The Government made clear that it had lost confidence in Phil Hogan and felt his position as Ireland’s commissioner was
no longer tenable. On Wednesday evening, the Kilkenny man finally acquiesced to their call for him to “consider his position”. It leaves a considerable vacuum, one that must be quickly filled. Micheál Martin must feel that he can’t catch a break, with controversy and calamity dogging this Government in the 61 days since he became Taoiseach. He needs to fill the vacancies created by the departures of Hogan and Dara Calleary, the Minister for Agriculture who resigned as soon as the implications of the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner became apparent. Calleary’s replacement is, in political terms, a decision for the Taoiseach, drawing from the ranks of Fianna Fáil’s parliamentary party, but the commissioner role is an entirely different matter.
The Government made clear that it had lost confidence in Phil Hogan and felt his position as Ireland’s commissioner was no longer tenable. On Wednesday evening, the Kilkenny man finally acquiesced to their call for him to “consider his position”. It leaves a considerable vacuum, one that must be quickly filled.
Micheál Martin must feel that he can’t catch a break, with controversy and calamity dogging this Government in the 61 days since he became Taoiseach. He needs to fill the vacancies created by the departures of Hogan and Dara Calleary, the Minister for Agriculture who resigned as soon as the implications of the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner became apparent. Calleary’s replacement is, in political terms, a decision for the Taoiseach, drawing from the ranks of Fianna Fáil’s parliamentary party, but the commissioner role is an entirely different matter.
Suitability
Whoever is nominated by this Government must go before the relevant committee of the European Parliament to have their suitability vetted in what is frequently a gruelling and sustained process.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is a former MEP, and is highly regarded in Brussels
If that ordeal is navigated, they then must be approved by a vote of the full European Parliament. Once a formality in a chamber dominated by two big blocs, the centre-right European People’s Party and the left of centre Socialists, it is now more complex in a diverse 27-member union. So, the candidate must be carefully selected.
Candidates
The first question is whether Micheál Martin as Taoiseach will push for a Fianna Fáil candidate, or has Leo Varadkar already gained agreement that Fine Gael should retain the role that was carried into this Government in the form of Phil Hogan.
It is possible that this issue was already visited when the two men were drafting the “consider his position” statement issued in their joint names last Friday. It may have been the price for the Tánaiste’s calling out of his party colleague.
If that is the case, there is an instant shortlist. First up is Simon Coveney, the deputy leader of Fine Gael. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is a former MEP, and is highly regarded in Brussels for his brokering of the 2013 CAP deal as chair of the council of agricultural ministers during the Irish presidency of the EU. It would also remove the main threat to Leo Varadkar’s leadership from the national political stage for five years, surely a bonus for the leader.
There is one drawback - Coveney’s nomination would trigger a byelection in Cork South Central, a contest neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael would approach with any confidence in the current climate.
That is also the drawback with nominating any TD; no such election would be required if an MEP were nominated, which immediately puts Mairead McGuinness into the frame.
Mairead McGuinness. \ Thierry ROGE EP
As the first vice-president of the European Parliament she has built on a formidable reputation from 16 years as an MEP. She also has a high media profile across Europe, and particularly in the UK.
A candidate of the standing of either the aforementioned might help Ireland’s chances of retaining the crucial trade portfolio, although it is an outside shot.
Diplomats
Another possibility being mooted in Brussels is that an Irish diplomat might be seen as having the craft to fill the trade role.
David O’Sullivan, most recently the EU’s ambassador to the US, is in the frame. Another technocrat, Catherine Day, served as Secretary General of the EU from 2005-2015, a role she succeeded O’Sullivan in.
Either of these solve both the party affiliation and byelection conundrums. A left-field, although right-wing, possibility might be Lucinda Creighton.
Lucinda Creighton. \ Barry Cronin
Once a rising star in Fine Gael, a close ally of Leo Varadkar, and the Minister for European Affairs, she left the party having lost the whip over a vote on abortion legislation. She was appointed to the board of Horse Sport Ireland in 2018, so some detente has occurred since she stepped back from Renua, the party she founded.
Fianna Fáil commissioner
Perhaps Micheál Martin will insist that Fianna Fáil, as the largest party in the Dáil, should have the commissioner role. Ironically, if I was writing such an article as this six weeks ago, Dara Calleary might have been the outstanding candidate.
Like Coveney the party deputy leader, overlooked for Cabinet and handed the chief whip’s role instead, the Mayo man hails from one of the few constituencies where the traditional “big two” parties would expect to duke it out in a byelection. In that six weeks, Calleary has gained and lost the Minister for Agriculture job.
Or perhaps it will be Calleary’s fellow Mayo man, the one who had the wisdom to avoid the fateful dinner, although he had played a round of golf in Clifden. He’s younger and fitter than Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
Commissioner Kenny, anyone?
Enda Kenny.
Read more
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