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WHAT’S HAPPENED TO team Healy-Rae?
Famous sibling duo Michael and Danny Healy-Rae are going through a highly-publicised fall out.
Michael took to the airwaves Tuesday to criticise his brother for calling for Micheál Martin and Simon Harris to be replaced the day before the no-confidence vote in the government back in April.
He even went as far as to say his brother’s comments are what cost him his agriculture ministry, which he dramatically quit.
But what exactly is going on with the Co Kerry politicians and how did they get here?
The Healy-Rae dynasty has long been a force to be reckoned with, with the brothers sowing up the votes in order to represent Co Kerry’s interests at a national level. Both were elected to the Dáil in 2016 after running a successful united campaign which focused on vote management.
The pair were then part of government formation talks in January 2025, with Michael securing a junior minister role following those talks. Although both brothers are now back on the opposition benches.
In April, Michael made headlines with his shock decision to quit as minister for state for forestry at the Department of Agriculture over the government’s handling of the fuel crisis.
Voting against the government in a motion of confidence, which the government ultimately survived, Michael said he believed the people of Ireland had been left behind by those in power.
In the aftermath of his announcement, minister for children Norma Foley said Danny may have had an influence on his brother’s vote of no confidence – an assertion Danny took to the airwaves to strongly deny.
Foley told RTÉ she was “surprised” by Michael’s decision and noted that an arrangement had been made that the Healy-Raes would support the government and “that didn’t materialise”, with both voting against the government in the confidence motion.
Speaking to Kerry Today with Jerry O’Sullivan after Foley’s comment, Danny said “I didn’t influence him one way or the other”, when asked about his brother’s resignation.
“Whatever discussions that were had behind closed doors I’m leaving in there,” he added.
Danny said his brother “gave his own reasons” and added: “We couldn’t influence government and do the things that we wanted him to do, and we weren’t happy”.
The day before the no-confidence vote in government and prior to Michael tendering his resignation, Danny told Radio Kerry that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael should topple their two leaders.
Speaking on Kerry Today with Jerry O’Sullivan on Tuesday, Michael said when “those words were issued [during an interview on Radio Kerry] that’s what cost Kerry a ministry in agriculture”.
He described the events as “disappointing” and said it is not the place of an independent TD to tell a parliamentary party what it should do.
“I was sacked on Radio Kerry, because that started it,” he said, adding that he was “put in an impossible situation”.
He said the government was also put in an impossible situation, stating that the two Healy-Raes had agreed to support the government and having one step away from that commitment was not going to wash.
He said Danny should have informed him if he wanted to break the deal they signed up to support the government, and should have told him what he was going to say on the radio that day.
When Michael was asked if he will ever work with his brother again politically, he said he will be careful with doing a deal with someone again.
“Team Healy-Rae has been damaged by this,” he said.
However, Danny seems to be singing a different tune. He told the Irish Examiner on Tuesday that “Team Healy-Rae” remains intact.
But he said he was “saying nothing at all in the world” about Michael’s comments.
For his part, Michael has described the experiences as one of his toughest to date, politically.
“All I wanted to do at all times was think about County Kerry. I was thinking about all the years that the Healy-Raes had given to get into some position where we could do something. We were finally in that position,” he said.
“All that needed to be done was to have political backbone and to stay on the course and fight from within government to do the best to deliver, because it’s all about delivery.”
It has always been expected that a time would come when the next generation of Healy-Raes would step up and stand for the Dáil, with Michael and Danny thought to be paving the way for their children to take their seats some day.
Danny Healy-Rae has been contacted for comment.
With additional reporting from Christina Finn.
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