Sean Haughey named Minister of State

Hardly a surprise, but Sean Haughey has been confirmed as the next Minister of State in the Department of Education, replacing Sile de Valera, who announced her resignation in October and ended her tenure in the role on Friday.

As RTÉ News mentions, Sean Haughey threw a very public tantrum in February when he was overlooked in a Junior Ministerial reshuffle, with a position in Agriculture going to Mary Wallace despite CJ’s son being tipped for it. At the time, Haughey said he would reflect on his political future as a result of Ahern’s failure to promote him, with the whole affair ending when Ahern and Haughey met and discussed the issue privately. At that meeting it was all but agreed that Haughey would replace de Valera once she stepped down, which was long expected in light of her decision not to run in 2007.