Simon Harris, the TikTok Taoiseach

Feisar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925531#Comment_121925531

One would think that parties would have requirements in place that'd ensure their leader was a "heavy hitter" of some description.

Cyclonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121924939#Comment_121924939

I'd wager he'd be more the latter than the former, unfortunately. John Major worked in the private sector for many years, and was quite successful there. He started as a clerk with one of the banks and worked his way up to head of PR. I remember some government aides who had served under several administrations thought John Major was, by far, the most intelligent of the Prime Ministers they'd served under. He might have been seen as a bit grey, but he would have had a greater command of his brief as a minister than Harris has shown.

NIMAN

With you mentioning John Major, I recall Spitting Image portraying him as Mr Grey, dull and boring. Eating his peas and saying how nice they were.

I can just imagine how Harris would be portrayed on a current Spitting Image.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925623#Comment_121925623

I don't think they ever portrayed the Taoiseach on Spitting Image.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925633#Comment_121925633

They didn't, I'm just imagining.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925426#Comment_121925426

Another coalition of partners excluding FG. I'd guess FF, SF, SocDems, Independents. Maybe Greens but they'll get destroyed too. FG will be the largest opposition party with approx 20 seats.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925611#Comment_121925611

Though probably worth pointing out that, for those who focus on Harris' dropping out of university, Major didn't even make it to A levels.

fgordonie

No, no, no. I'd prefer Oliver Cromwell.

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925586#Comment_121925586

Oi!!! A cold glass of Iron Bru is absolutely delicious!! Works wonders for a hangover. If SF ever get power the hangover will be extremely long and extremely painful.

Man Vs ManUre

So we are going to have a Boy Taoiseach before we even get to having a Woman Taoiseach.

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925542#Comment_121925542

Anyone expecting any sort of turn, dramatic or otherwise will be disappointed. There is a programme for government and all three parties are on record that nothing changes. All that is changing is the personalities. Policies may change over time and you'd expect FF and FG to try and differentiate themselves from each other in the run up to a general election but it won't mean anything tangible.

Esel

It's ALL about The Party.

They needed a leader who can jaw-jaw the opposition into submission.

Redliketoast

To be fair I can see why they will try to see this through. They cant afford a GE right now. Greens would be destroyed. FF wouldnt do well and FG would be in serious trouble, given the amount of people stepping down. They badly need someone to step up. Even Harris (awful decision) can take charge for now. I think someone will screw him over sooner rather than later. He wont be leader of the party this time next year and he isnt strong enough to hold on.

I think it will be SF FF in the next government. Hopefully the SF policies will come through but having FF with them should hold back the crazies in SF from being too crazy. Thats what I think will happen. Not necessarily what I hope happens.

FG will go back to opposition and try to rebuild from there.

JP Liz V1

FG are done, need a complete re hall with new members if they can get elected

Leo and others are leaving the sinking ship

Harris was barely able to get in his constitute the last election

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925919#Comment_121925919

I'm no fan of him but he came second in a five seater. Hardly accurate to say he was barely able to get in

Cyclonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925749#Comment_121925749

I can understand where you're coming from (ability and intelligence not necessarily being correlated with academic credentials, which I can agree with), but, from their point of view, there is also a valid argument that the environments in which Major left school, in the late 1950s, and when Simon Harris left his course, in the mid 2000s, are quite different. Major also did enrol in a banking diploma in the 1960s, and completed it in the early 1970s.

Probably a bit nit-picky, to be fair, and the qualification angle could easily be ignored if Harris otherwise showed significant ability or knowledge. The issue is that we haven't seen it, unfortunately.

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925729#Comment_121925729

If FG get 20 seats FF will keep them over SF.

SharkMX

I didnt want to vote for FG. But I cant think of a better alternative. SF will destroy the country. FF wont declare that they will under no circumstances get into bed with SF, so I see a vote for FF as a vote for SF at this point.

And the Greens .... May they all rot in some compost heap somewhere never to be seen again.

Labour. All I see is a man hating moan of a mouthpiece when I think of labour. Cant get past that, so no point even talking any further about them.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925938#Comment_121925938

He got in on 15th count

SF and SD topped Wicklow polls in 2020

Redliketoast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925938#Comment_121925938

Wasnt it 3rd and on the 15th count?

Get Real

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925496#Comment_121925496

Not a Harris supporter/ don't think he should be Taoiseach myself but in a general sense, perhaps controversially, I don't think a degree should be an absolute requirement to be Taoiseach either.

I agree with you that having one is not the be all and end all.

I know many people without degrees who are personable, intelligent, hard working and are clued in to real life.

Similarly, I know some people who are qualified to the gills, finished a bachelor degree, moved on to a masters and one who then moved on to a doctorate.

People who emerged into advisory roles in their late 20s, having been lucky enough to never so much as worked in a shop dealing with the public.

There's alot of these types on panels and people deciding things when they never rented a room in their lives or balanced starting out on a low wage in a part time job with college work.

Of course, there's no magic cure in politics and I think it's a difficult task to balance things, there'll always be a large cohort of people criticising you.

All Harris knows is politics. And pessimistically, I think he went into it in 2009 as really, bar college, there weren't much viable career routes given the economic conditions. So he failed that and had a go for the council.

Not to knock him, he got elected and I'm sure locally he did some good things (autism and special needs) and clearly he adapted well to the political role. But he knows nothing else.

For me personally, I wouldn't be quick to vote for someone based on their long list of educational credentials, as usually they're lacking something elsewhere imo. I want to see what they've done or worked at too in a previous life. What experiences they've had. Harris has neither.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925987#Comment_121925987

The count number someone gets in on is irrelevant and nobody cared until SF activists made it a thing after the 2020 GE. There are always people elected late, that is inherent to our voting system.

That will bite them back, very hard, if SF do decent vote management next time - as there will be piles of SF TDs taking the last seat on the last count. Going to be hard to backtrack on five years of claiming that someone makes you less legitimate!

Tenzor07

Harris didn't need a degree, he did his apprenticeship "on the job" as a junior minister, before being promoted to minister..

Redliketoast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925963#Comment_121925963

Vote independent. I dont think I can bring myself to go SF. FF and FG have done so much damage to the country. FG will just keep privatising everything. Closing garda stations post offices and allowing banks to close.

Dont be that beaten wife. He isnt gonna change

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925991#Comment_121925991

You are right. Was only looking at first preferences. Still some way away from barely getting in.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925991#Comment_121925991

Yes it was the 15th count that got Stephen Donnelly and Simon Harris in, not sure which one was 3rd and 4th

Leo and MM did not top either or in early counts

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925987#Comment_121925987

Topping the poll refers to first preferences. Harris had the second most first preferences.

The count he was elected on is irrelevant.

Redliketoast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121926023#Comment_121926023

100% getting elected is getting elected

If we googled it (I dont care enough) and looked at who else got in, we would prob see someone who wont get elected again. I think a green might have been there. Maybe a soc dem given its Wicklow. Plus there was a few FG's in that area. As Party leader he would easily be able to get back in if he did his homework.

I dont like him and wouldnt be disappointed if he never gets back in. But I think he is a shoe in.

MegamanBoo

Not a great way start. Screwing up before you even begin the job.

https://www.thejournal.ie/simon-harris-phil-hogan-6334641-Mar2024/

What a clueless thing to say. Does he not realize how unpopular Phil Hogan is across the country?

J.O. Farmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925951#Comment_121925951

The question then is do FG want to stay with FF, that could depend on being considered equal partners with a rotating Taoiseach again.

A minority government propped up by FG may be the outcome.