Outgoing Minister Simon Coveney was “one of the most important” Foreign Affairs Ministers Ireland ever had, one of his Ministerial colleagues has claimed.
Coveney – who is Fine Gael Deputy leader and Enterprise Minister – announced this week that he would be stepping down as Minister, and seemed to indicate that he was considering not running in the next general election at all.
BREAKING: Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney has announced he is stepping down as Minister.https://t.co/ljtj9zLFR1
— gript (@griptmedia) April 2, 2024
During his 26 years in politics, Coveney held a number of positions and Ministerial portfolios, including Tánaiste, Minister for Defence, Minister for Housing, Minister for Agriculture, and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Commenting today on his party colleague’s impending departure from the Cabinet, Fine Gael Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe today wished Coveney “every success in the future”, describing him as “my great colleague.”
“He has been a remarkable colleague to work with now for many years in Cabinet,” he said, going on to claim that Coveney would be remembered as “one of the most important” Foreign Affairs Ministers in Irish history.
“I’m convinced that history will show that in particular, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he was one of the most important Minister for Foreign Affairs our State had,” he said, citing what he called the “hugely important” Brexit negotiations.
The news of Coveney’s exit from the Cabinet came just 2 weeks after Minister of State for Education, Fine Gael TD Josepha Madigan, announced that she was resigning and would not be contesting the next general election, making her the 12th Fine Gael TD to do so.
“I am resigning from my ministerial position”: Yet another Fine Gael TD, Josepha Madigan, has announced she will not contest the next election, bringing the new confirmed total to 11 – a third of the party’s 34 total TDs – with several more undecided.https://t.co/T2xS95GSCs
— gript (@griptmedia) March 22, 2024
That announcement, in turn, came mere days after Leo Varadkar announced that he was resigning as Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, and that he had not yet made up his mind whether he would be contesting the general election.
Other Fine Gael TDs who have confirmed they are not standing for re-election include Ciarán Cannon, John Paul Phelan, Michael Creed, Charlie Flanagan, Brendan Griffin, Joe McHugh, Fergus O’Dowd, David Stanton, Richard Bruton and Paul Kehoe, with speculation about the fate of several others.