Last Updated on 06/09/2024 by Arun jain
BRUSSELS – Ask Dublin and Brussels about the man the Irish government has chosen to send to the EU, and you won’t come back any wiser.
Following the clubbable ebullience of Phil Hogan and then the personable dynamism of Mairead McGuinness, Dublin has chosen the quiet, mostly ambitious former finance minister Michael McGrath as Ireland’s next European commissioner.
Unlike his two predecessors, who split the commission’s last term between them, McGrath will be expected to last the full five years – although if his hitherto low profile is anything to go by, it may take him that long to find out.
“Some people might describe him as unhinged,” said one of his closest advisers, who requested anonymity, perhaps out of respect for the man’s personality.
McGrath “is not a man with any political enemies, not a factional politician,” the adviser continued. “He certainly believes that hard work brings its own rewards rather than political maneuvering.”
The question, then, remains: will this quiet readability be a positive or a negative in the cut-and-thrust of Brussels politics?
There is no deal cutter
A sign of his reluctance to play political games — or, as his rivals might call it, his lack of political acumen — came when McGrath visited Brussels in July. According to his account on LinkedIn, he used the time to “read various portfolios, study background material and listen to people with extensive experience of how the EU system works.” He also met with Irish MEPs and the outgoing McGuinness.
What he did not do, however, was meet his new boss, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Some wonder if it could be a mistake.
After all, if he had sat down with von der Leyen to secure her second term in the European Parliament, McGrath could have cut herself a decent job deal in return for pledging her Irish votes. Instead, her visit to Brussels came after she had already been confirmed – and, more crucially, after her own party’s MEPs had voted against her.
The timing and agenda of his Brussels visit were also blocked by some advisers.
Colleagues make a mark of McGrath’s reluctance to play games. His humble and reserved nature can make him impossible to read, even for those close to him, they said, although another adviser claimed this simply made McGrath “his own man”.
“He’s very much a guy who hits the ground running, will read his brief very quickly, and know all the nuances,” the first officer said.
However, it is clear that their reluctance to make alliances at the right time or engage in factional politics could cost them dearly. Ireland still expects a powerful portfolio – to be chosen by von der Leyen – whose wishlist includes posts overseeing the economy, budget, financial services or agriculture.
McGrath attended an Irish financial services party during his Brussels visit, but the accepted wisdom is that it will be a stretch for Ireland to get the top financial services job again, as it was McGuinness’s role. It is also a sensitive bit, as Ireland has a leading finance industry.
The best and brightest
Perhaps, however, McGrath’s view on politics was shaped by the career he built in the staid world of accountancy.
A classmate from his time at university in Cork in the 1990s remembers him as “very focused, very motivated in his academic studies”. Another described him as “really smart, definitely good at math” and “one of the best and brightest students in the class”.
McGrath rose to prominence as the opposition spokesman on finance for the centrist Fianna Fáil party, part of Renew Europe. He became Minister of Public Expenditure in 2020, followed by Finance Minister in 2022.
His accountancy background really informs his approach to politics, said John Curry, a long-time civil servant and accountant in Ireland who worked with McGrath on policies such as reforming public sector accounting standards.
“He brings the rigor of what we’ve learned as professionals, and the rigor of seeing that applied in the private sector, and how that supports and drives economic decisions and economic outcomes. [in the] Public interest,” she said.
During his time as Minister for Public Expenditure, McGrath oversaw Ireland’s financial response to the Covid-19 pandemic and developed the country’s recovery plans under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility – a post-pandemic fund aimed at boosting the economy.
Later, as a fiscally conservative finance minister, he ran a budget surplus and reduced the national debt, and Long Term Funding To support government spending from 2040.
family man
Among his colleagues and friends, McGrath is often described as a “family man”.
He met his wife Sarah, who is a senior accountant at EY, during their training at KPMG, another accountancy firm. The couple has seven children – which, coincidentally, is how many children Von der Leyen has.
The pair “make a good combination” and are “very easy to get along with,” said Terence O’Rourke, a former KPMG managing partner who worked with McGrath to promote the Irish business.
It’s no surprise that as a young man McGrath was “not someone to spend his time in the student bar in town,” according to one of his classmates – but it was all work, work, work. He played for the popular Irish team of Gaelic football – he is now a big fan of Manchester United – and was also involved in student politics.
The Irish government has not heeded von der Leyen’s appeal to EU member states to send her a female nominee as well as a male one. That could count against him – although most capitals have ignored the request, perhaps not as many as he might have done.
Whatever job he gets, McGrath seems poised to make it more about policy than politics. But that doesn’t mean it will be a walkover.
Yes, former colleague Curry said, he has “politeness” — but also “a swagger about him.”
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