Michael McGrath seen by colleagues as ultimate 'safe pair of hands'
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. Picture: Julien Behal
Michael McGrath was first elected to Dáil Eireann in 2007 along with Dara Calleary, Timmy Dooley and Niall Collins.
His elevation to national politics followed his stints on Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council.
Named as the running mate of none other than Michéal Martin was no mean feat and the two men have had a healthy rivalry within Cork South Central to say the least.
Together with his brother Seamus, a councillor, the 44-year-old McGrath runs a solid local organisation which contests the ground fiercely with Martin’s operation.
Married to Sarah with seven children, McGrath scraped over the line on what as a disastrous election day for his party in 2011, but his survival granted him a prime place at the top table of his party, albeit in opposition.
Named initially as public expenditure spokesman after the election, he took over the finance portfolio after the death of Brian Lenihan that June.
Safely returned by the people in 2016 and in 2020, he would retain the finance portfolio for nine years until June of this year when he was named Public Expenditure Minister.
Exceptionally well-respected internally within the parliamentary party, McGrath is seen as the ultimate “safe pair of hands.”
“He never drops the ball, is hard working and good to his colleagues,” said one ministerial colleague in praise of him.
Other backbench colleagues would share that view and commend him for the effort he put in when the party was in opposition and at a low ebb. Some have commented that McGrath, in his diligent and understated tone, brought an air of respectability to the tarnished Fianna Fáil brand at a time when it was badly needed.
Even though the Confidence and Supply deal was deeply resented within the parliamentary party, despite being a powerful advocate for it and a central negotiator around the four budgets covered by it, McGrath was never tainted with its negative impact on the party. Most of that anger was reserved for his leader.
He played a central role in the programme for government talks and his relationship with Paschal Donohoe in Finance will be one of the key axes upon which this historic coalition will balance.
Jokes already circulate about the budding bromance between the two princes of prudence of Merrion St.
McGrath has often been tipped as a potential successor to Martin and several sources within the party have given voice to his “deep ambition” to seek the position when it comes available.
Others, however, question his dynamism and whether he has what it takes to step up from the number two position to the top job.
Heading into his first budget and conscious of the calamities his Fianna Fáil ministerial colleagues have managed to bring upon himself, McGrath has everything riding on the next 12 days.
