Simon Harris denies charge that ceding gaeltacht brief to FF is an embarrassment

Taoiseach says FG could have taken role but Thomas Byrne is the right choice — and that he intends to improve his own fluency in Irish

Simon Harris leaving Áras an Uachtaráin on Tuesday after President Michael D Higgins presented the Fine Gael leader with his seal of office after being appointed Taoiseach. Picture: Damien Storan/PA

Taoiseach Simon Harris says that he intends to improve his Irish, but denied that it was embarrassing that Fine Gael had turned over the Gaeltacht portfolio in his junior ministerial reshuffle.

Patrick O'Donovan, the former Fine Gael holder of the office, was this week appointed to Mr Harris's old role in the Department of Further and Higher Education, with the Gaeltacht part of his former Office of Public Works (OPW) brief going to Fianna Fáil's Thomas Byrne, who speaks fluent Irish.

Mr Harris said he intends to improve his Irish, but denied that Fine Gael had given up the brief due to a lack of options. 

He said that Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton could have taken on the role, but he had asked her to take on the role of junior education minister, overseeing special education, which he said will be a priority for his time as Taoiseach.

The Taoiseach denied it was an embarrassment for either him or the Government that the role switched parties.

"I'm very proud of the decision I made with the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party. 

Minister Hildegarde Naughton could well have been the Minister for the Gaeltacht, but she has taken on significant additional extra work at my request in special education.

"It is no secret, because I say it on every occasion that I intend to prioritise in my time as Taoiseach and I wanted to elevate it to the Cabinet table. 

"In the context of that and the importance of the Irish language, it made absolute sense that the minister of state in the parent department [the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media], Minister Thomas Byrne would take on the gaeltacht portfolio. 

"So this is about doing what is right for the country and the Government. Minister Byrne will be an excellent minister."

However, sources within the party have indicated that Louth TD Fergus O'Dowd had been offered the role if he reconsidered his decision not to contest the next election. Sources have also indicated that giving the role to Ms Naughton had originally been planned, but that her workload as Chief Whip had been considered heavy enough.

Mr Harris last week told reporters that he had been offered assistance by Conradh na Gaeilge to improve his Irish and will be working to do so.

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“I don’t have very much Irish, and I’m very honest in relation to that. I certainly intend to brush up significantly on it,” he said.

Mr Harris's predecessor Leo Varadkar also worked to improve his Irish when he took office. He took an intermediate course in the spring of 2017 and was awarded a certificate bearing the name Leo “de Varad”.

He would later become the first Taoiseach to speak Irish in the Oval Office, telling US president Joe Biden:

"Tá áthas orm bheith anseo sa Teach Bán, agus táimíd buioch duit a Uachtaráin don tacaoícht maidir le Brexit, agus do ceannaireacht maidir leis an cogadh in Ukráin. Tá mé ag tnúth le do cúirt mór go hÉireann. Beidh sé cuirt den scoth, geallaim.”