TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore are due to meet later today to discuss the fallout from the local and European election results.
The meeting, which is likely to take place this evening, follows a difficult election for Fine Gael and a disastrous poll for Labour which has lost all of its MEPs and has had its numbers at local government dramatically cut.
With the junior coalition party polling at around 7 per cent in both the local and European elections, Labour will now begin to asses what it can do to boost its poll numbers ahead of the next general election.
A Cabinet reshuffle is likely to happen within the next month and possibly as early as this week with a much wider ministerial shake-up than had previously been expected now likely to take place.
While previous thinking had centred on Fine Gael and Labour moving ministers around the portfolios each party already holds it is now thought that the two parties could swap positions in Cabinet with Gilmore certain to move out of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
One Labour TD, Clare-based Michael McNamara has said that the entire Labour frontbench needs to go with the exception of Brendan Howlin, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
However, Fine Gael backbenchers, speaking privately to TheJournal.ie yesterday, were also pushing for a much wider reshuffle.
One went as far as to venture that Michael Noonan should be moved out of the Finance portfolio. Though this appears unlikely the positions of James Reilly in Health, Phil Hogan in Environment, and even Richard Bruton in Jobs could be up for discussion.
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