Five new Junior Ministers appointed

This afternoon Taoiseach Brian Cowen has appointed five new faces to his junior ministerial team and dismissed three previous Ministers of State.

The newcomers to ministerial responsibility are:

• John Curran (Dublin Mid-West) for Drug Policy,
• Michael Finneran (Roscommon South & Leitrim) for Housing,
• Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South) for the Office of Public Works,
• John Moloney (Laois-Offaly) for Equality and Disability,
• Peter Power (Limerick East) for Overseas Aid.

The three departees from the administration are:

• Michael Ahern (Cork East),
• John Browne (Wexford),
• Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (Donegal South-West).

Last week Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire) was promoted to Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, with a seat at the cabinet table, as was Chief Whip Pat Carey (Dublin North-West), replacing Tom Kitt, who has returned to the backbenches.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny stated that the number of junior ministries should be cut. In a comment on the new appointments he said the number of Ministers of State had risen from seven to ten, then to 15 and is now more than 20.
Some Ministers of State did not have areas of responsibility they could act independently on, the opposition leader added.

Despite some speculation that the new Taoiseach might reduce the number of Ministers of State, he opted to retain the existing number (enlarged by his predecessor Bertie Ahern).

A full analysis of the whole new administration - cabinet and junior ministers - will be posted here within the next couple of days.

Brian Cowen elected Taoiseach

Well, while I was in hospital for a few days the expected change at the head of the government took place.
I did manage to report the official resignation of Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach on the 6th, but unfortunately I was back in an HSE bed for another few days by the time Dáil Éireann elected the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen (above) as our new Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in the afternoon of May 7th. So this entry is basically "old news" for most of you, but as it is a very significant event, I decided to mention it here, even though it happened already six days ago.

After being elected with an eight vote majority of in the Dáil, the new Taoiseach went to Aras an Uachtarán (the President's Residence) in Phoenix Park, to present himself to President Mary McAleese and receive from her his seal of office.

Breaking with tradition, Brian Cowen is the first incoming Taoiseach who brought his family along to this important moment. On local level new mayors and county councillors often bring their whole families to their inauguration, but it is a new development on national level. Previously the new Taoiseach always cut a rather lonely figure when he was "going to the Park".
It shows Brian Cowen not only as a family man, but also as a man of rural values. Under his leadership the style of Dublin politics will certainly change.
Unlike his jovial and easy-going predecessor and mentor Bertie Ahern, the new leader is a more serious man who does not suffer fools gladly. Even though he is known for a good sense of humour, he keeps that for more private moments and is a tough man in the corridors of power.

Having not won an election and taking over the ship of state in midstream, he will have to show to the Dáil and to the whole country that he has the right qualities to lead the government and the country. Only time will tell.

Analysing Cowen's career so far, it is clear that he is a true green party animal, probably even a lot more so than his predecessor, who united Fianna Fáil after the quarrelsome years under the leadership of Haughey and Reynolds. There seem to be two basic camps when it comes to Brian Cowen: those who think he is a 'Biffo' (big ignorant f..... from Offaly), and those who see him - like Dick Roche - as "the biggest brain in Fianna Fáil".

Well, for Dick Roche almost anyone must seem as intellectually superior, and personally I believe that the brightest mind in contemporary FF belongs to the often overlooked Dr. Martin Mansergh, now a TD for Tipperary and previously a diplomat, special adviser to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and a Senator. But there is a lot of truth in the rumours of Brian Cowen's intellectual capacity. In his years as Minister for Foreign Affairs hard work and persistence won him a lot of respect from foreign politicians and officials, especially inside the EU. During a major conference in Dublin - at the time when Ireland last had the EU presidency - I remember a very senior European political figure referring to Brian Cowen as "the fellow who looks like cider, but is really champagne".

Cowen's first cabinet is almost the same as Bertie Ahern's last, which indicates his preference for the devil you know.
Promoting Mary Coughlan (right) - the youngest woman in cabinet - to be his Tánaiste did surprise quite a lot of people, myself included. But since she is not in charge of one of the three senior departments - Finance, Justice and Foreign Affairs - it is questionable if this really means that she would be in serious contention for Cowen's succession, whenever that will become relevant. It is more likely that it is a shrewd move to please feminists, a populist media culture and the "politically correct".

As Mary Coughlan comes from Co. Donegal, it is also strengthening rural Ireland's representation in the cabinet further.
To compensate for that, Cowen appointed Brian Lenihan (left) as the new Minister for Finance, less than a year after he joined the cabinet as Minister for Justice.
By moving Dermot Ahern from Foreign Affairs to Justice and replacing him with Micheál Martin, whose portfolio of Trade and Enterprise is now held by Mary Coughlan, Cowen has left the question of succession wide open, with at least four possible and acceptable candidates in waiting. However, as Cowen is only 48 and seems to be in good health, this could well be a very long wait.

There were some other changes to the cabinet, but I will analyse them in detail after the new junior ministers are announced later today. I will provide you with a complete review of the new Cowen administration. Until then I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and make the best of life in a country that had it so good for a dozen years and managed to squander most of that wealth. Now a period of difficult years lies ahead, and one can only hope that the new Taoiseach is as strong and determined as his physique suggests.

The Emerald Islander

Martin Mansergh's clever Move

One can think whatever one might like of Martin Mansergh (left), but one has to acknowledge that he is an intelligent man and a clever politician.
The Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary South, who spent five years on a waiting loop in the Seanad before winning his seat in the last general election, is probably the brightest spark in the FF fuse box. And as such he is naturally not very popular.

Having played a major (though quite secretive) role in the long peace negotiations up North, the British-educated academic and former diplomat has lately become the most vociferous defender of Bertie Ahern, no matter how many clangers the Taoiseach drops on the country, the Dáil or at the Mahon Tribunal.
Martin is a real Bertie loyalist, and quite understandably so, since both men worked very closely together for many years and share most likely a large number of real secrets no one else will ever know. After all, they were the "Dublin Two" who did the main work in the negotiations in and over the North.

And being as intelligent as he is, Dr. Mansergh must have realised that his staunch loyalty to the Taoiseach and the various verbal attacks he led recently on Bertie's critics are not doing him much good, while they probably won't prevent the inevitable further demise of the Taoiseach's waning support basis. So as much as loyalty means to him, Martin is realistic enough to see what is around the corner. There he finds the Tanaiste Brian Cowen waiting in the wings. He, also the Minister for Finance, likes to keep a tight purse and save money where it is possible.

So in a brilliant political move, which also is admirable for its PR element, Martin Mansergh got himself invited onto today's Radio 1 Sunday show with Marian Finucane (right). There, on the country's most popular weekend radio programme, Mansergh mentioned - almost unintentionally - that he is in favour of the traditional voting system and wants to get rid of the government's electronic voting machines, foolishly purchased for more than € 50 million by the then Minister for Environment and Local Government, the accident-prone Noel Dempsey, and inherited by his successor Martin Cullen. Since 2002, when they were not used after all, the machines have been resting safely - and at high expense to the taxpayer - in a secure warehouse. They have become a running political joke and a permanent albatross around the government's neck.

So now, after six years of doing nothing (except losing money), the government seems willing to sell the useless machines - "to the highest bidder", as Martin put it so nicely - and thus kill five PR birds with just one political stone. Very clever, indeed. The government will be rid of the cumbersome machines, the Treasury will safe money (which must also please the Tanaiste), and the people will be feeling re-assured that the old but well-loved voting system - using pencil on paper - will stay on forever (despite Bertie Ahern championing the idea of electronic voting in the Dáil more than once). And, last but certainly not least, Martin Mansergh's move will take some attention off the Taoiseach, as people will talk about electronic voting again, feeling happy - and unnecessarily grateful - to Fianna Fáil for getting rid of the very unpopular machines (after having burdened us with them in the first place).

Completely by chance, of course [if you believe it], FF Seanad Leader Donie Cassidy happened to be on the phone to the programme as well today, to talk about a different subject. (The former TD from Westmeath seems to have shelved his recent ideas to reform traffic - for details see my entry from 9 February - and is now ranting against alcohol.) But as he was on the line, Marian Finucane asked him about Mansergh's just aired new idea. And guess what? He was all for it.
So there you have it: FF backbenchers and Senators are in league over the issue to get rid of the voting machines and protect our ancient electoral system. What would Fianna Fáil do without Martin Mansergh, and what would Sunday be without Marian Finucane . . .

The Emerald Islander