The Taoiseach has given the Cabinet a fresh look but without alienating potential leadership rivals, writes STEPHEN COLLINS.
BRIAN COWEN showed a deft political touch in the formation of his first Cabinet. He managed to give his Government a new image, by shuffling his senior Ministers around, while steering clear of the kind of purge that would inevitably create dangerous internal enemies. There were also a number of subtle undertones to the reshuffle that strengthened the new Taoiseach's position.
For a start, he managed to install loyal supporters in key positions while shifting potential rivals sideways in a way that shunted them back down in the pecking order. By moving Brian Lenihan into finance and making Mary Coughlan Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Cowen put people he trusts absolutely in the two key economic ministries.
By contrast, all of those who were regarded as potential rivals for the leadership have been kept at arm's length without being insulted. Micheál Martin, Dermot Ahern and Mary Hanafin had all been mentioned as potential leaders in speculation over the past few years, but after the reshuffle each of them is further away from that position than ever.
Martin was given the prestige post of foreign affairs, but it is a poor platform for a leadership bid. Dermot Ahern has been moved sideways moved to justice, a potentially difficult job given the prominence of law and order issues, while Mary Hanafin has been shifted back in the pecking order from education to social and family affairs, where things are likely to get difficult.
Another feature of the reshuffle was that it marked the return of Fianna Fáil aristocrats to ruling positions in the party. Cowen's father was a TD and his grandfather a county councillor and one of the founding member of Fianna Fáil. Lenihan's father and grandfather were Fianna Fáil deputies, while Coughlan's father and uncle were TDs. The Fianna Fáil blue bloods are now running the show, after the interlude of Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern, who rose to the top without a party pedigree to help them on their way. Cowen's consistent use of the Irish language in his speeches is another indication of a return to Fianna Fáil basics.
Yet that is only part of the story. Cowen gave a clear signal in the way he went about Cabinet formation that there will be promotion opportunities for new TDs. He also indicated he will engage in a crisper system of decision-making and that tough decisions will be defended rather than abandoned in the face of pressure.
One of the features of the Ahern years was an ultra-cautious, slow route to promotion that meant newer TDs would have to wait about 20 years to get into Cabinet. This led to considerable frustration on the backbenches and people such as Jim Glennon and Tony Dempsey simply opted out of politics rather than wait around forever.
By promoting the able and popular Pat Carey to the chief whip's position and giving Barry Andrews a seat at the Cabinet table, if not a full ministry, Cowen has given a clear signal that people will be promoted or demoted on the basis of performance. The full team of Ministers of State due to be announced on Tuesday, will provide further evidence of this. Cowen has also given every indication there will be will be another shuffle in a little over a year, after the local and European elections, and that should keep everybody on their toes.
With the post of European commissioner up for grabs at that stage, there will be at least one Cabinet vacancy. The plum EU job is likely to go to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey. He is the one Cowen supporter who was not clearly rewarded last week but it would be no surprise if he was given a promise of the Brussels job.
One of the outcomes of the reshuffle was that both Fianna Fáil TDs from the five-seat constituency of Dublin South left the Cabinet table. Séamus Brennan took himself out of the picture while the former chief whip, Tom Kitt, was the one clear casualty of the reshuffle.
Kitt refused to accept a demotion and instead decided to quit politics.
However, Kitt was absolutely right to do what he did. Rather than waste the next decade of his life clinging on to a political career in slow decline, he opted for a new life outside politics. If the party has a headache finding replacements in Dublin South, it also means there are new opportunities there for aspiring politicians in the local organisation.
Of course, devising his new Cabinet may well be the easy part of the task facing Brian Cowen. His new Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, will soon know all about the raft of problems facing the country. Trying to figure out what is happening out there in the economic and financial world and devising the appropriate response will be the first task.
Coping with events is always the real test of a Government and luck, as well as good judgment, will be required.
Cowen and his new team certainly began their journey on a tide of goodwill. One of the striking features of last Wednesday's events in Leinster House was the wonderfully warm atmosphere generated by the crowds of wellwishers who arrived from Offaly. The happy band of supporters gave the lie to the Biffo caricature as they sang The Offaly Roverto help Mr Cowen on his way from Leinster House to Áras an Uachtaráin to get his seal of office. There was wasn't a hint of triumphalism or aggression in their attitude and the contrast with the whiff of drunkenness and menace that sometimes pervaded the air on similar days in the past was striking.
It was a good augury for the new Taoiseach.