In Bed with the Blueshirts

The definitive inside account of the 2016-20 coalition government. Cabinet minister Shane Ross reveals the bitter internal battles fought with the old Blueshirts, the crises when the coalition came close to collapse and the sometimes fraught personal relationships between the fifteen figures who made up the last government. He recounts how a group of Independents risked everything to form a government that was expected to last for only months but which ran for more than four years, under two Taoisigh with utterly different styles. With great humour and charm, Ross unveils the skulduggery, the secret deals, the drama of how Irish football was rescued and Olympic chief Pat Hickey toppled, showing us what really happens behind the closed doors of Ireland's government.

Shane Ross was born in Dublin, educated at St Stephen's School Dundrum, Rugby School in England and Trinity College Dublin. He has been a stockbroker, a journalist, a politician and an author. He wrote the number-one bestseller The Bankers and co-authored, with journalist Nick Webb, Wasters and The Untouchables. Shane was Business Editor of the Sunday Independent for over sixteen years, winning the Journalist of the Year award in 2009. He was a member of the Seanad for 29 years before taking a Dáil seat in 2011. In 2016, he became Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, serving in government for over four years. He lost his Dáil seat in the 2020 election.