A trivial reshuffle becomes a farce

THE chaos theory holds that a butterfly flapping its wings somewhere in the world can cause - through a whole series of connected events - carnage and catastrophe.

When a Dublin TD with a famous name started flapping his wings about a junior ministry at Christmas time, terrible consequences unfolded for Fianna Fáil.

What should have been something trivial - replacing a player on the reserve team - has turned into the kind of farce and spectacle you see in Charlie Chaplin movies.