Irish Examiner view: Smooth succession of Harris good for Fine Gael but is it good for the country? 

Concerns are bound to be expressed when a TD becomes taoiseach without the imprimatur of a general election victory, though John Bruton set a precedent when he took office 30 years ago

A little over 24 hours after Leo Varadkar's resignation speech, Simon Harris had enough support to take over as leader. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos 

The vacancy at the top of Fine Gael hardly lasted long enough to qualify as a power vacuum.

A little over 24 hours after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s emotional resignation speech, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris had corralled more than enough support to take over the party. With possible rivals such as Paschal Donohoe and Simon Coveney declining to challenge him, Mr Harris’ victory soon became a foregone conclusion.

From a Fine Gael perspective, the smooth succession may be seen as a good day’s work. Party members were not looking forward to the forthcoming local and European elections long before Mr Varadkar’s bombshell resignation on Wednesday. Already expecting a rebuke from the electorate, there would be little appetite for a bitter, protracted leadership campaign that would have split their party further ahead of those elections. Instead, one of their members is to be the youngest taoiseach of all time, installed with efficiency. No blood spilled in doing so.

Is Mr Harris’ promotion to the top job a good day’s work for the country, however? There are bound to be concerns expressed when a TD becomes taoiseach without the imprimatur of a general election victory, but the precedents exist. Thirty years ago, John Bruton, who passed away only last month, was the first to take that office without winning a general election, for instance.

Mr Harris and party colleagues with an eye to history will be hoping the parallels do not end there. When Mr Bruton’s coalition government went to the country in 1997, Fine Gael enjoyed a bounce in popularity and regained almost as many seats as it had lost in the 1992 general election.

Only time will tell if Mr Harris can boost Fine Gael’s standing among the public, but we will not have to wait quite as long to see the results of his performance as taoiseach.

The in-tray awaiting him in Merrion Street is bulging with challenges. It always is.

Gardaí are not above the law

There has been a disturbing number of cases before the courts involving members of An Garda Síochána recently.

Earlier this week, we learned that former garda Mícheál Mannion was sentenced to three months in prison after being found guilty of harassing two female colleagues at Clifden Garda Station.

Last week, many readers will have seen the case of former garda Mark Doyle, who put his ex-wife and stepsons through “horror after horror” over a 12-year period, before being jailed for six years.

Going back to the week before that, on March 8, John Egan was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at Castlerea Garda Station on St Valentine’s Day 2015, while he was working there as an immigration officer. The former garda was also convicted of harassing the same victim at various locations on dates between February 15 and December 31, 2015.

This is a deeply concerning litany of cases, all of which are linked by a common thread — the abuse of position and power.

The impact on the individuals concerned cannot be overstated, but these cases and others like them also come with a wider context. At a time when many State institutions are under attack, such cases can be weaponised by those seeking to manipulate public opinion for their own ends.

The argument can, of course, be made that the scheduling of cases in the courts can contrive to make this appear a bigger problem than it is in reality.

The obvious retort is that even one of these cases is too many and casts a shadow over An Garda Síochána: Three such cases are a cause for genuine concern.

This situation is also potentially damaging for the reputation of our police force at a particularly fraught period — with threats from the far-right on one hand and unprecedented levels of drug smuggling on the other, these cases could hardly have come at a worse time.

Time and tide

The cliche has it that we recognise that the ageing process is truly taking hold when the policemen start getting younger, but for some readers there may be another way to mark the passing of time.

When the candidates for the role of James Bond begin to look impossibly youthful, is that a more reliable sign of encroaching age?

Emmet Bergin will be best remembered as Dick Moran in 'Glenroe'. Picture: Eamonn Farrell

The point arises with the news emerging this week that Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 34 this year, has been offered the part of Bond. In keeping with his predecessors, Taylor-Johnson is not quite a household name yet, and the rumours have yet to harden into irrefutable fact. If true, however, expect plenty of musing on, and blustering about, the fact that an actor who took his wife’s surname in marriage will play a character not usually associated with fully-evolved views on gender roles, to put it politely.

For all the 007 speculation, the truly significant acting news for Irish readers this week was the passing of Emmet Bergin, who featured in films such as Excalibur and Veronica Guerin.

For most Irish people, however, he will always be remembered as Dick Moran in Glenroe.

Dick’s business dealings and amorous adventures were a constant drumbeat in the long-running soap. Its inimitable theme tune every Sunday evening heralded the end of yet another weekend and the need to either get one’s schoolwork done or ready the wardrobe for work.

Bergin’s smooth performances helped ease a whole generation’s dread of Monday mornings. Not a bad epitaph.