Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04DUBLIN1470
2004-10-01 12:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dublin
Cable title:  

IRISH PRIME MINISTER PICKS HIS NEW CABINET

Tags:  EAIR ECON EFIN PINR PREL SENV 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DUBLIN 001470 

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO ECA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2014
TAGS: EAIR ECON EFIN PINR PREL SENV
SUBJECT: IRISH PRIME MINISTER PICKS HIS NEW CABINET

Classified By: Ambassador James C. Kenny, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DUBLIN 001470

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO ECA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2014
TAGS: EAIR ECON EFIN PINR PREL SENV
SUBJECT: IRISH PRIME MINISTER PICKS HIS NEW CABINET

Classified By: Ambassador James C. Kenny, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary and Comment. On September 29, the Taoiseach
(Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern announced a cabinet shuffle,
anticipated since early summer. The shuffle saw eight
ministers switch portfolios, three members retain their
positions, and four lower ranking officials join the Cabinet.
Ahern's goal is to strengthen his coalition's chances of
re-election in 2007. Despite the government's successes
economically and as EU president, the government took a hit
in the June local and EU elections. Voters began to see the
government as "uncaring" and to grow impatient at the pace of
improvement in infrastructure and services following years of
economic boom. In announcing his new cabinet, Ahern said he
would maintain the government's strong economic program,
while seeking to improve infrastructure, health, and
education. The only foreign policy issue he mentioned is the
Northern Ireland peace process, which he pledged to move
forward, alongside the UK. Five of the Ministers are former
participants in the Department of State's International
Visitor programs: Mary Coughlan, Dick Roche, Dermot Ahern,
Mary Harney, and Seamus Brennan.Comment: The cabinet shuffle
was done for domestic reasons and is not likely to lead to
major changes in foreign policy. Directors General at DFA
told us they expect FM Dermot Ahern (no relation to the PM)
to continue the government's current foreign policy. His
calendar will be driven by events, they suggest, not by
personal agenda. Thus, he joined the PM in meeting the Rev.
Ian Paisley on September 30, and will then prepare for the
GAERC in October. DFA officials also say that decisions on
Ireland's participation in EU battle groups have been on hold
pending the cabinet re-shuffle. We expect consistency in
Irish foreign, defense, and economic policy, even as the PM
seeks to find money on the margins to improve social services
and infrastructure. End Summary and Comment.

--------------

New Portfolios
--------------

The new cabinet is as follows:


2. (U) Dermot Ahern: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fianna Fail

Ahern moves to Foreign Affairs from his position as Minister
of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. He is
considered well-versed on Northern Ireland issues, having
represented Louth, a border county, in the Dil (Irish
Parliament),since 1987. On his first day in office, he will
discuss Northern Ireland with Ian Paisley during the DUP
leader,s first political visit to the Republic. Ahern
served as Government Chief Whip in 1991-92. He received a
junior ministerial portfolio as Minister of State at the
Departments of Taoiseach and Defense in that same period.
Ahern is sometimes mentioned as a possible future party
leader. He is not related to PM Ahern but is considered to
be very close to the PM.


3. (SBU) Brian Cowen: Minister of Finance, Fianna Fail

Cowen,s move to Finance from Foreign Affairs was the least
surprising of the Cabinet changes, having been rumored since
former Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy was tapped in August
to become EU Internal Market Commissioner. A TD since 1984,
the 44-year-old Cowen is widely believed to be PM Ahern,s
preferred successor as party and government leader, and this
appointment appears designed to round out his qualifications
for those positions. Formerly, he served as Minister of
Labor, Minister of Health, and Minister for Transport,
Energy, and Communications. He became Foreign Affairs
Minister in 2000 and was widely lauded for his handling of
the Irish EU presidency, including his role in negotiations
on the EU constitution. At Finance, a projected year-end
budget surplus will position Cowen to enhance social services
as part of Fianna Fail,s bid to fashion a more compassionate
political image. Cowen is currently being coached by Irish
economist, Alan Gray, and is positioning himself to become a
future Taoiseach.


4. (C) Willie O'Dea : Minister of Defense, Fianna Fail

O,Dea, from Limerick, is a former Minister of State at the
Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform with special
responsibility for Equality Issues. He was first elected to
the Dail in 1982. His political career includes appointments
as Minister of State at the Department of Education in 1997,
Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Health in
1993 and Minister of State at the Department of Justice in
1992-93. O,Dea has virtually no experience in
Defense-related issues. However, he is a popular politician.
His appointment reflects his vote-getting potential, not his
defense expertise. The United Kingdom is very disappointed
by this appointment.

5. (U) Micheal Martin: Minister of Enterprise, Trade and
Employment, Fianna Fail

Martin, a former Minister of Education, served as Health
Minister since 2000. A 2003 poll showed Martin as the most
popular choice among voters to succeed PM Ahern, though Ahern
appears to favor new Finance Minister Cowen. Martin is
considered a media hound and is best known for having pushed
through the world,s first country-wide ban on smoking in
enclosed public places, including pubs and restaurants, in

2004. Earlier in 2001, he introduced a national strategy to
improve public health services, but the health care system
remains plagued by hospital waiting lists, a bloated
administrative bureaucracy, and inadequate insurance
coverage. Martin has represented Cork in the Dail since 1989
and is the first Fianna Fail Minister of Enterprise, Trade,
and Employment since that year. His appointment to this key
ministry gives his career a boost.


6. (SBU) Mary Harney: Minister of Health and Children, Deputy
Prime Minister (Tanaiste),Progressive Democrats

Harney retains the office of Deputy Prime Minister
(Tanaiste),but moves to the Health Department from her
previous post as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and
Employment. If the government as a whole needs to show the
Irish that it has a heart, Harney's Progressive Democrats
need to do so even more; hence, her move from an economic
ministry to a social ministry. Political commentators see
Harney,s move to Health as a serious political gamble. She
has only two years to demonstrate change in a dysfunctional
health care system. If she fails, Fianna Fail can let her
take the blame; if she succeeds, she will have to share
credit with Fianna Fail. An Embassy contact suggested that
the hospital hardships encountered by Harney,s disabled
mother may have increased the Tanaiste's personal interest in
the health portfolio. She is a parliamentary veteran, having
entered the Irish senate in 1977 as its youngest ever member
at age 24. In 1985, she left Fianna Fil and helped to set
up a new right-of center political party, the Progressive
Democrats (PD). In 1989, she led the PDs into the first of
several coalitions with Fianna Fil and later served as
Minister of State for the Environment.


7. (U) Mary Coughlan: Minister for Agriculture and Food,
Fianna Fail

Coughlan is the first woman to hold the agriculture
portfolio, a surprise appointment given the traditionally
conservative nature of the farming sector. She was appointed
Minister for Social and Family Affairs in 2002 after serving
as Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage,
Gaeltacht and the Islands. She has represented the
electorate of Donegal South West since 1987.


8. (SBU) Martin Cullen: Minister of Transport, Fianna Fail

Cullen moves from the Department of Environment and Local
Government, where he had served as Minister since 2002. He
was first elected as a Progressive Democrat TD for Waterford
in 1987. He lost his Dil seat in 1989, but returned to the
Dil in 1992, before switching to Fianna Fil in 1993.
Cullen faced criticism for his Department,s failed attempt
to introduce electronic voting in June, a misstep that,
according to the September 28 Comptroller General,s report,
cost taxpayers euro 50 million. He has a tendency to
grandstand for political purposes, as was likely the case in
mid-September, when he publicly asked for U.S. assurances
that a maritime plutonium shipment would not pass through
Irish waters. In his new portfolio he will face questions
about the prospects for Aer Lingus, privatization, and for
liberalizing the U.S.-Ireland civil aviation agreement.


9. (U) Mary Hanafin: Minister of Education and Science,
Fianna Fail

Hanafin was first elected to the Dail in 1997, representing
Dun Laoghaire, a wealthy Dublin suburb. In 2002, she was top
female vote-getter in parliament and promoted that year to
Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of
Defense. As Chief Whip, she was effective in maintaining
party discipline. She is a convent educated, former
secondary school teacher.


10. (SBU) Dick Roche: Minister of Environment and Local
Government, Fianna Fail

Roche, a Wicklow TD and former university lecturer, moves up
to the Cabinet from his position as Minister of State for the
EU at the Department of Foreign Affairs, where he earned high
praise during the EU presidency. Roche, along with Foreign
Minister Cowen, led the Nice treaty referendum campaign in
2003 and is credited with reversing the electorate,s
rejection of Nice the previous year. He is close to PM
Ahern, having managed Ahern,s first, though unsuccessful,
campaign for the leadership of Fianna Fail in the early
1990,s. At the Department of the Environment, he may face
pressure to revisit the government,s decision in September
not to impose taxes on carbon emissions, a move publicly
criticized by leading Irish think-tanks. Roche is a good
friend to the US, and the UK is likewise pleased with this
appointment.


11. (U) Noel Dempsey: Minister for Communications, Marine and
Natural Resources, Fianna Fail

Dempsey most recently served in the Cabinet as Minister for
Education and Science, where he pressed unsuccessfully to
reintroduce college-level tuition, a politically unpopular
move. He was Chief Whip in 1993-94 and was named Minister
for the Environment and Local Government in 1997. He has
represented the constituency of Meath in the Dil since 1987.



12. (U) Seamus Brennan: Minister of Social and Family
Affairs, Fianna Fail

Brennan's move is seen as a demotion from his position at
Transport, where he served since 2002. He reportedly desired
to remain at Transport or take a new economic portfolio, but
accepted Social and Family Affairs when it became evident,
after tense September 29 meetings with the Taoiseach, that he
might lose a Cabinet position altogether. According to local
economists, PM Ahern, a consensus-builder, took exception to
Brennan,s brash dealings with the Irish police and with Aer
Rianta, the airport union. He was elected to the Dil in
1981 and had previously served as Chief Whip and as Minister
in the Departments of Tourism, Education, and Commerce.

--------------
Remaining Cabinet Members
--------------


13. (U) The following retained their cabinet seats:
John O,Donoghue: Minister of Arts, Sports, Tourism, Fianna
Fail
Eamon O,Cuiv: Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Fianna
Fail
Michael McDowell: Justice, Equality, and Law Reform,
Progressive Democrats.
KENNY