Dublin Rathdown TD Neale Richmond is considered favourite to be promoted to ministerial rank after the resignation of Damien English.
Mr Richmond is one of a small number of Fine Gael TDs who are said to be in consideration for the vacant Minister of State job. The other names that were mentioned most by colleagues on Thursday were Alan Dillon from Co Mayo and Co Clare’s Joe Carey.
The new Minister of State is likely to be announced at the conclusion of the Cabinet meeting next Tuesday. While the Minister of State roles are decided formally by the Coalition, the de facto situation is that decision will be made by Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar.
Same role
Mr English was Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Business in the Department of Enterprise. It’s likely that his successor will fulfil the same role rather than being moved to another portfolio.
Several TDs who spoke to The Irish Times yesterday said that Mr Richmond could have considered himself unlucky not to win promotion in the Fine Gael reshuffle in December, during which two Ministers of State were replaced.
Jennifer Carroll-McNeill from the Dún Laoghaire constituency, next to Mr Richmond’s base in Dublin Rathdown, was appointed Minister. Because of that, it was never likely that the only other appointment would have favoured a TD based in the capital. In the event, the other position was filled by Limerick TD Kieran O’Donnell.
The fall of Damien English
Cormac McQuinn and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan to discuss the fallout from a report on The Ditch news website that Meath West Fine Gael TD Damien English made a false claim on a planning application which allowed him to build a second house. The news forced Deputy English to resign his post as a junior minister.
Mr English is a TD for Meath West but several Fine Gael colleagues said yesterday that geography will not be a major factor in this instance. Of the eight Fine Gael Ministers of State, six are from outside the capital. Another Minister of State from the capital would not be seen as an imbalance in terms of the mix of Dublin and the regions.
Indeed, most of the Fine Gael Ministers of State are clustered in counties around Dublin or in the midwest. There are no Ministers of State from south Munster or south Leinster. Since Frank Feighan’s resignation, the northwest has not been represented.
Seat vacated
Mr Richmond has been a TD since 2020 and has been a frequent contributor to the media, domestically and in the UK, on the European Union, Brexit and the Northern Ireland protocol.
Alan Dillon is a former Mayo senior footballer and was first elected to the Dáil in 2020, taking the seat vacated by former taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Joe Carey was first elected in 2007. He has held the position of Fine Gael whip in the past.
Another name that has been mentioned is Brendan Griffin, the Kerry TD. However, he categorically ruled himself out of any ministerial role in December citing family reasons. It is unlikely those circumstances have changed since then.
When Fianna Fáil’s Robert Troy resigned last year after admitting he failed to declare all of his party interests, he was succeeded by Dara Calleary who took over his responsibilities of Trade Promotion and Digital Transformation in the Department of Enterprise.
