The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has sprung a political surprise by appointing Meath TD Mary Wallace as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food.
Ms Wallace has been a junior minister before but lost her job after the last election after the Disability Bill she was piloting through the Dáil was withdrawn.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, has congratulated Ms Wallace on her appointment.
Minister Coughlan said that she looked forward to continuing the constructive and fruitful team effort which she enjoyed with Minister John Browne.
In other changes, Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher is to move to the Department of Transport.
The current Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Wexford TD John Browne, is to take Mr Gallagher’s old job in the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
Dublin northside TDs Jim Glennon and Seán Haughey had been widely regarded as front-runners for promotion to the ranks of junior ministers following the resignation of Ivor Callely from the Department of Transport.
Ms Wallace has been smarting since losing her job in 2002, at one stage boycotting the Dáil, but had not been mentioned in all the speculation about Mr Callely's replacement.
Mr Ahern made the appointment on electoral grounds given that Fianna Fáil will be facing an uphill task in keeping two of the three seats in the new constituency of Meath East where Labour is mounting a strong challenge.
However, the Taoiseach’s decision will not be welcomed on the Fianna Fáil backbenches.
Already he has been accused by some of rewarding disloyalty and by others of leaving two loyal backbenchers who had been tipped for promotion swinging in the wind for over two months.
