The Minister for Justice is at his desk at 7.30am every day. His schedule is peppered with visits to sites at the coalface of his new brief, dipping his hands in the operational side of the department: the International Protection Office, Dublin Airport, prisons, Garda stations – asking questions of those on the front line: how does this work? How do you interpret powers under that piece of legislation?
Such zeal is not unusual for a newly anointed Minister and is less surprising again for a politician as ambitious as Jim O’Callaghan. As a coalition backbencher, his criticism of the government on law and order was noticeable – and this accelerated during the general election. In the 30 days since he was appointed, he has promised progress on policing and immigration especially – two cornerstones of the Fianna Fáil election manifesto, and latterly the programme for government. These are also topics central to his brand as a law and order politician. The Minister for Justice is a very visible Cabinet member. It can bring political rewards, but no shortage of downside if just one thing goes wrong.
Events, predictably, have eaten into his grace period. Speaking on the Leinster House plinth after two serious knife attacks in a week, Labour Party justice spokesman Alan Kelly warned “he needs to stop being a commentator ... what’s he doing about it?” Sinn Féin raised the issue of reoffending by those on bail at Leaders’ Questions on Tuesday. In Justice, political ambition quickly collides with political reality.
After the attacks, O’Callaghan was seen to have performed fairly well: he went out in the media, pointing to tougher sentencing laws passed under his predecessor Helen McEntee, running a hard line on low tolerance for those who carry knives. As Conor Lally has reported in these pages, data suggests the issue is on the increase, with numbers needing hospital treatment following knife attacks rising to a 13-year high in 2024.
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[ The Irish Times view on knife crime: considered response needed from GovernmentOpens in new window ]
[ Dublin stabbing: Gardaí seized 2,150 knives last yearOpens in new window ]
Tougher sentencing probably has its limits – simply jacking up jail terms ad infinitum is not an option, and the question is whether those committing knife crimes will be deterred by a seven-year term rather than five. Knife crime is an emotive issue, especially as a proxy for wider concerns about safety in the public realm. It is something the public and media latch on to. It has convulsed cities and police forces in the past – Glasgow was once dubbed the murder capital of Europe amid decades of heroin-linked knife crime, with improvements attributed to ground hurling like investment in community and youth diversion projects. From a political point of view, these are the hard yards, where the outcome is not immediate.
Another big task is immigration reform. He has plainly stated that too many people seeking international protection are simply not eligible. The integration function of his brief will be slowly merged back into Justice from the Department of Children in the coming months, but O’Callaghan has already signalled that he does not see his role as simply finding more accommodation for those coming to the State.
[ Government to legislate for ‘stop and search’ knife crime powersOpens in new window ]
The white-hot political atmosphere around migration has subsided – but there is a sense of inevitability around it coming back. In Europe, the issue of irregular migration has been to the fore of the German elections. It remains a rallying point for the far right here while concerns about immigration among a wider pool of voters cannot be ignored.
The EU’s attempt to wrangle all this comes in the shape of the Migration Pact. A new “border procedure” envisaged by the pact could lead to a meaningful reshaping of the migration process in Ireland – under this, a fast-track system will be created for certain categories of arrival, with decisions mandated within three months. The programme for government envisages those coming across the land border with Northern Ireland being eligible – this means significant numbers of people could find themselves subject to the new border procedure. This might ease some pressure on the overstretched international protection system, but it equally may simply displace it to a new parallel system. The project here is daunting: he must build something that works, that respects fundamental rights, has an efficient way of returning people who fail to gain a status, and stands up to inevitable legal challenges
[ Immigration and the rise and fall of the Irish far right in 2024Opens in new window ]
The new Bill is something for the medium term. O’Callaghan will have to demonstrate early action – he has already emphasised the use of chartered and Frontex flights to deport people who have been rejected, while it’s understood he has ordered a review of the use – or lack thereof – by immigration officials of section 10 of the 2015 International Protection Act, under which people can be excluded from being considered a refugee under some circumstances.
Decisions also beckon on the €800 payment to those hosting a Ukrainian which expires at the end of March. It is likely to be extended – but with the payment reduced. This decision will formally be brought for Cabinet approval by Norma Foley, but O’Callaghan is in the frame too. Against the backdrop of already falling numbers of Ukrainian arrivals, the third anniversary of the invasion and the potentially messy endgame suggested by the Trump-Russia dialogue, this too is a delicate task – not to mention deciding what to do with the tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have made Ireland their home.
The political opportunity facing O’Callaghan is a significant one which could prove to be a pivotal point for both him and the future direction of Fianna Fáil – O’Callaghan is widely tipped as among the runners to succeed Micheál Martin. But with opportunity comes risk.
