Of all the new ministers appointed last month, Jim O’Callaghan may be the one who arrives bearing the greatest expectation of change. Fianna Fáil made clear its desire to take on responsibility for the Department of Justice following an election campaign during which it emphasised its focus on law and order, particularly in Dublin.
The reallocation of responsibility for immigration back to Justice, after five years in which it came under Roderic O’Gorman’s Department of Integration, further emphasises the centrality of O’Callaghan’s portfolio to the new Government’s agenda. And the appointment of a politician who has styled himself as a truth-teller, as well as a potential future leader of his party, further reinforces the message that a new broom has arrived.
In his first weeks in office, O’Callaghan has been more visible than most of his ministerial colleagues, laying out his priorities in a number of media appearances in which he has committed to more “adventurous” Garda recruitment targets and more high-visibility policing in the capital.
He has also said “too many” of those seeking international protection are not entitled to it, and that the function of government is not “to create as many accommodation spaces as possible”.
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His blunt language, along with a commitment to more deportations of unsuccessful asylum applicants, represents a marked tonal shift from the previous government. That reflects a keen awareness in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that they risked losing touch with a public that was increasingly dissatisfied with the State’s handling of the issue.
As a backbencher, O’Callaghan had criticised the proposal in the Defamation Bill to no longer have juries for High Court defamation actions. That legislation is a “priority” in the new programme for government. O’Callaghan now says it will be passed without significant amendments.
His change of heart is welcome; the punitive and disproportionate awards made under current legislation are out of line with international best practice and have a chilling effect on media freedom. But the episode raises questions about his commitment to any broader reform of Ireland’s archaic and grossly expensive legal system. As a barrister who continued to practise right up until his appointment to Cabinet, he has been a beneficiary of that system, and may not be inclined to regard it with the same reforming zeal he has expressed towards other parts of his brief. As someone with limited leadership experience who has spent his career as a sole trader, he will also be severely tested in trying to effect any meaningful reform in one of the State’s most complex and historically change-averse bureaucracies.
O’Callaghan has every incentive to make a success of his term in office. How well he fares will be a major contributory factor in how this Government is ultimately judged.
