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Updated at 3pm
SIMON COVENEY HAS received his new seal of office from President Micheal D Higgins after being announced in the role before lunchtime today.
The announcement was made in the Dáil by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar shortly after midday.
Heather Humphreys will be the new Minister for Business, replacing Frances Fitzgerald, and Dublin Rathdown TD Josepha Madigan will take over Humphreys’ role as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
The former Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald resigned on Tuesday following controversy over emails sent to her which indicated she was aware of the aggressive legal strategy the former Garda Commissioner planned to use against whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
Her departure earlier this week averted a pre-Christmas general election, as Fianna Fáil had been planning to table a motion of no confidence on Tuesday night.
“Appointing the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney TD, as Tánaiste will enhance his role in the Brexit negotiations currently underway and will make it easier for him to coordinate the work of other departments with respect of Brexit,” Varadkar said in a statement.
Humphreys’s appointment to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, meant that for the first time in seven years, the minister would be “from outside the Dublin region, and also from the border,” Varadkar said of the Cavan-Monaghan TD.
This is particularly relevant in the context of Brexit and also the Government’s commitment to bring more jobs and good jobs to all regions of Ireland, especially rural Ireland.
Heather’s experience as a minister and also her background in banking and finance makes her very suited to this role.
Madigan, he said, would help “drive forward the Government’s agenda for arts, culture and heritage, including the Creative Ireland programme, an ambitious ten year capital plan for the arts and multi-annual increases in funding for culture and heritage”.
Varadkar presented his new appointees to the media on the steps of Government Buildings this afternoon, before the four travelled to Áras an Uachtaráin, where the new ministers and the Tánaiste received their seals of office.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin congratulated the new appointees, but said that no-one “takes joy” in the reason why the Cabinet had to be reshuffled.
He said that the co-ordinated effort by Fine Gael to maintain that nothing wrong had been done over the past week reflected badly on the Taoiseach.
Odds
A number of names had been suggested as Fitzgerald’s replacement, but Simon Coveney had been widely tipped to succeed her as Tánaiste in recent days.
The Cork TD was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for Brexit on 15 June, in Leo Varadkar’s Cabinet reshuffle.
He is also the deputy leader of Fine Gael. He previously served as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government as well as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. He was an MEP between 2004 and 2007.
Coveney ran to be leader of the Fine Gael party earlier this year, but was defeated by Varadkar.
While the odds were in Coveney’s favour earlier this week, speculation had tipped towards Heather Humphreys in the past 24 hours amid calls for the Taoiseach to ensure that there was gender balance within his Cabinet.
Humphreys has been a member of Dáil Eireann since 2011.
- Additional reporting by Christine Bohan and Daragh Brophy
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With all that’s going on, you’d have to say that Europe is in a far worse state than it was 20 years ago. And the outlook ain’t rosy.
@Ó Connmhaigh: Actually far more people died in terrorist attacks in the 70′s than now
@Rui Firmino: So far
@Rui Firmino: what’s the 70s got to do with 20 years ago?
@Rui Firmino: which was over 40 years ago. Or what year do you think it is…
@ Rui is making the point that the threat of terrorism was far more dangerous in the 1970s then now … Terrorism is at it lowest level at present.
So don’t believe the hype!
@Rui Firmino: yup, as an older fella, I can confirm you’re right. And it wasn’t just a little bit more either. It was a lot more.
@Rui Firmino: that was 40 years ago though..
Wonder if they were Islamic terrorists or is it to do with austerity?
@Rui Firmino: more likely austerity.
@Peter McGlynn:
Agreed, IS and company don’t really do letter bombs
@Rui Firmino: most probably anarchists. Greece has a long history of violent anarchist groups
@P.J. Nolan: ya no virgins for the old letter bomb unfortunately
@Rui Firmino: Muslims Against Austerity
@Paul Devlin: There’s a group that have done stuff like this, but they are not Anarchist. Anarchists wouldn’t do this. There was a bogus group alright a few years ago, but they were denounced by every Anarchist group in Europe. Guys like Bader Meinhoff or Red Brigade would do this carry on though.
@Eric Foley: Golden Dawn type Right wing extremists could be suspects as well to be fair. They have literally murdered several people in Greece in the last few years.
Well if you crush a population this sadly is the result…..
@Kerry Blake: so your saying he deserved it
@Paddy: No Paddy I’m just pointing out due to the policies inflicted on Greece this is the end result.
remember when golden dawn were supposed to be the next greatest threat to human civilisation? Really goes to show the diletante politics of the media circus. On to the next doomsday scenario
have your say