Ireland's incoming taoiseach Simon Harris has pledged to lead his party with a 'new energy' as he vowed to hit the ground running as leader. Ahead of his expected election as Irish premier in the Dail parliament next week, recently appointed Fine Gael leader Mr Harris addressed delegates at his party's annual conference in Galway on Saturday evening. His uncontested elevation to leader of Fine Gael came after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's shock resignation last month.
Mr Harris is to formally replace Mr Varadkar as the head of Ireland's Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition government in the Dail on Tuesday. In a wide-ranging speech at the close of the ard fheis at the University of Galway, Mr Harris identified housing; law and order; and support for small business as key priorities. He also addressed recent tensions in Ireland over increased immigration rates, as he pledged to oversee a 'fair' but 'firm' system to manage migration into the country