A COMPROMISER rather than a crusader, Bertie Ahern has yet to stamp his authority on Fianna Fail. Popular and presentable, he mixes easily with party members and the public and, with no obvious challenger in sight, the 45 year old Drumcondra TD has time to consolidate his position.
Starting his leadership in 1994 with a promise to heal party wounds, Mr Ahern has gone a long way towards unifying Fianna Fail. The departure of Maire Geoghegan Quinn may speed that process.
The price paid for this cohesion was reflected in an unwillingness to reshuffle his front bench - despite poor performances - until action was forced upon him. "No guts," a lukewarm supporter complained, as he looked for aggression and ruthlessness from the man reputed not to have a boiling point.
But it would be a mistake to underestimate Mr Ahern's determination or toughness. The man categorised as "the most ruthless, the most devious, the most cunning of them all" by Charles Haughey is no pussycat. The late George Colley discovered that when he was trampled under foot during constituency infighting.
Mr Haughey was also sent packing when he attempted to impose a candidate on Mr Ahern's patch in Dublin Central.
Self preservation, ambition, service and loyalty provided an unorthodox mixture in Mr Ahern's career. "Director of lamppost boys" in an election at the age of 14, Fianna Fail became part of his life. Employed by Bord Bainne, he qualified through night courses as an accountant and earned his fees by doing nixers
Elected to the Dail in 1977, his background and temperament made him a natural ally of Mr Haughey. Mr Ahern's support for the newly elected Taoiseach was marked by promotion to assistant party whip in 1980 and to chief whip in 1982. During successive heaves against Mr Haughey, Mr Ahern remained a firm supporter, but stopped short of waging war on the internal enemy.
That unwillingness to engage in bloody internecine struggle surfaced again in 1991/92. He refused to join the Reynolds/Flynn/Geoghegan Quinn cabal in its revolt against Mr Haughey and he then rejected urgings from the defeated Haughey camp to challenge Mr Reynolds for the leadership.
He was excoriated by both sides but the Dubliner who made his name as a shrewd and immensely capable Minister for Labour, with two national wage agreements to his credit, emerged as Minister for Finance. Taking the long way round to the top job was no hardship for a young man lacking vital ministerial experience. Two years later, Mr Ahern was ready.
When Albert Reynolds resigned on the fall of the government in 1994, he devastated Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's aspirations in a blitzkrieg campaign.
SINCE then, Mr Ahern has had an uneven record as leader of Fianna Fail - fumbling the abortion information issue, recovering on the divorce referendum and developing a solid, responsible, bipartisan approach to Northern Ireland. While growing in personal confidence, he still lacks conviction in the vital vision department.
In recent months, Labour's outright rejection of coalition with Fianna Fail and allegations of Ben Dunne's payments to Mr Haughey haven't helped, but a new look Mr Ahern, carefully groomed and with a raft of new policies on offer, is determined to become Taoiseach.
And the figures are still right for a Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrats government.