Simon Coveney, the former tánaiste, declared he will not run in the upcoming general election, reports RTE.
In a 1998 by-election, the 52-year-old Cork South Central TD was initially elected to the Dáil.
Prior to his current role as minister for enterprise, he held the ministries of agriculture, international affairs, and commerce.
Following Simon Harris’s appointment as Taoiseach earlier this year, Mr. Coveney declared he would not be staying in the Cabinet to give the new Fine Gael leader the freedom to nominate ministers, reports RTE.
This was interpreted as an explicit indication that his tenure in the Dáil was coming to an end.
He said this morning that it was time to leave politics behind and explore other opportunities.
For 26 years, Mr. Coveney remarked, he has had the wonderful distinction of serving his constituency, reports RTE.
He declared that Mr. Harris had given Fine Gael new life and that the party had a bright future.
“Aware of when to quit”
Mr. Coveney stated that one of the difficulties of holding a leadership role “is knowing when to leave” when speaking on RTÉ’s News At One.
He claimed to have spent his whole professional career in politics, holding a number of roles “that I could never have dreamt of,” such as serving as Tánaiste for over three years, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
