Health portfolio a poisoned chalice for beleaguered Martin

NOBODY is asking who stitched up Mickey Martin, because everybody knows who did it. It was Bertie Ahern. “He’s the man,” as Charlie Haughey once said.

"He's the best, the most skilful, the most devious and the most cunning."

For a long time Martin looked the most likely to succeed Ahern. He had an unblemished record, a quiet Corkman, following in the shoes of Jack Lynch as Minister for Education. Prior to becoming Taoiseach, Lynch had achieved very little in the way of imaginative reform. He did away with the ban on married women teachers, but there was no opposition to that measure. His way was to be nice to everybody and cause a minimum of fuss and offence.