Healy-Rae resignation 'coming since the day they entered' Government

Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae returns to the opposition benches and, unless there is a major electoral shift, it appears he will never return to ministerial office. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

“It was coming since the day they entered.”

This was how one member of Government described Michael Healy-Rae's decision to stop supporting the coalition and resign as a junior minister.

Mr Healy-Rae’s time as minister was the first time anyone in his family had risen to ministerial rank, with his father Jackie having only gone as far as supporting Government from the backbenches.

In January 2025, Michael Healy-Rae said he and his brother would be backing the Government across five budgets, becoming the so-called fourth leg of the Coalition.

While he insisted there was no specific constituency deal, Mr Healy-Rae said that issues he had would now be “taken on board at the heart of Government”.

This did end up being the case on a number of occasions over the past 15 months, with Healy-Rae pressuring from inside the tent on issues such as short-term lets.

He called for a “serious rethink” over the proposed crackdown on short-term lets, achieving an increased population limit of 20,000 where restrictions would apply rather than 10,000 as had been planned.

Mr Healy-Rae took credit for the change, posting on social media that he had been “working hard at Government level” on the matter.

This was despite Peter Burke, the enterprise minister, pushing back on any suggestion the change came amid lobbying from the Kerry TD.

There was some suggestion that Michael Healy-Rae could have gone overboard just three months ago, when the Government was facing a storm due to the Mercosur trade deal.

However, any concerns from the Kerry TD seemed to be assuaged when Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed the Government would not be supporting the deal and would vote against it at an EU level.

While members in Government praised the TD's work ethic within the Department of Agriculture, patience appeared to be wearing thin with Mr Healy-Rae's move to take potshots at the Coalition over the fuel protests.

While Mr Healy-Rae did criticise the decision by protesters regarding the fuel blockades, he repeatedly called for the Government to engage further with them.

At the time, this was rejected out of hand, with detractors in Government simply labelling him a “populist”.

Just hours before the confidence vote, another such detractor said “nobody was impressed” by Mr Healy-Rae’s approach to the protests, “including many of his Independent colleagues in Government”.

His resignation took many by surprise, with none of his former ministerial colleagues being informed before he pulled the trigger mid-speech.

While there is still another three-and-a-half years to go in the 34th Dáil, Michael Healy-Rae’s influence at any level of Government is now consigned to the dustbin.

The Kerry TD returns to the opposition benches and, unless there is a major electoral shift, it appears he will never return to ministerial office.

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