Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, one of Ireland’s highest-profile government members, announced Tuesday he is stepping down from the government ahead of the election of a new national leader. Coveney, 51, developed a high international profile when he served as Ireland’s foreign minister between 2017 and 2022 during the turmoil over the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. Brexit had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland.
Veteran Irish politician Simon Coveney steps down as a new leader prepares to take charge | iNFOnews infotel.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from infotel.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Irish Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney said on Tuesday he would not serve in the next cabinet, clearing the way for Simon Harris to make a wider reshuffle of his Fine Gael team of ministers when he is confirmed as prime minister next week. Harris was elected unopposed to succeed Leo Varadkar as leader of the governing Fine Gael party on March 24 and will be voted in as Ireland's youngest ever prime minister when parliament next sits on April 9. Coveney, a former deputy prime minister who made his name in the foreign affairs brief when Ireland was at the centre of Britain's prolonged negotiations to leave the European Union, has sat at cabinet since 2011.