‘I’m up for the challenge’ - Smyth
Longford-Westmeath TD Robert Troy resigned over the non-disclosure of some of his property interests.
Suggestions Niamh Smyth could replace embattled TD Robert Troy as Junior Minister at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment have been labelled “pure speculation”, yet the local Oireachtas official states she is “up for the challenge” should the opportunity present itself.
“Until anyone of us gets the call, it’ll remain simply that, pure speculation,” the Bailieborough-native told The Anglo-Celt this week ahead of government convening later today (Wednesday) after the summer break. At that Cabinet meeting Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected to bring the name of Deputy Troy’s replacement for necessary approval.
Regarding the prospect of promotion, Deputy Smyth said she would welcome any “opportunity” to hold a junior ministerial role, if only for a few months, until Fianna Fáil hands over the reins of government to coalition partner Leo Varadkar and Fine Gael in December.
“I’m certainly always up for the challenge. I feel I’ve shown my ability to put in the hard graft when extra responsibility is placed on my shoulders,” said Deputy Smyth.
Twice elected Deputy Smyth is currently chair of the Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht, dealing with a number of topics from online safety and regulation to the challenges facing the hospitality sector during Covid, and the abuse of referees, officials, and players in sport.
She previously served on the party’s front bench as spokesperson for the Arts and Heritage, and there was some surprise within party ranks that she was overlooked for a more senior position when Fianna Fáil took up their role in government after the 2020 general election.
“There may be an expectation, not from me, but within the ranks that I’ve chaired a committee for the past two years and I’m a second time sitting TD, that when there is a vacancy that perhaps I’d be considered. But other than being considered, I’ve no control over what the outcome of that will be, and nor am I going to try and pressure that decision.”
Mayo TD Dara Calleary, who was forced to stand down as minister for agriculture following the Golfgate scandal at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, is tipped heavily as frontrunner to take over from Deputy Troy.
The Longford-Westmeath TD resigned as minister of state over the non-disclosure of some of his property interests. He has since admitted making mistakes over a failure to declare properties he owned and sold on the Dáil register of members’ interests.
He currently owns three properties and co-owns another three, which are divided into 11 units.
There has not been a Fianna Fáil minister or junior minister in the Cavan-Monaghan constituency in more than a decade, since Brendan Smith’s short stint as Minister for Justice in 2011, and before that as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (2008-11).
Deputy Smyth, who was elected as the first president of the Fianna Fáil women’s network, and was a serving member of Cavan County Council from 2009 until her elevation to the Dáil in 2016, concluded: “A week is a long time in politics, as anyone knows, and a lot can happen between now and Christmas.”