Harris now most secure of main party leaders amid Fianna Fáil/Sinn Féin unrest
James Cox
Here, we have a look at the issues likely to dominate political discourse in the week to come.
Martin and McDonald under pressure
What a difference a couple of years can make in politics.
After his brief spell as taoiseach, Simon Harris' future looked very unclear after the 2024 general election.
Fine Gael went into the election in a strong position in opinion polls. However, this dissipated during campaigning.
A low point for Harris came in an exchange in Kanturk, Co Cork, where he appeared to brush off an upset care worker.
Fine Gael ended up coming in third, after Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin.
There was much discontent and mutterings within the party over whether Paschal Donohoe would have been a better candidate to succeed Leo Varadkar.
The likes of Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, now minister for health, were linked with leadership bids.
Meanwhile, Micheál Martin and Mary Lou McDonald were quite comfortable in their leaderships of Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin.
Fast forward to the present day, and Harris is the only one of the trio who looks secure.
While Carroll MacNeill may still harbour future leadership ambitions, Harris can be confident he will be in place when the taoiseach rotation takes place in November 2027.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin insistts he will be too, and lead Fianna Fáil into the next general election, however, this appears increasingly unlikely.
There have long beeen whisperings of backbench unrest at Martin's leadership, and they came to the fore again recently amid Government's response to the nationwide fuel protests.
James O'Connor, Ryan O'Meara and Albert Dolan, three of the party's youngest TDs, outlined their frustrations in an open letter.
Martin subsequently met them, but the fire has not been put out fully.
Indeed, some would argue the only reason he remains in place is the reluctance of his likely successor, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, to make his move.
Martin can hardly make himself a lame duck, so will continue to insist he will lead Fianna Fáil into the next election. However, sources have indicated he would be open to stepping down after Ireland's EU Presidency concludes.
Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July 1st to December 31st, 2026. Only time will tell if he even lasts that long.
The fuel protests also represent the latest crack between Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and her supporters.
She was noticeably muted, while the likes of Pearse Doherty and Matt Carthy (both potential sucessors) were vocal.
Sinn Féin is a notoriously closed shop when it comes to leak, with a code of secrecy that once saw Leo Varadkar label them "not a normal party".
Tnis makes the recent Sunday Times piece which saw sources indicate McDonald was in trouble all the more interesting.
It noted that the response to Doherty's Dáil speech on the fuel protests was more vocally welcomed than McDonald's own contribution.
In response, she insisted her leadership was safe at the party's Ard Fheis this weekend, but like Martin, she was hardly going to say anything else.
Abroad
Keir Starmer has said there was only the “everyday pressure of government” to clear Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington amid the ongoing row over his vetting for the position.
The UK prime minister stood by his decision to sack former Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins and maintained it was wrong for the veteran civil servant not to have told Starmer that the peer was cleared against the recommendation of UK Security Vetting (UKSV).
A man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attended by president Donald Trump on Saturday night.
The man charged towards the ballroom in a chaotic encounter with Secret Service agents as guests dived under tables at the sound of shots being fired.