The Guerin report, to be published today, has its origins in a meeting in a hotel in Monaghan three and a half years ago.

If Enda Kenny was aiming for the air of a leader not being thrown onto the defensive, perhaps making himself defence minister was not the best move.

A radical overhaul of how law and order operates was demanded by opposition TDs in the wake of Alan Shatter’s departure as justice minister.

In all likelihood, Charlie Flanagan would have been seated around the Cabinet table since March 2011 had he not backed Richard Bruton during the ill-fated leadership heave of 2010.

In the end, it was not the misleading remarks about garda whistleblowers on the floor of the Dáil; it was not the misuse of confidential information against a political opponent during a live television debate; and it was not the attempt to play down concerns that the Garda watchdog was being monitored.

At the launch of Fine Gael’s local election campaign, Frances Fitzgerald sent the candidates out to do battle on the doorsteps with a speech beginning with the declaration that most people get into politics in order to change things.

In one of his first public comments after he was appointed justice minister in March 2011, Alan Shatter had a blast at judges.

A new era of reform and transparency in the justice system has been promised by newly appointed justice minister, Frances Fitzgerald.