to hijack our national identity, they don’t speak for us. They don’t have a mandate to speak for us. We’re a good, decent people in this country, and we want to do right by people in difficult circumstances.”

He said that the majority of people who seek international protection in Ireland are refused after appeal and said that there needed to be an “honest” conversation about this in a “respectful” manner.

“We’ve got to call out the disgusting, despicable criminal acts of people who deserve the full rigours of justice to be served and some of the horrors we’ve seen… That’s separate and distinct to having a policy debate,” said Harris. 

With reporting by Christina Finn

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