Simon Harris' comments on Trump suggest he may be targeting foreign affairs role
James Cox
While Simon Harris would have hoped to continue as taoiseach, the foreign affairs portfolio would be far from a consolation prize.
While many in Fine Gael will argue that the party did well to secure 38 seats at the general election, given the amount of senior TDs who did not run, their finish behind Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin means they will have to fight for the 'parity' Mr Harris has often mentioned when it comes to government formation.
Sources have indicated the rotating taoiseach agreement will continue, meaning Mr Harris will hope to return to the Taoiseach's Office in two and a half years after his busy nine months in the role.
If he hopes to succeed Micheál Martin, he will have to keep a high-profile though, and he may well be targeting the role of Minister for Foreign Affairs.
He will undoubtedly take a senior ministerial role along with the position of tánaiste, and he may well be considering how Mr Martin has benefitted from the role.
After Fianna Fáil secured 48 seats in the general election, his position as leader of the party is very secure.
However, there was a wobble a couple of years ago, with consistent murmurings of discontent among backbench TDs. Some speculated that Mr Martin could suffer from being abroad so much, with rumours of secret meetings when he was away.
However, having such a prominent role on the world stage has served him well, and it may well be tempting to Mr Harris.
He has been linked with the departments of enterprise and justice (which he served in temporarily while Helen McEntee was on maternity leave), but his recent comments in an opinion piece in The Irish Times suggest he has his eyes on foreign affairs.
Mr Harris said Ireland will have to find a way to build strong links with the United States in the incoming Trump administration.
He wrote of an "Irish diplomatic and trade offensive".
Mr Harris wrote: "Ireland is now a top-10 investor in the United States, and we punch way above our weight in those numbers, investing more than China, Canada, India or Australia. Irish companies are opening new business in every one of the 50 states in the US and create tens of thousands of jobs. Around 500 Irish companies alone employ 100,000 people stateside. This is the story we need to tell Mr Trump’s new team.
"It is also important to remember that Ireland has worked with a Trump administration before, and Mr Trump was in office during the hardest and most dangerous period of Brexit for our country. His administration worked carefully to understand the complexities of Brexit and the US interventions at that time to protect the peace process were important and astute."
He went on to mention his proposal at the European Council for an invitation to Mr Trump for a US-EU summit.
Mr Harris also said Ireland should make it "our ambition" to host Mr Trump in Ireland during our presidency of the EU in 2026.
Foreign affairs is one of the most sought after Cabinet roles, so Fianna Fáil may well demand some of the other key portfolios such as health and justice.
You can read more about Ireland's vulnerabilities to Mr Trump's proposed tariffs here.
