THE two faces of Simon Coveney clearly had poor little Richard Bruton running scared.

AS the final Cabinet meeting of the Dáil term fades into the rear view mirror and a fearful country wonders how it will do without their guiding hands during the well-deserved two-month holiday TDs voted themselves, it is time to look back over the highs and lows of an eventful session.

OH, when cringe and current affairs combine to produce the perfect picture of the political zeitgeist.

IN A week when the Dáil’s set piece theatre of Leaders Questions was reduced to the status of Leaders Stetsons, the Cabinet reshuffle was in danger of becoming a sideshow to a country singer’s no show.

DESPITE Joan Burton unexpectedly losing Ruairi Quinn, her education minister, she needs to do a crash course in the three Rs — reshuffle, rewrite and rejuvenate. The Tánaiste-designate is in the unusual position of having seen her three predecessors as Labour leader swept out of the Cabinet by her rise.

BANKING inquiries with less bite than a toothless Luis Suarez, jobs for Coalition cronies, and double-digit house price rises — it’s just like the bad old days of Fianna Fáil all over again.

WHEN poor judgement meets rich hypocrisy you know you are in one of those strange political spats that seem uniquely Irish.

ENDA Kenny’s a liar — well, that is what one of his own Ministers is effectively saying anyway.

AS horrific as it is, the dumping ground for hundreds of dead babies at the Bon Secours home in Tuam should not be the focal point of our concern, but rather how they ended up there, and why no one cared for so long.

IT WAS billed as a major shift in the tectonic political plates, but did the Earth really move for you?