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Ireland’s newly appointed prime minister, Micheál Martin, has vowed to protect the country “at a moment of real threat” just days after Donald Trump threatened to wipe out its tax advantage and repatriate American jobs.
He was speaking moments as he was officially appointed as prime minister, but 24 hours after chaotic scenes in the Dáil caused the cancellation of his formal appointment.
Citing one of the founding fathers of the Irish republic, Patrick Pearse, he told parliament: “Every generation has its task. For us today, for this generation of political leaders, the task is to protect Ireland’s strength at a moment of real threat, while also addressing critical social needs. By any reasonable measure this is a challenging moment in world history.”
He added that Ireland could not “expect to stand unaffected on the sidelines” while operating an open economy competing with the rest of the world for foreign investment.
Central to the fight ahead was the strengthening of Ireland’s “three essential relationships with Europe, with the US and with the UK”, he said.
In a repeat of the novel rotating taoiseach deal Harris’s predecessor Leo Varadkar had struck with Fianna Fáil, Martin will remain in his new role for three years, with Harris taking over in November 2027. Martin last served as taoiseach from 2020 to 2022.
Harris will become the deputy prime minister, with a strengthened foreign affairs ministerial role to include international trade – a position already being nicknamed “minister for Trump”.
He is expected to launch an urgent diplomatic offensive in Washington to head off any threat from the Trump administration, with Ireland depending on multinationals for more than 50% of its corporate tax intake. Dozens of US companies including Apple, Microsoft, Meta, X and Pfizer have their European headquarters in Ireland.
Also high on the agenda for the new government is the chronic housing crisis that has dominated local politics for the past few years, along with health, education, infrastructure and the economy.
Martin’s return to the role of taoiseach ended unprecedented drama in the Dáil, with proceedings to elect the taoiseach suspended four times as opposition TDs (members of parliament) angrily protested against a plan to give speaking time on opposition benches to a group of independent TDs, who are propping up the government.
The row centres on a group of seven regional independents and two brothers from Kerry who are propping up Martin’s Fianna Fáil coalition with Fine Gael, after the two parties emerged from November’s election one seat short of a majority.
But it emerged in the last few days that TDs in the Regional Independent Group (RIG) who did not come out of government formation negotiations clutching a junior ministership would be allowed to sit on opposition benches and eat into the speaking time allocated to Sinn Féin, Labour and other parties.
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Tensions were already heightened over the role in negotiations played by the veteran TD Michael Lowry, a key architect of the coalition pact.
An 11-year inquiry into his role in the award of a state mobile phone licence 30 years ago criticised Lowry’s behaviour as “profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking”.
Lowry disputes the findings and has always denied wrongdoing.
Martin called for Lowry’s resignation at the time but this week defended the decision to get into bed with the RIG group led by Lowry.
The new cabinet contained few surprises. Paschal Donohoe, a veteran of the government and the president of the EU’s Eurogroup of finance ministers, is widely expected to return to the role of finance minister.
Helen McEntee, another TD well known on the international stage having burnished her credentials as Europe minister during the Brexit crisis, is expected to become the education minister.
The cabinet is dominated by men after November’s election resulted in the lowest proportion of female parliamentarians in western Europe, with a 75:25 ratio of men to women.
