NEW TAOISEACH SIMON Harris has been accused of a being a “no show” in the Dáil on his first day on the job.
Harris was elected as Taoiseach yesterday and concluded his Dáil speech by saying “let’s get to work”.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald rounded on those in the government benches today when the Dáil business schedule was being agreed.
She said it is “wholly unacceptable” that Leaders’ Questions, which is typically held at 12pm on a Wednesday, was not in the schedule today and hit out at Harris for not showing up.
McDonald said: “We have a lot of work to do, the Government has a lot of questions to answer, and yet the Taoiseach has not shown up – this is wholly unacceptable.”
She added: “That is an absolute disgrace.”
“We’ve shown up to do our job. We are here, we’ve shown in for work; where is the Taoiseach? He ought to be here taking questions and dealing with the issues that matter to the people,” she said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said she was disappointed that changes had been made to the Dáil schedule, stating that it was “unacceptable” that business of the day was not ordered properly.
She said it looked like “made-up business” was in the Dáil schedule over the next two days “when there’s so much important work to be done”.
Harris’s office issued press releases this evening on his phone calls today with the Stormont first and deputy ministers, as well as the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Harris said that he “felt it was important” that in his first day as Taoiseach that he speak to Zelensky to reassure him of Ireland’s “unwavering support” of Ukraine as its people defend themselves from the “imperialist aggression” of Russia’s Putin.
“Russia cannot and must not prevail,” the Taoiseach added.
On his phone call with the two Stormont leaders, he said that he spoke about the importance of his role as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, including on today, the 26th anniversary of its signing.
Hello from Government Buildings. First full day in job and a busy one:
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) April 10, 2024
chaired a government meeting, appointed ministers of state, set up a new cabinet committee on disability & key calls with political leaders including the British Prime Minister and the President of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/IwZUFNloh5
During the 20-minute phone call to Sunak, the two leaders committed to holding a bilateral meeting in person in the future, and began with a “warm” discussion about their roles and families.
While the Harris and Sunak discussed Northern Ireland, the issue of the Legacy Act didn’t get raised, according to a spokesperson for the Taoiseach.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act seeks to halt future civil cases and legacy inquests.
On the issue of the Middle East, they agreed that Hamas should unconditionally release the remaining hostages from the deplorable 7 October attack on Israel and expressed their grave concern over the worsening humanitarian situation and the need for Israel to accelerate the scale of aid delivered to Gaza.
The leaders agreed to stay in contact in the coming months and Sunak said he looked forward to welcoming the Taoiseach to the UK-hosted European Political Summit in July.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said the Business Committee, which decides the Dail schedule, had become a “facade”, while independent TD Mattie McGrath described this week’s running order as a “shambles” and an “absolute insult”.
Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton told the Dáil that Harris was unable to take Leaders’ Questions today as he has phone calls with Sunak, Zelensky and the Northern Ireland leaders.
Cabinet also appointed the new minister of state jobs earlier in the afternoon.
When asked why Harris was not present in the Dáil today, a spokesperson for the Taoiseach said that the usual practice after a new Taoiseach enters office is that the Dáil does not sit for a week but that did not happen this time.
The spokesperson said the Taoiseach came into the office at 7.50am and had briefings ahead of his calls and meetings with other world leaders as well as being busy with his first Cabinet meeting and pre-Cabinet meeting.
“There’s a lot of heavy subjects today and you don’t speak to the President of Ukraine without being well briefed,” the spokesperson said.
Harris took to X to outline what he has been up to today, stating that he has a “busy day’.
Harris is due to travel to Brussels where he will meet with EU Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen before travelling to Warsaw where he will meet with President of the European Council Charles Michel.
Naughton said Harris will take Leaders’ Questions next week.
The Government won the vote on the proposed changes to the Dáil business.
With reporting from Jane Matthews.
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