Yes, Minister: How will Sinn Féin and civil servants get on?

Unlike Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, civil servants have no experience of dealing with Sinn Féin as office holders

While there has been much speculation around which political offering Mary Lou McDonald might do a coalition deal with after the next election, it's the permanent government that her party would be wise to focus on. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

"Who is really in charge of running the country?" asked Fianna Fáil's John McGuinness writing in the Irish Examiner back in 2022.

It's a question that Sinn Féin might want to contemplate ahead of the next general election.