European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s allocation of the democracy, justice and the rule of law portfolio to Michael McGrath shows just how far Ireland’s stock has fallen in Brussels. Forget the soothing diplomatic tones from Dublin – justice is a portfolio nobody wanted.

Justice means guaranteed (and often personalised) conflict with states such as Hungary and Slovakia. Enforcing the EU’s rule of law is not a sideways move for a former minister for finance seeking an economic portfolio.

The reality is that in a decade Ireland has gone from holding agriculture and rural development (a third of the EU budget), to trade (the crown jewel of the EU’s competencies) via financial services (stripped of the important bits) to the thankless task of policing wannabe European dictators under a “democracy shield”.

And while much immediate attention will focus on Fianna Fáil’s continuing naivety on European affairs (voting against von der Leyen’s reappointment) or the Irish Government’s refusal to nominate both a man and womanas requested by Brussels – these are only the latest examples of an Ireland totally out of touch with EU realities.