Simon Takes The Ryan Line

Tubridy & Harris at your service…

he second series of Ryan Tubridy’s podcast The Bookshelf launched today with a certain lad from Greystones in the hot seat.

Basically Desert Island Discs but with books, Tubridy’s show has attracted such big names as Brian Cox, Andrea Corr, Irvine Welsh and Marian Keyes, as well as chancers such as Vogue Williams, David Walliams and Cecelia Ahern.

You could tell from the start of his latest interview though that young Ryan was “very, very happy” to have the young Simon in the house.

The show opened with the simple question of how Simon adapted to being called Taoiseach. “For the first little while,” says Harris, “my young kids kept calling me Peacock, because they had misheard how it was said.

“I’ve been involved in politics and public life for a significant period of time, even though I’m relatively young, but nothing can quite prepare you. The best description a senior civil servant gave me was, you think when you become Taoiseach that you’re going to be like a super-minister, that you’re going to be like a minister in charge of a really big department, but that’s not what being Taoiseach is all about at all. All of a sudden you’re directly responsible for nothing – because you have a minister for this, and a minister for that – but you’re actually responsible for everything. And it’s an entirely different skillset that you need. Your job is to bring people together, bang heads together, and become a problem solver…

“And the second part is how much international work there is. Going into rooms where the door is shut behind you, and the only other people in that room are prime ministers and presidents. So, it’s a big change, but I’m up for it.”

As to how quickly the dream of becoming Taoiseach came true, Harris says, “It was entirely quicker than I expected. I can tell you that there was no one more shocked than me when Leo Varadkar made his decision. I had never made a secret about wanting to lead one day; I didn’t think that was going to be right now. In politics, moments come and you either seize those moments, or let them pass…”

Tubridy then made the point that, for someone so well known, the former Late Late Show presenter actually knew very little about Simon Harris. So, a little family background was called for.

“My parents, Mary and Bart, they’re both from Dublin, moving down to Greystones when they got married in the 1980s. I was the first-born, and then, three years later to the day, my sister, Gemma, was born. Something that she wasn’t crazy about growing up, given that she had to share her birthday.

“My brother Adam was born in 1994, and I was just gone eight. There’s just the three of us, and we all still live pretty close to one another.”

It’s official.SUN24MAR24 Pic: Clodagh Kilcoyne

As to the family having no political background, Simon explains, “My mother was a special needs assistance and my father had worked in local pubs as a barman, and has been working for many years now as a self-employed hackney driver. He picks up a lot of queries – it’s like a mobile constituency office…

“He doesn’t always get the person’s name, which makes it hard for me to follow up on…”

As to that Road To Dáil Éireann moment, for Simon, it was all down to his little brother, Adam.

“Adam was diagnosed early on with Asperger’s Syndrome, not a terminology that’s used these days – now it’s just referred to as autism. I was beginning to enter my moody teenage years, and as a moody, opinionated teenager, I was very frustrated that we were living in such a wealthy country, and yet so little was known about autism back then. Having to see my mother having to stand up for my brother’s needs, learning a whole new world in real time, without an appropriate place in Greystones for Adam to go to school, and having to drive quite a significant distance to somewhere that wasn’t particularly appropriate to his needs.

“And then I watched the happy progress of a local school principal saying to my mother, ‘Hang on, we’ll sort this out‘. And then I watched my brother thrive…”

And that’s when Wicklow Triple A Alliance was born, as Harris called a public meeting at just 16 years of age, to see if there were other families who had similar experiences. Close to 60 people turned up, sharing stories, and the sense of relief with realising you weren’t the only one living through these experiences.

“And long story short, I got sucked into the political world. And I always remember Enda Kenny, now former Taoiseach, saying to me, ‘As a broody teenager, you can keep on giving out about politics, or you can get involved and try to make a difference‘.”

As to his kids, Harris explained that Saoirse is five (“Six in January), and Cillian is just turning three. Which were first and foremost on his mind when it comes to the demonstrations that have occurred outside the family home.

“I try not to talk about it too much, for obvious reasons,” says Harris. “And I’ve seen this happen outside other politicians’ homes, but I just fundamentally think it’s wrong, no matter whose home it is. I bristle whenever the word protest, or protester, is used. I think it’s a form of thuggery, a form of intimidation, I think it’s a form of harassment. I think it’s done to unsettle and unnerve people, done to let you know that they know where you live.

“I have attended protests, and I have been protested about, and both are good and valid things in a democracy. This is neither of those things. And we shouldn’t ever allow it distort our view of who we are as a people, because it’s not the norm. So, it’s a very small number of people, who move from location to location, stirring trouble.”

As to any regrets of taking on a job that has put his loved ones through such harassment, Harris says, “Of course, the safety and wellbeing of my family – as it would be for anyone – has to be the priority, and always will be. But I also feel very strongly that we live in a vibrant, functioning democracy, and I’m not going to allow a small group of people distract or deter from what I’ve been entrusted with.”

It might be time to follow other countries with a dedicated residence for their leaders, reckons Tubridy. “I can understand from an operational point of view how that would be more efficient for carrying out meetings, and it would be easier on a security front, but the challenge for me is that my kids are of an age where one has started at a local school, and it would be very disruptive. I can see it happening in the future though…”

Harris Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas 24SEPT24

And what makes Simon Harris cry? “Oh, what makes me cry? I’m quite an emotional person. I think I’m an empathetic person. I find the situation in the Middle East – Gaza and the likes – very hard to fathom, very hard to consider through any lens other than death and destruction for children. I find that very hard to comprehend how we can live in a world that allows that to happen. This could be any of our children…”

So, being one of the three countries – alongside Norway and Spain – to recognise Palestine as its own state was one of Harris’ first jobs when he sat in the Taoiseach’s chair. Any grief, beyond Israel. “I said this on the day – this is not about being pro-Palestine or pro-Israel; we’re pro-international law. We’re pro-human rights. Israel is a state that has a right to exist securely and safely, and I’m absolutely confident that if you strip away the politics, and don’t see Israel through the prism of one person, Netanyahu, there’s mums and dads in Israel too who want their kids to be able to live safely.

“But if you’re in favour of a two-state solution, how do you get there if you don’t recognise that there are two states…?”

And for those keen to know, Simon’s favourite books over the decades are Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot (that’s sdrawkcab for tortoise, kids), The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime by Mark Haddon, and Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing,

And if you meet the lad down in the Horse, Heineken is his tipple of choice.

You can find out more about The Bookshelf with Ryan Tubridy here.