Irish Examiner view: All eyes on upcoming election 

New Taoiseach Simon Harris (centre) with Tánaiste Micheal Martin (left) and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan (right) ahead of a photocall with his newly appointed Ministers of State on the steps of the Government Buildings in Dublin. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Simon Harris’s formal installation as Taoiseach wasn’t accompanied by much blood on the carpets in Leinster House. Change at the very top of government is often accompanied by what is sometimes described as a Cabinet reshuffle, sometimes as a night of the long knives.

When a new taoiseach settles behind the big desk, it is easy to imagine them consulting a list of scores to be settled — and ministers to be fired.