Reshuffle may retrieve votes for FF
In the aftermath of the forced resignation of Junior Minister Ivor Callely, who fell on his sword under pressure from the Taoiseach amid controversy over staff morale at his office, the perceived wisdom was that a replacement minister would emerge from Dublin's northside.
The informed betting was that either Sean Haughey or Jim Glennon would get the nod.
However, with an astute eye on next year's general election, and alert to the danger of Fianna Fáil's position in the new Meath East constituency, Ms Wallace has come in from the cold.
As junior minister at the Department of Agriculture and Food, she joins Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan, who is facing growing pressure from farmers over tough EU anti-pollution fertiliser regulations and swingeing sugar beet cutbacks.
In the scattered Meath constituency, the traditional makeup of the largely rural community has been transformed lately by an influx of new faces from Dublin.
Unable to afford the spiralling cost of property in the capital, they are part of Ireland's rapidly expanding commuting population. A political pragmatist, Mr Ahern is hoping to retrieve their votes for Fianna Fáil.
With the political parties jockeying for position, all the indications are that Fianna Fáil is facing a strong challenge from Labour in Meath. By appointing a junior minister to the constituency, the Taoiseach aims to pick up two out of the three seats there.
Furthermore, by bringing another woman into the Government lineup, he hopes to increase the party's appeal to women voters.
No stranger to the corridors of power at Leinster House, Ms Wallace was junior minister in the Department of Justice but lost her job after the last election following the Government's withdrawal of the Disability Bill she was piloting through the Dáil.
After taking the fall for a legislative package widely perceived as a disaster, she was consigned to the backbenches. Since losing her job in 2002, she has been smarting. Conspicuous on occasion by her absence from the Dáil, she kept a low profile during the Meath bye-election.
As a result, her name had not been mentioned in the flurry of speculation about Ivor Callely's replacement. It also explains why her appointment is unlikely to go down well with Fianna Fáil backbenchers.
To an increasing degree, they are worried about the party's political exposure on Dublin's sprawling northside, a constituency that boasts only two ministers the Taoiseach himself and his brother, Junior Environment Minister Noel Ahern.
As forecast, the Taoiseach has now moved junior minister Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher to Transport from Fisheries, while Wexford TD John Browne resumes his old job in Marine.
The endgame of this mini-reshuffle is that Minister Noel Dempsey is now poised to push tough criminal sanctions through the Dáil against widespread illegal fishing by a small coterie of unscrupulous trawler owners who, deplorably, have tainted the reputation of all Irish fishermen.
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