The Cabinet of his successor Simon Harris is just moments away from walking one-by-one back into the Dáil chamber and Mr Varadkar, who has spent 13 years sitting on the front bench of the Government side of the house, is suddenly without a seat.
Fellow cabinet departee Simon Coveney has taken the seat assigned to Clare TD Joe Carey, who is ill, so Mr Varadkar can’t sit there and his old seat now belongs to the new youngest taoiseach in Irish history.
Eventually, he plumps for a seat among the Fine Gael junior ministers. As the era of Taoiseach Simon Harris begins, so too does that of backbencher Leo Varadkar. Time stands still for no man, it seems.
Given his role on the national stage over the last decade and a half, Mr Varadkar was something of a peripheral figure on the day, having tendered his resignation on Monday.
This was Simon Harris’ day, even if it had come earlier than he’d expected. Mr Harris was joined by his family, taking time with his son Cillian before the action got underway, and was urged by his nominator Heather Humphreys to listen to his father Bart, a taxi driver, who she said would have the pulse of the nation.
His seconder Peter Burke spoke of Mr Harris’ motivation for first becoming involved in politics — fighting for better services for his autistic younger brother Adam, who is now the CEO of the charity As I Am and was in the distinguished visitors’ gallery with the Harris family. Mr Burke would later be promoted from European Affairs minister to take Mr Coveney’s Enterprise brief, which colleagues said will come as a relief given that he does not relish flying.
Mr Harris’ chance to outline his governmental priorities in his second speech of the day was delayed somewhat by a demand for a vote on the order of business, which suggested the Dáil reconvene at 2pm on Wednesday.
Clare Independent TD Michael MacNamara said while the Cabinet was due to meet tomorrow, the other members of the Dáil did not need them to conduct at least some business, while Mattie McGrath said the watching public would be “aghast” at the 2pm start. The Tipperary TD made the point that the Dáil has just come back from two weeks off, but perhaps overestimates the size of the watching public.
While Mr Harris’s first speech following the vote to elect him was personal and relatable, the second focused on the big vision of Taoiseach Simon Harris. Through a rushed opening, he outlined ambitions in health and housing, though little in the way of specifics.
If the criticism of Mr Harris from the opposition has been that he is more style than substance, the later speech did little to disarm their attacks. There was talk of policies which are long-established or aspirational — a “laser-focus” on housing is a nice idea, but it implies that the last four years have been scattergun.
In his defence, Mr Harris did have a one-man heckling section as Mr MacNamara called his speech “a farce” and questioned just where Mr Harris’s government will put the criminals which it proposes to lock up.
For all the talk of it being a Fine Gael day, it was left to Tánaiste Micheál Martin to pay the warmest tributes to Varadkar and Coveney, saving particular praise for his constituency rival, saying the pair “have invested great energy and effort in battling each other over the years” adding that he had also done battle with Mr Coveney’s late father, Hugh.
“I have no doubt that he is looking down with great pride at the service and achievements of his son Simon,” Mr Martin said.
While many used the day to speak about collegiality and removing the toxicity from Irish politics, some of the exchanges were as rancorous as ever, with Environment Minister Eamon Ryan and Danny Healy Rae rowing over climate change, earning an interjection from Labour’s Ged Nash demanding Mr Healy Rae “go back to his cave”.
While Mr Ryan’s speech was freewheeling as ever, relying on handwritten notes, he did offer some policy detail on plans on offshore wind energy consultations in Cork, Waterford, and Wexford.
But if Mr Harris expected a honeymoon, it was not forthcoming. Mary Lou McDonald had donned a white blazer for the earlier session but, lest that be taken as a symbol of peace, she changed into blue for the evening session.
The Sinn Féin leader excoriated Mr Harris’ record as minister for health, saying he broke promises to families of children with scoliosis, had overseen a crumbling system, and was responsible for the most expensive hospital in the world not having seen a patient after years of overspends and delays.
She said the Government was “out of road and out of touch” and hit out at Government sloganeering, leading to a cacophonous response from the Government benches, which included Mr Harris offering air quotes as he replied with “change, change”.
This was not, however, the test of Taoiseach Simon Harris. It was merely the first glimpse. The real test of Taoiseach Simon Harris will be finding his seat and making himself comfortable as quick as possible.
