Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris has made public his decision to dissolve Parliament and call early elections for November 29. Harris, who replaced Leo Varadkar at the helm of the Christian Democratic party Fine Gael last May, wanted to take advantage of the good performance in the polls and the fall of Sinn Fin, the former political arm of the IRA.
The elections were initially scheduled for March 2025, although for several months there had been talk of early elections, which would have put the finishing touch on a year marked by 64 general elections around the world, plus those for the European Parliament.
Fine Gael recovered positions in June thanks to the push of Simon Harris, 38, known as the «Tik Tok politician» for his ubiquity on the networks and his ability to connect with young voters. Housing, immigration and the cost of living are the three big concerns of the Irish, and although progress has been limited, Harris enjoys great popularity, with more than half of Irish people approving of his work.
Fine Gael leads the polls with 25% of voting intentions, against 20% for Micheal Martin’s centrist Fianna Fil, its partner in the current government coalition. Sinn Fin, the most voted party in the 2020 elections, fell to third place with 18%, dragged down by a series of sex scandals and internal tensions that left its leader Mary Lou McDonald in a very compromised position.
At 55, the successor to the historic Gerry Adams has nurtured the historic possibility of becoming Prime Minister of Ireland, holding dual roles with the current Chief Minister of Northern Ireland and vice-president of Sinn Fin Michelle O’Neill. A series of events during the month of October, however, led to the decline of Sinn Fin after reaching the ceiling of 37% of popular support with Mary Lou McDonald, who aspired to take advantage of the Republican push to promote a referendum on reunification. in this decade.
However, two sex scandals emerged in October which left the party in a very compromised position. The first case is that of Michael Monagale, a former member of the communications team, found «guilty» of 14 charges of inciting sexual activity with minors. The second is that of former senator Niall Donngaile, who resigned last year due to «health problems», now accused of having sent «inappropriate messages» to a minor whom he had accompanied door-to-door on an election campaign.
Sinn Fin has also been rocked by two high-profile resignations in recent weeks: MP Patricia Ryan left the party accused of «censorship» and Brian Stanley did the same, alleging harassment in recent months. Both have announced that they will run as independents in the next elections.
