Forming the next Irish Government - policies and personalities

With a bit of rotation (like the top jobs!), he can give all his 8 TDs a spin on the merry-go-round.

Not sure about this

1. Carol Nolan isn't mentioned in the article, suspect she will be out in the cold
2. Can't see Lowry himself getting any sort of ministry
3. Toole and Heneghan both rookies, may turn out to have maverick tendencies

RIG will hold two super junior ministries, meaning two members will now sit at Cabinet. The two roles will be filled by Galway East TD Seán Canney and Noel Grealish of Galway West, while Sligo–Leitrim TD Marian Harkin and Longford–Westmeath TD Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran will hold junior ministerial roles.

This looks a pretty solid cohort that could be left in post for five years without causing any serious trouble for their overlords..

The Healy Raes have signed up to the government according to RTE tonight.

So that's it. We'll have our new government next week and Stephen Donnelly will no longer be the Health Minister.

Focus shifts to newcomers coming into the cabinet and hopes are high that Helen McEntee will be moved out of Justice given her catastrophic handling of the ministry, presiding over increased crime, riots, countless asylum centres being burned down and packed prisons.

The Healy Raes have supported governments in the past including the father.

I'd say they're more reliable that the Social Democrats in that regard.

They are the type of politicians that get things done rather than shouting from the sides lines.

do you think these were her personal policies, and not those of FG and FF?

Well it's her department, her choices. I can't point to a single thing she's done that has benefited Ireland. Court cases taking years to resolve, prisons are letting out inmates early because they are packed, Gardai are under resourced and the drugs issue keeps on getting worse.

She didn't reform anything.

You are 100% right reform was negligible. The question I have is do politicians have the stomach for the fight that is involved in actual reform - taking on the Gardai work practices, legal profession 'protecting the rights' of the under privildged, going hard on crime etc etc ? I think you will find no - the media, civil society groups etc present the pleadings of interest groups as gospel and politically it is easier to write the cheque. Also to be fair to Helen Mcentee she had two children while serving as minister. That is no doubt hugely demanding of her as a young mother - we talk about female participation in politics .. there is a separate debate there.

But fundamentally, do politicians have the stomach for unpopular decisions when politics has become a popularity contest not about political leadership …

After all that we are about to enter an era of keeping a motley selection of, erstwhile derided and demeaned, parish pump politicians happy. Fun times ahead no doubt.

Ah here!

The U.S system sacks all the outgoing department heads and underlings,to be replaced by the winning presidents appointees,in the case of a new president

It also has to get the ministers confirmed by senate committees

Meanwhile the outgoing government is a lame duck

Not ideal at all

A junior minister position and whatever else seems a high price .

Looks like the only currency on offer from FFG;harde to explain the number of them being handed out otherwise…

Government sources said they were not doing constituency deals with the Independents, with one senior source insisting the Independents could have “jobs or constituency deals – but not both”.

Mcentee strikes me as a Yes woman. No ideas of her own and no initiative.

The nation will be hoping she's moved out of Justice, hopefully to an unimportant ministry if Fine Gael have to keep her in the cabinet for gender reasons.

She's the party deputy leader and, while I disagree with her politics (and all of FG's) she comes across as a largely competent minister. No more or less competent than any other.

She gets an unfair amount of criticism because of her gender and (I guess) the fact she took maternity leave. Neither of which are valid points of criticism.

I imagine she will get Enterprise and Tourism, Simon is Foreign Affairs, Paschal is Finance. Big jobs for the junior partner.