THE two nicknames Ivor Callely has collected during his political career - Ivor the Engine and Ivor the Conniver - pay testament to his strongest attributes - his enormous capacity for graft and his shameless self-promotion.

IT’S just after lunch time on Friday, December 17, and Junior Transport Minister Ivor Callely is walking back to his office when he answers his mobile.

EMERGING fresh from his own troubles yesterday, Transport Minister Martin Cullen quickly landed his closest departmental colleague in political hot water.