The former Government press secretary, Mr Sean Duignan, in his memoir of the 1992-94 Fianna Fail-Labour coalition, describes Mr Brian Cowen, who was a cabinet member in that administration, as "alternately bantering and belligerent".
His Fianna Fail colleagues use words such as "formidable", "talented" and "gruff". However, if anything, the newly-appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs is 100 per cent Fianna Fail. He was born in Tullamore in 1960, and his family background was comfortable. The Cowen-run public house and undertakers in Clara was started by his grandfather and is now operated by his brother.
Mr Cowen, was a boarding student at the Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and studied law at UCD. He once explained his career choice by reference to the eight hours of lectures a week required for law students which "did not over-exercise" his mind.
However, politics was never too far off away. He gained a reputation as a teenager in Laois-Offaly when raising the crowds at election rallies outside churches, urging voters to get out and support his father, Bernard.
He was first elected to the Dail for Laois-Offaly in a by-election in June 1984 caused by the death of his father. Initially the new deputy made little impact nationally, preferring to concentrate on consolidating his position within the Laois-Offaly constituency, where he received almost 11,000 first-preference votes in the 1997 general election.
He supported a no-confidence motion in Mr Charlie Haughey in November 1992 in the Albert Reynolds-led heave. This open support for Mr Reynolds was quickly rewarded when in February 1993 Mr Cowen was plucked from the back benches to full Cabinet rank as minister for labour in the first Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrats government.
He served as minister for transport, energy and communications in the 1992-94 Fianna Fail-Labour administration and when the current Government was formed in June 1997 he was appointed Minister for Health.
Mr Cowen formed a close relationship with Mr Reynolds and acted as his trouble-shooter in the many difficulties which engulfed the Fianna Fail-PD and subsequent Fianna Fail-Labour coalitions.
He took the collapse of the Fianna Fail coalition with Labour over the Brendan Smith affair and the resignation of Mr Reynolds as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fail hard.
Those close to Mr Cowen say there are "no airs and graces" about him. He certainly projects an air of indifference that is augmented by an unkempt appearance. However, this image should not detract from his sharp political judgment that is openly acknowledged by political friend and foe.
As a minister he held his nerve in several disputes including the controversy over the rebalancing of telecoms charges in 1993 and most recently during the nurses' dispute. Officials who have worked with him in several departments universally say he is "businesslike".
However, his career has not been without controversy. In 1994 he had to apologise to the Dail over his shareholding in Arcon Resources amid allegations of a possible conflict of interest with his role as minister with the responsibility for the energy sector.
It is difficult to determine what, if anything, Mr Cowen's lasting contribution has been in any of the policy areas which he has overseen since he was first appointed to Cabinet.
He is a very much a pragmatist. Discussions of left and right on the political spectrum -dismissed as "coffee-table politics" - leave him cold.
In a warm-up address to Albert Reynolds at the 1992 ardfheis he whipped up the crowd by asking: "What about the PDs?", and providing the answer: "When in doubt, leave out".