Ellen Coyne: Fine Gael is repeating the mistake of thinking a politician’s own popularity can translate into electoral fortune

Ireland thinks poll: Fine Gael receives small bounce from Simon Harris

Ellen Coyne

You’d imagine that in the fervour of last Thursday, which Simon Harris spent orchestrating what must have been one of the most breakneck leadership campaigns in modern Irish political history, that his appearance on the Six One might have given the Fine Gael heir apparent a chance to breathe.

Since he emerged as the clear successor to Leo Varadkar, Harris’s communication and media skills have been near eulogised by some of his colleagues. That praise is pretty fair. So even an interview as high-profile and keenly anticipated as this one, where he finally confirmed his bid to be the next Fine Gael leader, would be a fairly pedestrian exercise for the seasoned politician.