Harris says Limerick call to O'Donovan was routine, denies asking him to resign

Simon Harris confirmed Wednesday that he spoke by telephone with Patrick O'Donovan during the EU conference in Limerick, hours before the Minister for Culture became ill and was admitted to hospital. Harris, speaking to journalists outside Government Buildings on his first day back from paternity leave, said he discussed the call on Tuesday with O'Donovan while the conference was under way.

O'Donovan stepped away from the meeting to take the call, according to reports, and the afternoon press conference was later called off. He was taken to hospital by ambulance and spent several days in an intensive care ward. Asked whether he had asked O'Donovan to resign during the call, Harris called it a "bizarre" question and said the conversation was routine.

"I did speak to him on Tuesday during that conference. Conversations that I have with my Ministers are private. The way I've seen them characterised is inaccurate," Harris said. He declined in the days before Wednesday to confirm or deny that he had spoken to O'Donovan on October 13th.

Harris rejected reporting that the call and the health episode were connected, or that O'Donovan had been told his Cabinet position was no longer tenable. "Not only am I saying that's not the case, Patrick O'Donovan will say that's not the case," he said. He added that he issued a statement supporting O'Donovan during his paternity leave in consultation with his family.

Earlier, on the morning of October 13th, O'Donovan had spoken to journalists about what he described as briefings against him. Reports attributed those comments to a Fine Gael Cabinet Minister and questioned whether his health would allow him to remain in Cabinet after the reshuffle expected next year. The story ran on news bulletins and online that morning.

Harris said the anonymous briefing, published in a newspaper the previous weekend, had annoyed him. He said he knew the comments had hurt O'Donovan and that the Fine Gael executive council had endorsed his statement in response. He described O'Donovan as a close friend and colleague whom he had appointed to Cabinet twice.

Harris also defended his silence during his paternity leave. "There was no silence. There was a man on paternity leave with their family," he said, adding that he had no intention of breaking that leave to speak to the media. He said he looked forward to O'Donovan returning to work and that he talks to his Ministers on a recurring basis.