Politics

Alarm in Fine Gael over Paschal Donohoe’s bid to lead IMF

Taoiseach backs public expenditure minister to lead financial agency but sources say issue must not ‘hang over’ party for long

Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Public Expenditure. A spokeswoman for Donohoe said late on Friday that he is “fully focused on his current work and responsibilities in Ireland.

There is considerable unease within Fine Gael this weekend after the shock news that Paschal Donohoe was considering a bid to lead the International Monetary Fund and up sticks to Washington DC to head up the all-powerful financial agency.

As details of the informal talks emerged following Donohoe’s trip to the US in his capacity as Eurogroup president, reports that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform was planning to jump ship caused alarm.

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