Simon Harris was quickly noted as a highly ambitious young politician when, aged 27, he first entered government as Fine Gael minister of state at the department of finance, 10 years ago this month.
He then rose smoothly through a series of key appointments until he became the youngest taoiseach in the history of the state in April, with opinion polls already indicating that his party has benefited significantly from his arrival in the top post.
It has been a meteoric rise by any standards, so I was keen to assess him from reasonably close range when he spoke at the MacGill summer school at Glenties in Co Donegal earlier this month.
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My impression was that of a tall and slightly gaunt figure who, unlike some of his older contemporaries, was happy with greying hair and a sober suit and tie, although still in his 30s, and who was well able to address the gathering convincingly and without notes.
Harris strikingly suggested that the three key developments to date during his time as taoiseach were offering the official apology to the victims of the 1981 Stardust disaster in Dublin, formally recognising the state of Palestine, and improving Anglo-Irish relationships through his discussions with Keir Starmer earlier that week.
He has clearly forged decent understandings with Starmer, pointing out that they were the sons of an Irish taxi driver and an English tool maker respectively.
Harris also told his enthusiastic Donegal audience that Starmer’s face “lit up” when the taoiseach, saying he was acting on behalf of the people of Ireland, presented him with a new GAA jersey from the county, to replace the old one which the British prime minister regularly wore when playing five-a-side football in London.
During a short and light-hearted conversion afterwards, I took the opportunity to point out that the saga of Starmer and the Donegal top had originated through both an Irish News report from 2021 and a column I had filed to mark his UK general election victory.
I said that, just as the jersey had been a present to Starmer, we would generously make a gift of the story to Harris so he could use it again as often as required, which he readily accepted in good humour, and we parted on positive terms.
Simon Harris also told his enthusiastic Donegal audience that Keir Starmer’s face “lit up” when the taoiseach presented him with a new GAA jersey from the county, to replace the old one which the British prime minister regularly wore when playing football
Harris, through his fondness for a particular social media platform, has famously become known as the TikTok taoiseach, a description which he seems to relish as he is followed everywhere by his own video specialist.
His team was unlikely to miss the opportunity provided by some enterprising children, who had set up a lemonade stall across the road from his appearance at Glenties’ Highlands Hotel over previous days and swiftly benefited from a VIP customer.
Harris then strode confidently into a neighbouring bar during the next stage of his Glenties walkabout, but, after finding that it was closed for renovations, still had the presence of mind to shake hands with all the startled workmen instead.
His forthcoming huge challenge, after prospering during his Donegal visit, is to settle on a date for the next Irish general election, which informed sources believe may be fixed for November.
There is always a danger that his next title he acquires could that of the youngest ex-taoiseach in history, but he did not appear to be seriously considering such a prospect while breezing through the MacGill summer school.
He has spoken firmly of his pragmatism, prompting the thought that the views on Irish unity expressed by his predecessor Leo Varadkar, during an interview with Jim Fitzpatrick of The Irish News shortly after standing down as taoiseach, might be gradually coming to the fore among an emerging generation in Fine Gael.
It could even suit Harris if the negotiations for control of the 34th Dáil were extended to include Sinn Féin, with the balance of power between the main parties likely to involve particularly tight margins.
If he can survive the full process, he will then have to endorse a Fine Gael candidate in the presidential contest due in November of the following year as Michael D Higgins retires after 14 years in Áras an Uachtaráin.
The EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness is the firm favourite for the party’s nomination at this early stage, but the former tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, who was seldom far from his side in Glenties, is very much his mentor and first recruited him as her parliamentary assistant when he was just 20. Some intriguing times lie ahead for the TikTok taoiseach.
