Leinster House on Kildare Street Dublin. New Fine Gael leader Simon Harris will face his first electoral test in less than 60 days with the local and European elections. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien KThe Fine Gael leader will face his first electoral test in less than 60 days with the local and European elections, so the pressure is on pretty much immediately. The party won 255 seats in the 2019 local election, up 20 seats on the previous election in 2014.
This will be the last budget of this Government’s term, and so the pressure will be on the new Taoiseach to splash the cash and give the voters a reason to stick with Fine Gael. There has already been resistance within the Coalition from the likes of Minister for Finance Michael McGrath to the idea of a spring package of supports for hard-pressed business owners.
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