Ireland’s Harris Rejects CEO’s Comments at Party Event

Olivia Fletcher
·2-min read

(Bloomberg) -- Ryanair Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary made controversial comments about teachers serving in government, forcing Prime Minister Simon Harris to go on the defensive weeks before an election.

Most Read from Bloomberg

“I wouldn’t generally employ a lot of teachers to go out and get things done,” O’Leary told a Saturday campaign event to endorse trade minister and member of Fine Gael Peter Burke.

Ireland is to hold an election at the end of the month, after Harris called a snap vote to capitalize on strong polling numbers at the expense of left-wing opposition party Sinn Fein, which has slumped recently, largely on the issue of immigration as its working-class base looked elsewhere for solutions.

O’Leary doubled down on the remarks Monday, claiming that teachers aren’t the best people to deliver the kind of change he said Ireland needed in a radio interview on Newstalk radio. “I think the more teachers we have in the classroom the better and the fewer teachers we have in the Dail or in ministerial office, the better,” he said.

“The comments were crass and ill-informed. I’m pretty annoyed,” Harris told reporters Monday as he attempted to distance himself and his party from the remarks.

“Teachers are the people that we trust with our most important possessions: our children,” he said pointing out that two former political leaders, ex-finance minister Michael Noonan and former prime minister Enda Kenny, were once teachers.

Fixing Ireland’s infrastructure shortfalls, including in the public sector, is one of the biggest issues on voters’ minds. As such, the comments attracted criticism from Micheal Martin, deputy prime minister and leader of government coalition party Fianna Fail, while Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said teachers were “demeaned and jeered at a Fine Gael function.”

While a setback, the remarks are unlikely to trip up the prime minister who looks on course to gain a fresh term in government according to polling data. He has enjoyed a honeymoon period with voters after becoming his party’s leader in March.

Even so, courting the vote of working people in Ireland is important for Fine Gael over the coming weeks, illustrated by the government’s recent €10.5 billion ($11.2 billion) budget giveaway which includes several tax credits and extra welfare payments to be dished out before Christmas.

(Corrects spelling of Ryanair CEO’s first name in 1st paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Latest stories

  • John Dean Reveals Biden Move That Could Doom Trump's 'Revenge' Plot

    The Watergate figure said the president could "take the wind" out of Trump's plans for revenge and retribution with a stroke of his pen.

  • Joe Biden Sends Parting Shot at GOP in Bombshell Pardon for Son Hunter

    President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, on Sunday just days before he was scheduled to be sentenced in separate federal gun and tax cases—marking an about face for the lame-duck president. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” Biden said in a statement. The president accused his “political opponents in Congress” of pursuing the pr

  • Trump threatens 100% tariff on the BRIC bloc of nations if they act to undermine US dollar

    President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. While the U.S. dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed up with America’s dominance of the global financial system. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said: “We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy."

  • Trump’s FBI Pick Scored Gig After Frontrunner Flunked Job Interview

    Kash Patel may have finally been nominated for the position he craved the most—Federal Bureau of Investigation director. But it’s not like Donald Trump wanted him first. President-elect Trump said Saturday he would nominate Patel to head the FBI, heralding him as a “brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter” and signaling he would push current FBI Director Christopher Wray out of his 10-year term. But Patel wasn’t Trump’s first choice for the role, according to Axios—he just di

  • The illusion of Assad’s grip on Syria shatters, as Russia, Iran and Hezbollah let their guard down

    Time and time again the Assad dynasty has survived internal and external challenges and lived to fight another day. But nothing lasts forever.

  • Why ex-Israeli minister blocked from Aus

    Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he barred the ex-Israeli minister from coming to Australia due to concerns her views could “undermine social cohesion”.

  • Trump Wants Jared Kushner's Father To Be His Ambassador To France

    The president-elect pardoned Charles Kushner near the end of his first term in the Oval Office.

  • RBA interest rates: Major banks’ predictions ahead of December meeting

    ANZ, Westpac and NAB are all in agreement in when the first rate cut could come, while Commonwealth Bank remains the outlier.

  • Opinion - Trump’s Europe policy is a lose-lose game — unless he pivots

    Donald Trump's proposed Europe policy may prove self-defeating, as it risks leaving the continent more vulnerable to Russian aggression and Chinese economic dominance, while also sowing divisions among allies and undermining the ability of EU member states to meet U.S. expectations.

  • Trump’s pick to run FCC is an ominous sign for Big Tech

    The country’s tech titans might need to start fortifying defenses against the agenda of incoming Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr.

  • Putin approves record defense spending – a third of Russia’s budget

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a record-breaking defense budget, setting aside a staggering third of the government’s total spending as the war in Ukraine drains resources from both sides nearly three years on.

  • Protests in Georgia spread as PM defies US condemnation

    Protesters rallied in Georgia’s capital for a fourth straight night on Sunday and there were signs that opposition was spreading across the country to the government’s decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union.

  • Jasmine Crockett Has Blistering Message For GOP Pearl-Clutching Over Hunter Biden Pardon

    The Texas Democrat advised Republicans to "take a look in the mirror" after the president pardoned his son.

  • German foreign minister criticizes Beijing's support for Russia

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has accused China of providing Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine and threatening peace in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. “Instead of taking responsibility for peace and security in the world as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China is opposing our core European interests with its economic and weapons aid to Russia,” Baerbock said in a statement ahead of a visit to Beijing.

  • Cheryl Hines Uses Naked RFK Jr. Video to Hawk ‘MAHA’ Candles

    Actress Cheryl Hines appears to finally be embracing MAGA after President-elect Donald Trump named her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his nominee for secretary of health and human services. The Curb Your Enthusiasm star shared a bizarre video of RFK Jr. partially nude to promote a line of scented candles, sprays, and body creams sold by her self-care company, Hines + Young. Some of the candles were even branded as “MAHA,” or “Make America Healthy Again.” In the clip, RFK Jr.’s upper body is vi

  • Opinion - Special treatment for Russia — a dangerous American tradition

    Beginning with Presidents Clinton and Bush in the early 2000s, the U.S. response to the Kremlin’s malign activities has all too often been excessively deferential.

  • Latest US strike on China's chips hits semiconductor toolmakers

    (Reuters) -The U.S. will launch on Monday its third crackdown in three years on China's semiconductor industry, curbing exports to 140 companies including chip equipment maker Naura Technology Group, among other moves, said two people familiar with the matter. The effort to hobble Beijing's chipmaking ambitions will also hit Chinese chip toolmakers Piotech and SiCarrier Technology with new export restrictions as part of the package, which also takes aim at shipments of advanced memory chips and more chipmaking tools to China. The move is one of the Biden administration's last large-scale efforts to stymie China's ability to access and produce chips that can help advance artificial intelligence for military applications, or otherwise threaten U.S. national security.

  • Ex-FBI Deputy Director Sounds Alarm On Trump's Kash Patel Pick: 'Profoundly Unqualified'

    Andrew McCabe said Trump's controversial choice is a "terrible development" for those at the agency, and his lack of qualifications aren't up for "debate."

  • Opinion - Trump’s pick to lead the FCC poses a threat to free speech

    Brendan Carr has shown that he is willing to break with longstanding and bipartisan FCC precedent to punish Trump’s detractors.

  • James Carville Says These Harris Campaign Moves Brought Serious 'Trouble' To Dems

    The longtime Democratic strategist said the campaign has contributed to "almost unfathomable" damage to the party's "brand."