Bertie Ahern was elected Taoiseach by the Dáil for the third time in a row yesterday, the first time a Fianna Fáil leader has headed a three-party coalition.
He allocated two powerful Government departments to the Green Party and one to the Progressive Democrats in a Cabinet where most outgoing members retain their existing portfolios.
Green Party TD John Gormley has been given responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, while his colleague Éamon Ryan was appointed Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Mary Harney, the acting leader of the Progressive Democrats, was reappointed Minister for Health and Children.
The one new Fianna Fáil Minister is Brian Lenihan, who was promoted to the position of Minister for Justice. The decision was warmly welcomed by his Fianna Fáil colleagues, many of whom believed it was long overdue.
Two Ministers, John O'Donoghue and Dick Roche, were removed from the Cabinet to make way for the new appointments. Mr O'Donoghue was appointed Ceann Comhairle and Mr Roche Minister of State for European Affairs.
Brian Cowen remains in Finance and was promoted to Tánaiste. Most of the other senior Fianna Fáil Ministers remain in their outgoing posts: Dermot Ahern in Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin in Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and Mary Hanafin in Education.
There was some reshuffling of portfolios to make way for the Greens with Noel Dempsey taking over as Minister for Transport and Marine, Martin Cullen moving to Social Welfare and Séamus Brennan moving to Arts, Sport and Tourism.
The Taoiseach's decision to give the Greens two powerful portfolios caused some surprise in Fianna Fáil.
While it offers the Greens some opportunity to drive forward their agenda, it leaves the party with some difficult issues, including the M3 and the Shell gas terminal in Rossport, Co Mayo. The problem was illustrated by the decision of outgoing minister for the environment Dick Roche to sign a ministerial order in his final days in office to allow the controversial M3 motorway near Tara to go ahead.
Last night Green Party Minister for the Environment John Gormley said his party had "not been aware" that Mr Roche intended to sign a ministerial order on Tuesday while coalition talks with Fianna Fáil were drawing to a close.
Mr Ahern told the Dáil that in selecting his Ministers he had regard to the record of achievement of many who had made an outstanding contribution to public life and policy over recent years. He also had regard to the talents and energy of others who had much to contribute. "I am particularly conscious of the fact that a number of Ministers have held office in their departments for only 2½ years. I believe that there is a strong case to enable Ministers to continue in some departments for a further period. There will be a particular opportunity at the mid-term review of the Government's programme to consider further the allocation of ministerial responsibilities. These considerations will also be reflected in the names I will propose next week to the Government for appointment as Ministers of State."
After the election of Mr Ahern by 89 votes to 76, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny criticised the Greens, saying the party had raised questions about the Taoiseach's finances during the election campaign and had described him as "a dead man walking".
"The facts are that the two parties now supporting the Taoiseach were the most vocal seeking explanations from him during the election campaign. The explanation eventually put forward by the Taoiseach has since been flatly contradicted by the opening statement of the Mahon tribunal on May 28th, four days after polling day," he said.
Trevor Sargent responded by saying it was "strange and difficult" to listen to Pat Rabbitte and Enda Kenny raise questions about the Taoiseach in the Dáil when they had avoided doing so during the election campaign.
Meanwhile, former Fianna Fáil TD Beverley Flynn has agreed a deal with Fianna Fáil in return for her support, though details of it - like all others agreed with Independents - were not released.
Both Mr Rabbitte and Mr Kenny sharply criticised Fianna Fáil for conducting "secret negotiations" with Independents "that could cost hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money", without the public being told of the details.
The Dáil has adjourned until June 26th and is expected to sit for two weeks before adjourning for the summer recess.