A year in power – Minister Harkin reflects on 12 months on the benches of government

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

A seasoned campaigner and voice for the region, Marian Harkin has spent most of her political life on the opposition benches but since the formation of the current government after the November 2024 general election, the Ballintogher native is now sitting on the benches of power alongside her Regional Independent colleagues. Not only is she a member of government Deputy Harkin is now also a Minister of State following her appointment in February to the role in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Reflecting on the year gone by, she is pleased with some of her and the government’s achievements, while also aware compromises were needed along the way. Taking time to reflect on the events of the past 12 months Deputy Harkin spoke with pride about accomplishments, with determination about what she would like to see achieved in the months and years ahead and with honesty when speaking about the challenges she has faced, particularly when she has found herself in the firing line on the Government’s front bench in the Dáil.

The appointment to the position of Minister of State was a prestigious one for herself but also for the region with Minister Harkin commenting, “I am Junior Minister so the Senior is obviously the person with the real clout but equally you have certain responsibilities and you just have to run with things and try and not make change for the sake of it but look at what is happening and there is a lot of really good stuff happening so you try to facilitate that, let it continue and grow because there are so many good people between ETBs and community training centres. I was at an event recently in Sligo with Gavin Dykes and you would walk out of there so happy because of the work he does. Now, he is funded and the work he and his staff do to help people to find their pathway in education. There are so many good people out there doing so much good work and even just to facilitate those people, to help them in some way is hugely satisfying. Second level education doesn’t work for everyone even though those schools work very hard, we see that, we know that but still things happen in people's life, in their family life, in their community life and when you see that kind of good work being done you get huge satisfaction.

“As a Minister I have try and see what is not working and what changes can be made to improve how things work and I already have a few things in mind and I already have made one or two changes which I am delighted with. You don’t go in like a bull in a china shop. Staff in the Department call me Minister, because they have to but other than that when I meet people for the first time I say, ‘my name is Marian’.”

Away from politics it was a year with many twists for the former school teacher who sadly lost her mother, Annie, at the start of the year but with the year days from its conclusion there was happier family news to report. Mid-interview Marian offered her apologies as she reached for her phone. “I’m really sorry, I have to answer this,” she said as she saw her sister’s name appear on her screen. The touch of nervousness was soon replaced by a beaming smile and after the short chat with her sister she proudly reported the safe arrival of her niece, Kirsty McMunn’s fifth son.

"In the middle of all the politics, that shows that life goes on. In the last year I lost my mum as well. She was 98 and had a great life and a long life but I’m delighted for Kirsty. Her fifth baby has arrived, there aren’t too many with five boys but he is healthy and he is well and that is the most important thing. On the big ticket stuff, that’s what politics is about and then making sure that the systems that are in place serve people as best they can.”

On a busy afternoon as people looked forward to ring in the new year, Minister Harkin rewound the clock 12 months and recalled the discussions that took place in the aftermath of the general election. “It seems so long ago now. Looking back at the negotiations, I remember I was on the negotiating team and it was so fast and we were reading documents, adding to and subtracting from and the whole thing takes so much space and time to try and to make a difference.”

During negotiations to attempt to form a government Marian brought her key demands to the table and among those was the getting rid of the means tests for carers allowance over the lifetime of the government. “In the last budget there was real progress with the means test for carers allowance but there wasn’t any help for the disability aspect, but it is a five year programme. Balanced regional funding was another one, getting our fair share to this region and as you’ve heard over the last couple of months we have had big announcements. They were top priority.”

The big announcements referred to the National Development Plan update issued in November with critical infrastructure projects such as the N17 and the N15 included while hopes are high that the advancement of the rail network will see improved public transport for the people of the north west but Deputy Harkin feels this should not be at the expense of the Collooney-Bellaghy greenway.

“The N17 is there and is going to happen over the next number of years and I was so delighted we got the N15 back in the plan as well. It was in the NDP back in 2007 before the crash but then it just disappeared and we had to work hard and when I say we, I have to acknowledge Eamon Scanlon and Frank Feighan because on issues like that we work together, there is no point in not doing that. I like that way of working, everything was negotiated and you make compromises to get outcomes that people welcomed.”

While she doesn’t envisage the reopening of the railway line between Collooney and Charlestown imminently, Minister Harkin is acutely aware of the need to improve the service on the Sligo-Dublin line. “We are going to really push for this to have a train coming into Sligo on time for college, for work. The amount of cars it would take off the road coming in from Ballymote, Collooney and Coolaney.

A keen advocate for improving the rail infrastructure in the region, Minister Harkin is pushing for the Sligo to Claremorris line to be reopened but is conscious such a project remains a considerable time from coming to fruition and in the meantime is strongly advocating the advancement of the Bellaghy to Collooney greenway.

"The railway will come but that is down the line, we want the greenway in the meantime. We are pushing for that, I believe in delivering what we can, now, and I believe we can deliver that over the course of this government. The railway will come but that is down the line, it will be a long time. Let’s get it to Claremorris (from Athenry) but in the meantime the people of south Sligo deserve the greenway for themselves, but also as a form of tourism.”

Another of the key issues for Deputy Harkin with regards negotiations when talks were underway to form a government was a surgical hub for Sligo and she was delighted to see the greenlight given by Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill for a new stand-alone surgical hub with two operating theatres to be constructed near Sligo University Hospital.

"It was brilliant we got our surgical hub in Sligo. When you talk about the negotiations for government, that was key for me. We have the 42 bed hub started but really that was started and then stopped, I am not claiming credit for that but there is real progress being made. I recognise that government is limited, you can’t achieve everything you want but you can try to achieve certain things and for me the big difference between this government and the previous five years is that this is all about ‘what can we deliver’, ‘what can we put in place’. When you are in opposition you look at what is put forward, you make proposals and you make alternative arguments. There are many things that have happened over the last 12 months that I wish hadn’t happened but nobody gets everything they want, the only person who gets that is a dictator.”

The requests to assist various projects is a never ending one but Deputy Harkin was pleased with correspondence she received days before Christmas saying that work she was involved with helping to prevent flooding on the River Shannon has had a positive outcome.”

The day we finished up for Christmas I got a number of emails and one of them was from a group who were very interested in preventing flooding on the Shannon. They thanked me and Boxer Moran for the work. Now, it is Boxer, it is the OPW, it is Waterways Ireland; yes, I worked with them but it was an open door and what they were able to say to me was that the levels on the Shannon have gone down. That was really good news because there was a lot of good work done around Jamestown. I never thought I would see the day because everybody I spoke to said it can’t be done because of European legislation. But, Boxer, this is his second term in the OPW and he has delivered to help alleviate the threat of flooding. That doesn’t mean that the Shannon will never flood but there is real hope and to be able to say that is hugely gratifying, to get that email, I never thought I would see it.”

Similarly Deputy Harkin has worked alongside Minister Boxer Moran in relation to flood defences in Strandhill and is pleased with the progress noting, “That’s not simple either because it is beside a Special Area of Conservation and you can’t just bulldoze through it but it is getting done efficiently.”

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the past year has been getting out and about in communities and seeing first hand the inspirational work that is being carried out in communities all over the country.

“That is one of the things also in Government, we meet the best of people whether it is local community groups, whether it is businesses, whether it is people trying to start up a business, whether it is people trying to set up a support group for carers and people with disabilities. You get a better chance to meet those people, the community groups who are all dotted around this county, around Leitrim, everywhere because there is money available. There is some money there, that may not always be the case so now is the time. It is amazing the number of people we meet who are doing such work, quietly on their own. It’s great to see it. The idea was that with all the pubs and shops closing places would become ghost towns or ghost villages but they haven’t. That’s where community groups and individuals come together where they can come together and decide what’s needed and with small amounts of money can make real change in people’s lives. In government you need more of those people."

Having spent her years as a TD on the opposition benches until the formation of the current government, Minister Harkin was very positive when talking about the work that is being carried out and the results that are being achieved.

“There are a lot of plusses to being in government, there are minuses but there are a lot of plusses. Of course there is so much to be done whether it is housing, which is the big one, and infrastructure but to be able to actually see progress. I became a Minister this year and my focus is on apprenticeships and especially getting women into apprenticeships but not just women and making sure that apprenticeships are seen as such a suitable platform into education. I’m really interested in getting women working in construction. When people think of apprenticeships they generally think construction is just the wet trades and of course that is very important but more and more is being done off-site.

"There is a fabulous factory in Tubbercurry, ‘Vision Built’ where they are doing 3-D and 4-D printing on-site, ready to go. It’s a real inspiration because you can se how quickly they can build and they have built schools, houses. It is modular but is the way things are going and it is wonderful to see. I think what impressed me most is they have six students from St Angela’s and many of those students will go to directly into the apprenticeship they have set-up directly with Laois-Offaly ETB. People say to me why not a more local ETB; Laois-Offaly is the centre for construction studies. Sligo-Leitrim have other areas of expertise but Laois-Offaly in place called Mount Lucas which is literally in the middle of nowhere. They have a huge facility where they are training people in construction and it is absolutely fantastic.

The ability to build high quality, affordable homes is key to Ireland being able to overturn the housing crisis it finds itself in the middle of with Deputy Harkin agreeing modular homes have a role to play in addressing the situation.

“That certainly will contribute greatly towards building quicker and more efficiently. There is loads of other things like land and planning and all that sort of stuff but the whole thing of speed and efficiency is really important. I’m not making excuses but it is a problem right across Europe, we’re probably one of the worst off but it is an issue across Europe. Our population has increased, we are now well over five million. That’s a huge number of people and that is the challenge but that is no excuse and the challenge just gets bigger and bigger.”

The issue of housing is one that often leads directly into debates about migration and whether or not Ireland has taken more than its fair share of people from other parts of the world while Irish people are often left struggling to find a home to call their own. While Deputy Harkin believes in the need for skilled workers to relocate to Ireland, she acknowledged it is a topic that is a cause for concern for many and echoed the sentiments of Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan who said recently the number of asylum seekers coming into the country is “too high.”

"We need a certain amount of migration, Jim O’Callaghan has struck a reasonable balance. When we sit down and talk to 90% of people across the table in a friendly conversation, no politics, a lot of people will express concerns about the numbers. The problem is that when it gets to the political sphere or the public sphere, people just jump on it. The reason 90%, I’m not saying it is 100%, they just want to find the ways to manage and I think that’s what Jim O’Callaghan was speaking about. We do need people who have skills to come here, we also have responsibilities but they are not never ending because they can’t be.”

While proud of much of her and the government’s achievements in 2025, Marian acknowledged not everything went as she would have like adding , “There are things that have happened since we went into government that I wish hadn't happened, the LNG for example; but I recognise that you need a Plan B, a fall back. I was only listening this week to a number of programmes that were talking Russian submarines mapping out the seabed. They are not doing that to see where the fish are swimming, they are doing that to see where the cables are. There was a Leitrim Councillor (Eddie Mitchell) saying I should walk away from government, that I shouldn’t be supporting the government because of this. That’s fine, you can take the high moral ground when you are in opposition. There is nothing wrong with looking for the best but you also have to say ‘who would thank us’ if anything goes wrong. We need some supply to ensure that the country literally doesn’t shut down. I’m talking about hospitals, schools, I’m not talking about the luxuries.

“I do think that we need to invest more in our armed forces. In truth, Ireland would not be able to defend itself but we do need to be able to at least monitor our skies and our seas and to have some kind of response. We are never going to be a military power and I don’t ever want to see that. We rely on the British to help us out and the French to some extent and that’s what good neighbours do sometimes. For a lot of people it might seem strange but that’s how it is and that’s the world we live. The people who work in our armed forces deserve proper salaries which they weren’t getting, yes they have improved, but still it is a tough job. Even if it wasn’t a tough job they still deserve proper salaries and they deserve proper equipment so that at least we can patrol our borders, so that at least we can know what’s happening. That’s a responsibility we have, not just for ourselves but for the rest of Europe as well.”

The issue of the strength of global institutions such as the UN and the EU is something that Minister Harkin also feels strongly about noting, “They are under real threat and again Ireland has always been a strong supporter. We need these global institutions to be our strong supporters because we know that as a small country we are safer, better off, with some kind of international order because otherwise small countries have no power and no real influence if somebody decides they want to invade. If you have people like Trump and others who see things as something they want, that is the danger. That is why international global institutions, they are absolutely crucial. What we hope is that they survive the worst of times and then be stronger in better times.”

Reflecting on the past 12 month Minister Harkin’s mind was cast back to one of the most heated exchanges during the process for Verona Murphy to become Ceann Comhairle.

“I am a good while in politics and that time when Verona Murphy was being made Ceann-Comhairle, I am not going to argue the rights and wrongs about speaking rights, but in my life I have never seen such a wave of sheer anger and negativity, coming right across. I was almost knocked back by it and that is no joke. Not everyone took part, you could see it, about half the people did and half the people didn’t. I was in the European Parliament for 15 years and I never saw anything like that.”

After looking back at the past year, Deputy Harkin can look ahead and plan with a degree of certainty that the government will remain in power for the next four years due to its relative stability and although it is a challenging role it is one she is relishing.

"As independents it is important for us to be able to look and say these were the things that mattered to us and these are the things we are delivering on as ministers but also as part of government. Then we also have to take the flack for what's not done. In my 10 months as minister I have found you have an awful lot of reading to do. A lot of documents to read, to know what is going on. We don’t just jump in and when you have that kind of knowledge then you can say, ‘right, what can I improve'. There are certain things we won’t have authority to change but recommend for other people to do that. I have a lot of enthusiastic people in the Department and I have a senior minister who is gung-ho, wants to get stuff done and that is good. It is hard work, bloody hard work, because you have to keep the home fires burning, you have to look after the constituency and you have to do something policy wise.

“I'm not speaking here as a PR person, I’m speaking as somebody who is trying to be honest about the good parts and the challenges. I happened to be on front bench; if a minister isn’t there, you have to speak on what they were going to say and I happened to be on the front bench the day we had the amendments on the Israeli war bonds from the central bank. I knew it two days beforehand. I sat up until four and five o’clock in the morning and I read every single document, I had to. I was so conflicted, I was conflicted beyond words. As I said to the Tanasite, ‘we are on the thinnest of thin ice’ and we were. That was sorted to some extent, as we knew it would but I had to do all that to get it right in my head.”

Article Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.