Martin and his men

Micheal Martin is the youngest, the most visible and - in terms of initiatives - the most energetic minister in the present cabinet.

He has been a political animal since an early age - chairman of Ogra Fianna Fail, elected to Cork Corporation at 25 while a teacher at St Kieran's College, to the Dail at 28 and Lord Mayor of Cork at 31. His wife, a former Fianna Fail activist, is the political spouse par excellence.

A relatively low-profile opposition spokesman on education, his detailed grasp of complex issues such as university legislation was nevertheless notable.

When Martin came into office in June 1997, he quickly made clear to his officials that he knew what he wanted and intended to get things done. IT in education, skills shortages and early childhood education were among his immediate priorities, chosen not only because he was genuinely committed to them, but also because they had not been high on the agenda of his predecessor, the similarly energetic and high-spending Niamh Bhreathnach.

He has followed and bettered her in his efforts to get money for education at the cabinet table, using his closeness to the Taoiseach to good effect. Like her, he is an extremely hard worker. His charm and ease with people gives him an added advantage; in his ability to "work the room" he has few peers in Irish politics.

Suspicions about whether he had the toughness to go right to the top began to be dispelled when he clashed publicly with the INTO's Joe O'Toole over the latter's primary funding and staffing campaign last year. His smartness as a political operator was shown by his ability to persuade the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, to allow him announce a major package for educational disadvantage the day after the last Budget.

John Dennehy had established a reputation as a very hard-working and ambitious civil servant well before his appointment as Secretary General of the Department in January 1998. A native of Listowel, Co Kerry, he was educated at the town's St Michael's College, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin, both UCD and TCD, and the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in the United States.

Dennehy's rise to the top job in the Department has been meteoric. He is a former primary teacher and principal, school inspector and assistant chief inspector, rising to assistant secretary in charge of primary education, special education and communications. He has served on a wide range of departmental committees, acting as secretary to the Primary Education Review Body and chairman of the Department's in-service education committee.

Seen in the Department as very politically-conscious, Dennehy accompanies the Minister to his numerous public engagements to a greater extent than his predecessors. He works as hard and long as Martin, usually being at his desk at 7 a.m and often still there at midnight. The arts and music are a particular personal interest.

One of the new breed of open and approachable senior civil servants, he is a far cry from the ultra-secretive Department mandarins of the past. Some have wondered whether he has the toughness to take on the powerful teacher unions when it comes to difficult reforms such as bringing in continous assessment for the Junior Cert and an effective system of school inspection.

Eamon Stack is the best chief inspector for the past 25 years, says one educational trade unionist not noted for honeyed words about Department officials. Another Kerryman, he was educated at St Brendan's College, Killarney, and at UCC, where he received a master's degree in education and worked as a part-time economics lecturer. His early teaching career was in commerce and business studies.

He became a post-primary inspector in 1975; moved to become principal of the 900 pupil St Nessans Community College in 1978; and returned to the inspectorate in 1992, being promoted to assistant chief inspector in 1997 and chief inspector two years ago.

Stack is held in high regard by the teacher unions, who praise his ability to get things done by means of persuading people of the need to do them by "the sheer consistency and coherence of his arguments."

His flexibility and ability to listen are in striking contrast to the abrasive and confrontational style of his British counterpart, Chris Woodhead. One example has been his success in winning over the unions to the need for some movement towards "whole school evaluation" in the face of continuing deep suspicion by teachers of anything smacking of British-style school inspection methods.

Peter MacDonagh is the Minister's 30-year-old special adviser and one of the main sources of energy behind Martin's stream of initiatives, working groups and legislative announcements. A grandnephew of the 1916 leader and grandson of a member of the first Dail, he is proud of his strong republican family background.

Brought up in Rathgar, Dublin, he went to school at Stratford College, the Jewish school, and on to UCD to do history and politics. After a master's at UCD and two years working in marketing in Britain, he went to Cambridge to do a Ph D thesis on the 18th century Church of Ireland. That thesis remains unfinished.

To his considerable surprise, his work on Fianna Fail policy documents, notably on disability, convinced the party when they came into government that he would make a good ministerial adviser. Martin, who did not even consider a senior civil servant for the job, decided to gamble on youth.

It has paid off in spades. McDonagh's striking self-assurance has not made him popular with everyone. But his energy and brainpower have played a significant part in the policy initiatives which have made his Minister such a notable success in the present government.

McDonagh has little patience with the kind of humdrum negotiations and compromises which are a politician's bread and butter. By instinct a pragmatist - like Martin - policy formation is what he is interested in. If he stays in politics, he will be someone to watch whenever Fianna Fail are in government well into the next century.