Was his bid hindered by Fianna Fáil MEPs not voting for Von der Leyen’s re-appointment?
To use a military comparison, Michael McGrath is a “captain rather than a colonel” in the new line-up at the European Commission – the EU’s most powerful institution.
The commissioner-designate and the Government have both had to put a brave face on things and acknowledge the hard realities – that Mr McGrath has been given a decent middle-ranking portfolio, in which he can make his imprint on European politics and maintain Dublin’s influence at the highest levels of European decision-making.