New Cabinet: the ins . . . . . . and outs

John Gormley: The new Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, has been a central figure in the…

John Gormley:The new Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, has been a central figure in the Green Party for over 20 years, and was first elected to the Dáil in Dublin South East in 1997.

A language teacher, his entry to national politics followed a week-long recount with former tánaiste Michael McDowell, which he won by just 27 votes.

Mr Gormley retained his seat in the 2002 general election, but scraped in this time, ironically beating Mr McDowell for the last seat by 304 votes.

The rivalry between Mr Gormley and Mr McDowell is legendary, and this was reflected in a heated exchange between the two at Ranelagh Triangle during the election campaign.

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Mr Gormley has been chairman of the party since 2002, when the post was created. He was re-elected to that position in late 2004 with 80 per cent of the party vote, and proposed some of the major changes to the party such as the name change from Green Alliance to Green Party.

He was elected to Dublin City Council in 1991, and was lord mayor of Dublin from 1994-1995.Before he entered politics full-time Mr Gormley ran a language school in Dublin.

Born in Dublin, he was educated in St Munchin's College, Limerick; University College, Dublin; and Freiburg University in Germany. Aged 48, he lives in Dublin with his wife, Penny, and their children Ellen and Seán. Miriam Donohoe

Dick Roche:Falling from full Cabinet status to the level of Junior Minister is never a pleasant experience, but Dick Roche can console himself that he will be on familiar territory with European affairs. He is relatively unusual among Fianna Fáilers in being both familiar with and enthusiastic about EU matters. He held the European job before and helped Ireland to punch above its weight in the negotiations which produced the draft constitutional treaty.

He is going back to Europe at a critical time when a major rescue mission is being mounted to save the constitutional treaty and his encyclopaedic knowledge of EU minutiae will stand to him in that process.

His tenure as minister for the environment was not a happy one: he comes across poorly on the broadcast media and as a result tends to attract more blame than perhaps he should for problems. He also came in for strong Green Party criticism and will no doubt watch with interest to see how his successor John Gormley performs in the hot seat.

A native of Wexford, Dick Roche started his working life at 16 years of age as a post office clerk. Deagláde Bréadún

John O'Donoghue:Fianna Fáil's John O'Donoghue was reluctant to accept the role of Ceann Comhairle, following his removal from Cabinet yesterday by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The former minister for arts, sport and tourism from Kerry South looked decidedly uncomfortable in the chamber shortly before he was elected by a significant majority.

Mr O'Donoghue's hopes of staying at the Cabinet were weakened considerably when Fianna Fáil failed to take two of the three seats in his home Kerry South constituency. However, Mr Ahern has softened the blow by nominating him for the prestigious €204,000-a-year post, which guarantees election to the next Dáil.

Mr O'Donoghue (51) from Cahirciveen, who is popular with his colleagues, has served in the cabinet since 1997, starting off in the Department of Justice before moving to Arts, Sport and Tourism.

He has long had an often bitter rivalry with fellow Kerry South TD, Independent Jackie Healy-Rae, who once served as his director of elections and who claims to have secured significant promises in return for supporting the Government. Mark Hennessy

Eamon Ryan:The new Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, is a relative newcomer to politics, who was co-opted to Dublin City Council in 1998 to replace John Gormley.

Passionate about the environment, he is dubbed by his peers as the thinking man's Green and within the party is a key figure in the "realos" camp, so-called because of its allegedly more realistic outlook, compared with the fundamentalist or "fundies" element. He was elected for the first time to the Dáil in 2002 for Dublin South. In 2004 he was selected to contest the presidential election. However, when it was announced that Mary McAleese was seeking a second term the party withdrew.

As a councillor Mr Ryan has supported environmental service charges and spoken out against the proliferation of sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Mr Ryan was head of the Dublin Cycling Campaign for 10 years and helped to secure bicycle lanes in the city.

He had been determined to cycle to Áras an Uachtaráin to get his seal of office from Mrs McAleese but he had to take the bus with his colleagues due to a time factor. Born in July 1963 in Dundrum, Mr Ryan went to Holy Cross National School, then Gonzaga College and graduated from UCD with a commerce degree. He set up Irish Cycling Safaris, now a European-wide enterprise. When he was elected to the Dáil he handed over its running to his sister, Marion, and her husband. Miriam Donohoe

Brian Lenihan:Very few people in political circles were last night begrudging Brian Lenihan his promotion to Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Lenihan is regarded as a hard-working, able politician.

The 48-year-old barrister is son of Brian Lenihan, a former tánaiste and a minister in various portfolios. His brother, Conor, is a TD for Dublin South West and Minister of State while his aunt, former minister Mary O'Rourke, won back a seat in the recent election she lost in 2002.

Lenihan was first elected to the Dáil in 1996 in a byelection in Dublin West caused by the death of his father. He has topped the poll in every election since.

He came to prominence as chairman of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution. He was promoted after the 2002 general election to minister of state with responsibility for children at the Departments of Health, Justice and Education. In December 2005 the government created the new Office of the Minister for Children, a role which gave him a seat at cabinet. Mr Lenihan was seen to have been an effective minister for children and had a prominent role in Fianna Fáil's recent general election campaign.

He was educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, Trinity College, Cambridge University and Kings Inns. He lectured in law at Trinity College 1984-1996, was called to the bar in 1984 and made senior counsel in 1997. Miriam Donohoe

Paul Gallagher:The newly appointed Attorney General Paul Gallagher is one of the leading senior counsel in the State.

Announcing his appointment last night, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern described him as "a distinguished advocate" and said, "I am confident that he will bring to the Government wisdom, experience and energy."

Mr Gallagher, from Tralee, Co Kerry, is regarded by colleagues to be an unassuming, practical man and an extremely hard worker. He is an expert in constitutional, commercial and competition law, and has been involved in libel cases.

Mr Gallagher studied law in UCD and Cambridge. He took silk in 1991. He is married to barrister and former solicitor Bláthna Ruane. The couple live with their sons on Wellington Road in Ballsbridge.

He is not known as a political person but has represented politicians in high-profile cases. He represented former tánaiste Michael McDowell against Roscommon County Council. He also acted for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in his successful libel action against Cork businessman Denis "Starry" O'Brien.

More recently, Mr Gallagher represented a number of newspapers when journalist Ian Bailey took a libel action related to coverage in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder case. A complex case involved representing the fruit importer Fyffes in the 87-day High Court hearing against DCC for alleged insider dealing.  Alison Healy