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20 Jan 2026
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20 Jan 2026
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Garret Ahearn has worked for Simon Coveney in recent years.
Clonmel Local Area rep Garret Ahearn has welcomed the news this morning that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has appointed Minister Simon Coveney as Tanaiste.
Garret Ahearn has been working with Minister Coveney for the past seven years across four state departments.
He said - “I first of all want to congratulate Simon on his new appointment. Today is a great honour for Simon, his wife Ruth and their three daughters”.
Minister Coveney was seen by many as the front runner following the resignation of Frances Fitzgerald earlier this week.
He entered Politics in 1998 in a bye election in Cork South Central after the sudden passing of his father Hugh Coveney.
Having been an opposition TD for 13 years, he was appointed Minister for Agriculture by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny in 2011. He went on to serve in the Departments of Defence, Housing and now Foreign Affairs.
“Knowing Simon as well as I do, I’m sure he will be a successful Tanaiste. He has always taken every office he held very seriously and this will be no different.
"This will be a very popular appointment with the members of Fine Gael around the country and especially in Tipperary where he got 85% of the membership vote in the Leadership contest last June.
" I look forward to working with Minister Coveney in his new role as Tanaiste and continuing to highlight the concerns of the people of Tipperary".
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