Mary Lou McDonald described his absence as an ‘absolute disgrace’.
Mary Lou McDonald and Sinn Féin have slammed newly-appointed Taoiseach Simon Harris for not coming into Dáil Éireann on his first full day in the job.
Harris succeeded Leo Varadkar in the role on Tuesday (9 April) but has been heavily criticised by the Sinn Féin leader and her party in a series of social media and public statements for being absent from the Dáil on Wednesday.
In a video posted to Twitter, McDonald can be seen at Dáil Éireann saying: “This is totally unacceptable. He said yesterday that he was going to get up and at it and move mountains. That’s not the case.
“I’m here to talk about the crisis in housing. I’m here because there are hundreds of people on hospital trolleys right across the State. I’m here because families are really struggling to make ends meet and the Taoiseach hasn’t shown up.”
Simon Harris finished his speech yesterday with the words “Let’s get down to work.”
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) April 10, 2024
Today, there’s no sign of him here in the Dáil pic.twitter.com/sFAqWleqs5
Echoing these comments in a Dáil Éireann sitting, McDonald stated: “The Taoiseach is not here, present at his work with us because he had to make three phone calls. Can I just clarify that?
“Three people or four. Four phone calls… It was all about moving mountains and getting straight to work and today he has not shown up. That is an absolute disgrace.”
In a separate video posted by Harris from Government buildings, the new Taoiseach provided an update to his followers in which he said that his first full day in the job had been “a busy one”.
“Chaired a government meeting, appointed ministers of state, set up a new cabinet committee on disability and key calls with political leaders including the British Prime Minister and the President of Ukraine,” the caption read.
Hello from Government Buildings. First full day in job and a busy one:
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) April 10, 2024
chaired a government meeting, appointed ministers of state, set up a new cabinet committee on disability & key calls with political leaders including the British Prime Minister and the President of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/IwZUFNloh5
In the clip itself, Harris explained: “I’ve just chaired my second meeting in around 12 hours of the cabinet. We had a meeting up in Áras an Uachtaráin last night where the President of Ireland appointed members of the cabinet and then today here in Government buildings, I chaired a cabinet meeting as well.
“This was an important cabinet meeting. It was one which appointed Ministers of State, people to work in key roles and policy areas where we want to make progress.
“It was also the cabinet meeting in which we approved the establishment of a number of cabinet committees, including a cabinet committee I wanted to see established on disability, education and children.
“Really looking forward to break down silos to improve disability services in this country.”
Harris also said he was set to have a phone call with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – which aligns with the 26th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement – as well as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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