Paul Hosford: Simon Harris’s Fine Gael leadership risks becoming a one-man show

Simon Harris’s dominance has energised Fine Gael, but without new faces rising, the party risks stagnation ahead of 2026

TDs applaud Simon Harris on his nomination as taoiseach in 2024. Among his Fine Gael colleagues in the photo are Peter Burke, Patrick O’Donovan, and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill — as is Neale Richmond, who may have been overlooked for a Cabinet nod. File picture: Maxwells

It being Christmas, I’m going to ask for your indulgence.

You see, friends of mine have taken to pointing out with great mirth when I make comparisons in writing or speech that are somewhat... peculiar. In 2020, I compared the Green Party’s decision to go into government to Star Trek’s Kobayashi Maru, for example.

So you will have to bear with me on this one as I argue that Simon Harris’s leadership of Fine Gael is most closely likened to professional wrestling.

OK, with your mince pies spat out and enough expletives to put you on next year’s naughty list, allow me to explain.

Hulk Hogan firing up the crowd at Wrestlemania in Los Angeles in 2005. Simon Harris ought to note that World Championship Wrestling imploded partly due to a failure to elevate other wrestlers to a similar star status to the Hulkster. File picture: Chris Carlson/AP

Any scholar of the collapse or decline of any professional wrestling company will tell you that those things can be multifaceted, but many boil down to this: If you create a star, you need to keep creating stars for them to feed off.

In the highly scripted and pre-determined world of spandex and baby oil, there are few things worse than having a name that people want to see — but nobody for them to be pitted against in bouts of strength and cunning.

Then taoiseach Enda Kenny meeting wrestling star Hulk Hogan in March 2015 en route to SXSW in Austin, Texas. One wonders if the current Fine Gael leader is aware of the lessons to be learned from the demise of World Championship Wrestling. Picture: x.com/CaitrionaPerry

In World Championship Wrestling’s explosion and decline, the failure to adequately elevate stars onto the level of the recently-deceased Hulk Hogan, due in large part to the Hulkster’s politicking and contractual status, is frequently pointed out as one of the reasons that that company lost momentum to the extent that, by 2001 — just half a decade after it became a real rival to the behemoth of WWE — it was extinct and subsumed into its competitor.

Fine Gael in government has, obviously, far outlasted that timeframe. But as it enters its 15th year, the party does feel more focused on its leader than in previous times. While this is not necessarily a failing of Mr Harris’s — he is not Hulk Hogan — it does mean the party’s renewal while in government will require the emergence of a cohort of TDs who have been for various reasons somewhat subdued.

Shock exit of Leo Varadkar... 

It is important to remember that Mr Harris inherited the leadership of the party quite unexpectedly a little under two years ago, ascending in the wake of Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation. 

...and 16 other senior figures

What followed was an exodus of senior party figures: Joe McHugh, Brendan Griffin, John Paul Phelan, Michael Creed, David Stanton, Richard Bruton, Charles Flanagan, Fergus O’Dowd, Paul Kehoe, Ciarán Cannon, Josepha Madigan, Simon Coveney, Leo Varadkar, Michael Ring, Damien English, and Heather Humphreys all bowed out before the last general election, leaving Mr Harris in charge of a party which had to, by necessity, revolve and evolve.

Part of that evolution began quickly with Mr Harris elevating Peter Burke and Patrick O’Donovan to Cabinet and making a point to include Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, appointed a junior minister in April 2024, in the Cabinet’s traditional walk into the Dáil chamber. 

Harris and Donohoe as focal points

But while that trio, and then Martin Heydon as agriculture minister, have worked hard as ministers, there is no question that Mr Harris and Paschal Donohoe were the focal points of Fine Gael from a public-facing perspective. 

Familiar and emblematic of what the party stood for in the eyes of the public, the two were shorthand for the modern Fine Gael.

Mr Harris’s election as leader was hailed within the party as a shot in the arm, but his “new energy” slogan became something of a punchline as the general election took its toll on a leader who seemed to put the fate of his party — particularly newer candidates — on his shoulders.

Whereas it was all about Mr Harris in the early days, perhaps now is the time to elevate those around him.

Renewal narrative needs to be refreshed

At first glance, Mr Harris appears to embody the party’s commitment to youth and progression. 

Having entered national politics at a young age and risen rapidly through ministerial ranks, he is often presented as evidence that Fine Gael rewards ambition and ability. For supporters, his prominence signals that the party is not trapped in the past and is capable of elevating leaders who can speak to contemporary Ireland. 

However, that same trajectory complicates Fine Gael’s renewal narrative. 

Because Mr Harris has been a senior figure for much of his adult life, he is no longer widely perceived as “new talent” by the electorate, even if he is younger than many of his colleagues.

Harris should be aware of his 'TV age' 

This brings us back to wrestling, which operates under a perception called ‘TV age’, the acknowledgement that viewers will think of people as older if they’ve been on television for some time. 

In Irish politics, some like Mr Harris have been around for so long that they are instantly thought of as older. In fact, he is the party’s second-youngest TD.

But that perception highlights a broader challenge for Fine Gael.

Harris may be overshadowing others 

Elevating one or two high-profile figures from a younger generation does not necessarily convince voters that the party is renewing itself at depth. When renewal appears to stop at the top, it can reinforce the impression of a closed political ecosystem, where advancement is limited to a small circle. 

Mr Harris’s visibility can therefore overshadow emerging TDs, senators, and councillors who lack comparable platforms, weakening the sense of a broad and vibrant talent pipeline.

With Mr Donohoe leaving last month for the World Bank, there is now a need for a new Fine Gael cohort to emerge as stars in their own right and redefine the party.

Neale Richmond and Emer Higgins are needed at FG's top level   

In an interview with this paper, junior minister Neale Richmond — someone who may have considered himself overlooked for a Cabinet nod when Mr Donohoe left — said the party can now “be potentially a little bit more brave in how we discuss ourselves”.

“We aren’t a party for all people,” he said.

“We’re not going to get 36% to 38% of the votes again, and when we look at where we sit, we are clearly a moderate Western European Christian democratic party.

“I’m not some arch social conservative, but I do believe in fundamental Christian democracy, in working for the greater good, in believing in the social market economy. And perhaps we need to be talking along those lines and making sure that there’s a place in Fine Gael for everyone.

“Let’s not let other people continuously describe us to be something that we’re not. And let’s get a little less offended by the people who give out about us, who are never going to go to us in the first place.”

Mr Richmond has been a member of Fine Gael since 2002 and his insight is important, but regardless of what message Fine Gael settles on selling, it will need evangelists like himself and Emer Higgins to take the leap to the next level in the eyes of the public in 2026 in order to make the sell as widespread as possible.

Mr Harris will become taoiseach once more in 23 months or so, if all works out as the Government has planned. 

The strength of those around him will decide if he can win the next election or if he gets counted out.