It is only a few months since Michael McGrath gave a rare insight into his childhood and the influences that continue to drive him.
He told the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis last April that his life story illustrated how investment in housing, social supports and education can provide opportunity.
It was, he told an engaged audience, a narrative that defined “the essence of Fianna Fáil.”
The 47-year-old Minister for Finance’s story spoke of resilience and never giving up.
Mr McGrath’s father became very ill when the future European Commission was just seven years old and living in a rented local authority house in Passage West, 10km southeast of Cork city.
Jack McGrath survived but he could never return to work and died ten years later.
“My mum worked in the home in the traditional sense, so from when I was very young after Dad couldn’t work any longer, the main income we had from that time on was his invalidity pension.
“It was our lifeline, and we were glad to have it. The State was there for us when we needed it,” he said.
Many societies around the world would have denied someone like him the opportunity to progress but he was able to go to college with the help of scholarships, the outgoing Minister for Finance said.
A UCC degree in commerce followed along with a secure job but he later shunned this security to work as a full-time county councillor in order to win a Dáil seat, which he did in 2007 and held it during Fianna Fáil’s darkest day in 2011.
That speech and its central message bore all the hallmarks of a politician engrossed in domestic politics and one who was identifying the policies he would pursue should he become Taoiseach one day.
During this time as Finance Minister he has represented Ireland at the Eurogroup and ECOFIN.
He has met regularly with EU Commissioners and the ECB President and would therefore be well known in the European system.
He is also a governor on a range of international bodies on behalf of Ireland including the IMF, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank.
That all suggests that he has a strong chance of landing a job in the first division of commissioners.
Based on his political career to date he is likely to bring well-honed negotiating skills to whatever role he occupies.
These were first evidenced in the lengthy talks to establish the confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael in 2016.
In recent years his cohesive working relationship with Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe that is viewed a key dynamic underpinning the Government.
He was also central in establishing two new long-term funds, the Future Ireland Fund, and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund.
The legislation for these funds is now enacted and they will have €10 billion stashed away in them later this year. This is expected to reach over €100bn in the next 15 years, to help meet demographic costs.
The departing minister has the lofty hope that it will ensure the “boom, bust” approach to capital spending is brought to an end.
Party colleagues have viewed him as a reassuring presence who always follows through on commitments.
A small minority though believe his profile should have been higher during his time as Minister for Finance and they point to his 17,300 followers on the social media platform X compared to Paschal Donohoe’s 77,200 followers.
However, there is no doubting the fact that he was the most likely to one day succeed Micheál Martin as Fianna Fáil leader.
But emboldened by the recent election results there is no vacancy on the horizon and whenever it does arise someone else will take the role.
Mr McGrath’s departure is expected to pave the way for his brother Séamus to run in Cork South-Central in the General Election.
He was elected with more than 3,000 votes to spare in the council elections.
That should mean the Mr McGrath’s sedulously built domestic political base remains intact even if its architect is off to take up high office in a foreign land.
