There are at present the beginnings of a suspicion that this Government might actually be prepared to govern, to take serious decisions for the public good, without fear or favour to vested interests.
It may of course be far too early to say this. It may turn out to be a mirage. But there have at least been a few, albeit tottering, baby steps in the right direction over the past months.
In no particular order, these concern the activities of the Ministers for Health, Justice, Fisheries, Environment and Agriculture.
Dick Roche (Environment) and Mary Coughlan (Agriculture) between them are in the process of doing lasting good to our health and landscape by enforcing the nitrates directive. The rampant pollution by farmers of our rivers and lakes should of course have been stopped years ago.
The persistent refusal of successive ministers to tackle the issue was one of the most glaring examples of gutless government. Granted, this Government has only acted when the long-suffering patience of the EU has finally worn so thin that we are being threatened with a combination of fines and withdrawal of subsidies.
But that said, at least action has been taken, with Dick Roche signing the regulations to control fertiliser use into law a few months ago.
A test, though, is coming up shortly. Mr Roche may yet row back on the restrictions, following the furious campaign by the Irish Farmers' Association, and what has begun to appear almost its client organisation, Teagasc.
Mary Coughlan has remained commendably unmoved by the ridiculous actions of the IFA in withdrawing from the partnership negotiations. Unlike the real negotiations dealing with wage rates and productivity, the farmers exist in a bizarre kind of shadow world in terms of partnership, where they give nothing but demand everything. This is a group of individuals who already receive a whopping 87 per cent of their income in State and EU subsidies. Whether or not they are part of the partnership process matters not one jot to the country. It is refreshing to have a Minister who recognises this.
Noel Dempsey in Fisheries is another who has discovered some backbone. He also finds himself in deep trouble with the EU, who are threatening fines of up to €40 million unless we stop the illegal over-fishing of our seas.
The extent of this lawlessness and the will to stamp it out has only become apparent since the Minister's move to bring in proper regulations and enforce them with criminal sanctions. The mind-boggling argument from the fishermen's organisations that they should not be criminalised for breaking the law has quite rightly been ignored by the Minister. However, when the heat is off and the EU has gone away happy for at least a few years, it will be interesting to see if the will remains to enforce this particular protection of the environment with the energy we have seen over the past few months.
It also remains to be seen whether Mary Harney will face down the hospital consultants, but at least she has made a start. Forcing through a public-only contract, whereby consultants working in public hospitals will not be allowed to engage in private practice, is a vital reform of the system. The means whereby public patients are short-changed by consultants intent on making money from their private work has long been one of the great scandals of the health service.
However, previous attempts to face down the consultants have come to nought. The most recent example - their efforts to force the State to cover their private practice insurance levies - ended up in a compromise which is likely to cost the taxpayer dearly.
And finally, to the Minister for Justice. Always keen to be top of the class, Michael McDowell has decided to take on the gardaí. He quite correctly did the same to the prison officers last year on the issue of their huge overtime bills.
No doubt flushed with success, he is to foist a reserve force upon the gardaí, whether they like it or not. They will be expected to train in an enormous and motley group of volunteers, amounting eventually to almost one-third of the entire force. I have been unable to find any precedent for such a huge influx of voluntary labour into the business of policing. The norm appears to be something under 10 per cent.
However, in his zeal to be perceived as proactive, Mr McDowell has gone bald-headed for the gardaí, regardless of the undoubted merits of some of their arguments. No thought here for the possibly wiser course of testing such a new initiative with a pilot project, developed in careful co-operation with the gardaí who will, after all, have to live with it.
Taking on vested interests across the board is long overdue in this country. There is, however, the rare occasion when such interests have valid objections. Farmers, fishermen and hospital consultants all need to be put in their place.
Throwing the Garda Síochána into turmoil by facilitating such a deluge of volunteers into its ranks is an entirely different matter.