Reshuffle sharpens Labour’s Dáil team, despite not being a full deck

AFTER reshuffling the cards, new Labour leader Eamon Gilmore put together the strongest Dáil hand he could — despite not having a full deck to play with.

It is a happy coincidence Labour is committed to full employment as its dismal election showing left the party with barely enough deputies to divvy up the frontbench jobs between.

After dropping votes and TD numbers in May, Mr Gilmore inherited a dispirited and disillusioned party, deeply unsure of what it needs to do to re-engage with an Ireland which doesn’t seem to need it and which the party in turn, clearly fails to understand anymore.