Two Fianna Fáil TDs are being touted as front runners to succeed Robert Troy's vacated Junior Minister position following his resignation.
Mayo TD Dara Calleary is one. He stood down as Minister for Agriculture following the Golfgate scandal during the pandemic.
At the time Taoiseach Micheal Martin said:
“In many ways what he did it was a very high price for him to have paid, it was very dignified what he did… of course the door is always open and there’s always a way back for a person of the calibre of Dara, that’s clear,”
Whether a Junior Minister post is the right fit for Calleary's return to cabinet remains to be seen
The other potential candidate is Kildare TD James Lawless.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, one Fianna Fáil TD said:
"He has a legal background, it's his area of interest, so he wouldn't be a fish out of water,"
"James Lawless would also be seen as one of those in the middle when it comes to the leadership, this would bed him down. I genuinely can't see anyone else getting it, maybe Dara, but for me I would be very surprised if it wasn't James."
There are several other names also reportedly in the mix, but it's unclear if the Taoiseach will make an appointment before the Cabinet reshuffle at the end of the year.
Feeling in Fianna Fáil for some time has been Calleary was hard done by and has a ministerial future.
But is replacing your resigning Minister with the last Minister who resigned a good look?
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) August 25, 2022
