Ahern sticks with tried and trusted Cabinet team
Defence Minister Willie O'Dea arrives at Aras An Uachtarain to recieve his seal of office.
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Friday June 15 2007
TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern unveiled his new technicolour Government with the Green Party yesterday - and produced most of the old faces from the FF-PD administration.
Mr Ahern yet again resisted wielding the axe among his tried and trusted ministers. He kept two-thirds of the cabinet in the same jobs and only made three big changes.
Dick Roche and John O'Donoghue were the only ministers sacked from the Cabinet, but both got soft landings with substantial consolation prizes.
Mr Roche will go back to his former role as Junior Minister for European Affairs, while Mr O'Donoghue became Ceann Comhairle.
The Greens ministers got plum jobs with John Gormley in Environment and Eamon Ryan in Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
Brian Lenihan replaces Michael McDowell as Minister for Justice. He is the only so-called 'new' Fianna Fail face, but he had already sat at the Cabinet for the past two years as the 'Super' Junior Minister for Children.
The introduction of the Green minister sparked a minor reshuffle among Fianna Fail ministers.
Seamus Brennan took Mr O'Donoghue's old job as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, while Martin Cullen replaces Mr Brennan as Minister for Social and Family Affairs. In turn, Noel Dempsey became Minister for Transport and the Marine. Aside from Ahern himself, Brian Cowen, Mary Harney, Dermot Ahern, Micheal Martin, Eamon O Cuiv, Mary Coughlan, Mary Hanafin and Willie O'Dea all retained the same portfolios.
Mr Ahern said that in selecting his nominees, he took into account the record of achievement of many who had made an outstanding contribution to public life and to policy over recent years.
He used parliamentary code to indicate that there would be a Cabinet reshuffle at the end of 2009.
"There will be a particular opportunity at the mid-term review of the Government's programme to consider further the allocation of ministerial responsibilities," he said.
The same would apply to the rank of junior ministers, the names of whom Mr Ahern will reveal next week.
The Taoiseach said he did not propose to make significant changes in the responsibilities or "configuration" of departments. But he did propose to make a number of changes in the interests of a better alignment of functions.
- Fionnan Sheahan and Senan Molony
