Ministers must be wary of minefields ahead

ALTHOUGH much of yesterday’s reshuffle was immediately branded more of the same by the opposition, Mary Harney in particular will be anxious not to repeat her predecessor’s experience of the job.

Micheál Martin often complained that he spent most of his time firefighting crises instead of focusing time and energy on the overall picture.

Crucially, though, Harney will be hoping to avoid a lot of the Fianna Fáil grassroots pressure that Martin could not afford to ignore.