An article on Minister Shortall’s resignation by journalist Fionnan Sheahan in today’s Irish Independent could have been written by James Reilly himself.
The title of the article gives the first hint that Sheahan is not impressed with Ms. Shortall’s decision to resign on principle.
What did she hope to achieve by this?
Some more quotes from the article:
She’s now out in the cold.
She had ambitions to be a cabinet minister.
Her disappointment at being overlooked…was evident.
She felt frustrated at not being able to wield influence inside of Government.
Still, she was appointed to a reasonable junior ministry.
Her colleagues in Government were none too impressed by her petulant speech.
(The speech where she was critical of the Minister for Health).
Teeing it up as a point of principle on an issue her colleagues had moved on from.
There were few tears being shed within the coalition.
Ms Shortall merely joins the ranks of the disaffected Labour TDs.
Clearly, Mr. Sheahan is one of those journalists who have gone over to the dark side.
He, like most of the politicians he mixes with, has lost his understanding of the concept of principle.
Holding power at any cost is all that matters.
Sheahan is (literally) a Fianna Fáil hack. I think his wife is/was a FF councillor.
sheahan was in fg, and his wife is an ff senator, but an extraordinary few articles from fionnan, talking of hissy fits and strops, really had it in for her, like a page 6 gossiper rather then a journalist.