Coughlan ‘honeymoon’ will be short

A NEW set of ministers has been appointed to the Department of Agriculture and Food with the allocation of the senior and junior posts by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Mary Coughlan, the first woman minister appointed to what is the oldest department of government, has been given a warm welcome by the farm lobby.

But with live exports, the implementation of CAP reform and the nitrates directive and other challenges looming, the new minister’s traditional honeymoon period in the post may be shorter than normal.