Elaine Loughlin: Taoiseach Simon Harris moves at speed because he knows he has to
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One of the first decisions of a new Taoiseach is to choose what goes on their office walls in Government Buildings — some have been suggesting Simon Harris may have eschewed artwork in favour of a massive calendar which he ticks off each morning.
On Sunday, arriving into the RDS count centre, he said day 61 of his term in office was a very good one, with local councillors being elected across the country. On Tuesday morning, in a WhatsApp voice note sent out to Fine Gael candidates, he said on day 63 he was back at his desk.
There have been TikTok updates for the wider public to mark his one-month and two-month anniversaries as head of Government.
Every day counts for Mr Harris, a man eager to move at speed because he knows he has to. As the EU counts trundled on, the Taoiseach was back in the Dáil being accused of getting things done too quickly.
One by one, opposition politicians got up to criticise the Government’s decision to guillotine the Planning and Development Bill 2023, calling for more time to consider it.
But Mr Harris, in bullish form, was having none of it: "At some point, we need to get on and pass a law that is going to reform our planning laws...We need to roll up the sleeves and get the job done."
Almost immediately after Friday's local and European elections, talk turned to the timing of a general election, and in the Dáil the Taoiseach was also confidently discussing the next day out at the polls.
"It is always interesting when the Dáil reconvenes after an election and people decide to present the election results in whatever way suits them. All I know is that more people went out and voted for my party than any other party. More people went out and gave Fianna Fáil seats in the local elections than any other party. Many people voted for the Green Party.
"The people on this side of the House receive many mandates in urban and rural Ireland in big towns and villages. As for this idea of 'reject, mass, mobilise and get the Government', I am sorry, but it just did not go like that in the last few days, and better luck next time," he said.
When he became leader of Fine Gael, Mr Harris knew his time in office would be short. The results of the local and European elections will put extra pressure on him to reduce his stint as Taoiseach even further.
But, if Mr Harris is to take a longer-term approach, he may find he has time on his side.
Unlike his predecessor Leo Varadkar, who had long signalled he would not be another career politician, Mr Harris knows nothing but politics, having moved to Leinster House to work for Frances Fitzgerald before even graduating.
While he is unlikely to seek much in the way of policy inspiration from former Italian politician Amintore Fanfani, his career path might give Harris pause for thought.
Mr Fanfani was prime minister six times in total, the first time for just 22 days in the 1950s. Despite a short-lived maiden term, Mr Fanfani went on the lead in the 1960s and 1980s, and he continued to hold senior roles in the Italian senate until the mid-1990s.