A man who talks fast and walks at speed: Who is Simon Harris? 

Since then, he has shot ahead of his contemporaries, serving as a minister of State at a time when many of his comrades were still seeking local council positions.

As the youngest member of the 31st Dáil, the Wicklow TD made an impact right from his maiden speech when he nominated party leader Enda Kenny as taoiseach in a packed chamber.

Now, 13 years on, he is preparing to take on the leadership of Fine Gael and in doing so will become the youngest taoiseach in the history of the State.

There have been highs and lows in the intervening time — the passing of the historic referendum to repeal the eighth amendment; the introduction of the Public Health Alcohol Bill; and his assertive control at the beginning of the covid emergency seen as some of his standout achievements.

But his handling of the CervicalCheck debacle; allowing nurses to go on strike under his watch; precipitating a general election in 2020 when a no-confidence motion was threatened against him; and of course the runaway train that has become the National Children’s Hospital, will be things he would prefer to quietly file away.

One observer noted that as taoiseach, he will be faced with many of the same issues that he failed to address in health.

There have also been quiet mutterings that Mr Harris is a soundbite man, full of big promise which he does not always deliver on. 

But having diligently plotted his way to the top for many years now, he is likely to have a clear roadmap of what he wants to achieve in office.

“He made some mistakes in health and I think he will be a better leader because of that,” one former staffer said this week.

The ‘shock and awe’ campaign which saw a conveyor belt of TDs, senators, and MEPs come out in support of Mr Harris from early on Thursday morning was a clear sign that he and his inner circle were well prepared.

While they didn’t know when the time would come, Mr Harris had cultivated support from across the parliamentary party and right down to the grassroots, doing multiple circuits of the country in recent years under the guise of minister for higher education, which provided him with greater freedom.

The positives of being shunted into a what was seen as a lesser portfolio in 2020 were not initially seen by the father of two.

Having steered the country through the initial fear and uncertainty of the pandemic, Mr Harris had a period of “reflection” and seriously questioned what his next steps would be.

But with wife Caoimhe Wade on board, and the support of a core team around him, Mr Harris set his sights on party leadership.

He took on human rights lawyer and former Together4Yes campaign manager, Deirdre Duffy as a policy adviser in early 2021, whom he had gotten to know during the repeal campaign.

From then on, the wheels were being put in motion and every utterance and political move was made in the context of him becoming head of his party at some point in the future.

It is understood that the lingering fallout from Leo Varadkar’s ill-advised ‘welfare cheats cheat us all’ campaign during his time in social protection, was a cautionary tale that Mr Harris keeps in the back of his mind.

“How you work towards your leadership is the leader you become,” one person close to him stressed.

Speaking privately, former members of his staff have been gushing in their praise of him this week, still keeping in touch with the taoiseach-in-waiting and pointing to his work ethic.

But while he has been described as highly personable, empathetic, and approachable, Mr Harris has kept a distance from his own party members.

Unlike many around him, he does not have generations of blue blood running through his veins, indeed he initially gravitated towards Fianna Fáil, his family delivering leaflets for then environment minister Dick Roche.

“He has work buddies,” one senior Fine Gael source noted.

“In his first term he would have palled about with Heather [Humphreys], Patrick O’Donovan, Paul Kehoe, and he would have been part of that group, they would have all moved on in a way, but he would be kind of friendly with them,” said one TD, pointing to the 2011 intake who formed a bond.

An exception is departing MEP Frances Fitzgerald, who has acted as his long-time mentor and true friend both inside and outside of politics.

It is no surprise that she was among the first to announce that she would be nominating Mr Harris.

The lack of confidants within the party has been raised as a possible Achilles heel for the young leader.

“Enda had his mates and they protected him, Leo had his mates and they left him and he was left exposed, John Bruton had his mates, Michael Noonan didn’t have his mates. 

"You do need allies in the party, you need people.

“Simon has plenty people who admire him, plenty of people who think he’s the right choice.

“But does he have people who he can call upon?” one member asked.

They added that this isn’t necessarily about having people to do your dirty work, but “just stuff that’s awkward, difficult or time consuming, a person who will say ‘look, I’ll go meet this person, I’ll go convince them to run’.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Mr O’Donovan said that Mr Harris’s only weakness is that “he tries to do everything himself” and as taoiseach he will have to learn to delegate.

And so the people he choses to sit around his kitchen cabinet will be critical.

His long-time adviser Sarah Bardon is widely expected to move into the top role of chief of staff.

Before taking up the role of press adviser, she was a well-respected and well-liked journalist, initially working in Leinster House for the Irish Mirror before being head-hunted by the Irish Times.

Many see her as a critical element of Mr Harris’s ascension and person who he has total trust in.

Majella Fitzpatrick, who worked with Mr Harris when he first went into health, could be brought back to fill policy/programme manager role in the background.

She comes with vast experience in communications and public affairs having worked with the likes of Ibec and Eircom, and was brought on by Fine Gael in the 2011 elections to advise on the leader’s tour with Mr Kenny.

Joanne Lonergan is another name that has been raised, again she worked under Mr Kenny as assistant government secretary before moving to Mr Harris.

“She is very talented and would be a calming presence for him,” one source suggested.

One Fine Gael source said another former journalist, Niall O’Connor, could be poached into the position of Government press secretary.

The Wicklow native has been working with Heather Humphreys but is seen as being close to Mr Harris.

Max Murphy, who briefly worked in the Fine Gael press office and was a parliamentary assistant for Fine Gael TDs Catherine Byrne and Neale Richmond, before moving over to Mr Harris, will also be retained, likely taking up the political bag handler role.

Mr Harris, a person who talks fast and walks at speed, knows as taoiseach he will be on a tight deadline.

Speaking to the media on Friday morning, he did not rule out calling an election later this year, although this coalition could run as far as March 2025.

His first challenge will be picking his Fine Gael Cabinet — keeping the same faces would be seen as a weak move for someone who wants to make a difference, but drastic changes could cause significant friction.

The electorate will be expecting a lot of the new leader, including delivery on housing, health, and decisions on asylum-seeker accommodation and funding RTÉ.

In an interview with the late Marian Finucane in 2016, he revealed that he had been convinced to join the party by Mr Kenny who, as leader of a very depleted Fine Gael, was travelling the country talking to disability groups.

Mr Kenny had spotted him through his advocacy for those with autism. 

Mr Harris’s brother, Adam, now heads up the AsIAm organisation.

“I think when a party is depleted, I suppose the hierarchy tends to put a greater emphasis on going around trying to find new people, inviting new people in and giving people opportunities,” he said.

Mr Harris now finds himself in a similar position of having to build Fine Gael back up, albeit for different reasons.

One-third of the party’s sitting TDs have already announced they will not be running in the next general election and support has been bobbing at around 20% in the polls.

Like the man who convinced him to jump into a life of politics, Mr Harris must recruit fresh faces, bring new ideas, and add new life into the party.

“To anyone who thinks this party lacks energy, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he told reporters on Friday.