Campaigners for justice may have sounded the whistle ... but it was the justice minister who really blew it

WHEN the whistle finally blew on Alan Shatter’s Cabinet career it was greeted by audible intakes of breath followed by a disbelieving silence in the Dáil.

The bombastic, belligerent, but increasingly beleaguered- looking justice minister had actually fallen and it took a moment for the reality of the shock turn of events to filter out across the chamber as the implications of what Enda Kenny had just announced rippled through the air.

The Taoiseach looked shaken by the unfolding drama which also wrong-footed Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin who initially appeared flustered as he tried to find an adequate response.