JOAN BURTON:The Dublin West Deputy gets one of the senior Cabinet positions but is still seen as a loser. The reason? The widespread expectation was that she would be given the job of policing public expenditure and of public sector reform.
She had all the credentials for it. She is an accountant by profession, has been finance spokeswoman for many years, is deputy leader and was also on Labour’s negotiating team last week.
The Department of Social Protection will be a bigger department in the new Coalition than it was in the outgoing government. Burton will have responsibility for national employment entitlement and for the body that replaces Fás. But women colleagues in Labour said privately they were shocked by her exclusion from the finance job, with at least one saying Burton was unaware she would not be getting it until yesterday.
MICHAEL RING:The Mayo TD is a whirlwind of energy and a vote-getting phenomenon and represented, like Enda Kenny, a constituency where Fine Gael got an amazing four seats out of five.
While his speeches sometimes have lacked erudition, he can mesmerise the Dáil with his passion and his huge well of human empathy.
As spokesman for social protection, he maintained a high profile.
He staked a claim for a senior job on the basis of his loyalty to Kenny during the leadership heave and his experience and organisational skills.
In the end, he is seen as losing out to Jimmy Deenihan. Perhaps one of the factors that counted against Ring is that he and the Taoiseach share the same constituency.
SEÁN SHERLOCK: Besides the gender balance, Labour had also a quandary in relation to the age profile of its ministers. All are in their 50s and none of the party's newer TDs were given a look in.
This was partly because only three of Labour's 20 TDs in 2007 were new deputies, the rest being mainly members of the class of 1992.
Of the three from 2007, it was 38-year-old Mr Sherlock, the TD for Cork East, who had the greatest claim.
He is a very good media performer, an excellent networker and was a very competent spokesman on agriculture.
All six of Labour's Ministers are based in Leinster.
Mr Sherlock's elevation would have given some geographical balance.
He was seen as a contender for the "super-junior" position and must be a certainty for a junior ministry.
FERGUS O'DOWD:The two most disappointed Fine Gael TDs are O'Dowd, the TD for Louth, and Brian Hayes from Dublin South West.
In ability terms, both are highly regarded, seen as intelligent and industrious.
However, both were also on the wrong side of the leadership debate last year. While the two of them made returns of sorts, they never made it back to be really in the final reckoning.
O'Dowd's investigations into Fás and other public institutions unearthed high levels of incompetence and waste.
Geography also likely went against O'Dowd as such a large number of the new Cabinet members are from the East coast.
RÓISÍN SHORTALL:Can be a very abrasive performer when on her feet but nobody doubts her ability. Has been a prominent frontbench TD for almost a decade.
She came into her own during the last Dáil as one of the most pro-active and effective members of the public accounts committee. As spokesman for social protection she had some testy exchanges with the outgoing minister, Éamon Ó Cuív.
Was very prominent during the Labour election campaign and was said to have a growing influence on Eamon Gilmore. She also delivered two seats out of three in her constituency, bringing in running mate John Lyons.
Some women colleagues said yesterday they were disappointed that she and health spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan were overlooked and that Labour had gone for a very male-dominated team.