It should be stressed that nobody is talking about Fahey's position being under threat . . . "What has he done wrong?" one government source demanded to know last week . . . but the minister for state at the Department of Justice could probably do without the negative publicity. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on his part, but there is a feeling that controversy has tended to follow Fahey around in recent times. As one opposition figure put it last week: "It's extraordinary how frequently Frank Fahey's name pops up in relation to this kind of thing".

Interests Did he have a point? Perhaps. There was a report in April that the former teacher had not declared an interest in a $1m-valued US property in the Dail register of interests. The report said the property was held by a US company in which he was a shareholder and that Fahey had declared interests in other properties held by the same company. Fahey said he was fully compliant with the ethics legislation governing members' interests because he didn't have any financial involvement in the property and that his only reason for being a shareholder in the company was to facilitate a relative borrowing money from US banks.

In 2000, it emerged that Fahey's name was on the title deeds of a property in Florida . . . again the minister said that he had no beneficial interest in it but he was merely acting as a guarantor on the mortgage to satisfy a bank. However, he did include the property on his declared register of interests in 2001. In 2004, Fahey was rebuked in the Dail by the Taoiseach for using officially headed departmental paper, sent from his constituency office, for a party fundraising event, something Bertie Ahern said was "totally inappropriate" and "in breach of guidelines".

And now Fahey is strongly rejecting any suggestions he had ownership links with the Moscow hairdressing business at the centre of The Irish Times investigation.

He has admitted that his wife was an investor in the business at the time he was a senator in the 1990s and that he did unpaid work for the company. Under the ethics legislation, Fahey would not have been required to make declarations about his wife's interests.

In a statement issued to the newspaper last week, Fahey took a fairly no-nonsense approach. "The Irish Times had said that I was in breach of ethics legislation and that I had failed to make a declaration in relation to the interest my wife had in a hair salon in Moscow. On the basis of this false claim, The Irish Times has run a series of stories to try to substantiate its allegation, " he said, adding that the Standards in Public Office Commission has confirmed that he was not in breach of his requirements under the Ethics Legislation in 1995/96. However, The Irish Times claims that documents it has seen indicate that Fahey was involved in the establishment of the business and its operations over a 22 month period.

All of the above is grist to the mill for Fahey's critics who also point to his stance on the Corrib gas field and his controversial backing for the supertrawler Atlantic Dawn as evidence that he is too close to big business.

Portfolio However, to his admirers, Fahey is suffering, in perception terms, simply for having an extremely valuable property portfolio . . . in the latest register of interests he declared an involvement in 20 separate properties.

"He got involved in property 15 or 20 years ago, the family had a bit of money.

He got into a big ticket syndicate and his properties have done well. Like a lot of people, he got in at the right time, " one close observer said.

Regarded as an "aloof" figure by some of his party colleagues, Fahey has had a difficult relationship with some officials in departments over the years. However, his advocates say this is because he is anxious to get things done quickly.

"Frank is not intimidated by his officials. He is very pro-business and he has a lot of balls and guts. He just gets on with things and has no time for the 'wait 5,000 years before doing anything approach', " one said.

It is this no-nonsense approach that determined his positions, while he was Minister for Marine and Natural Resources, on the Corrib gas pipeline and the 70m super-trawler Atlantic Dawn, which have both attracted criticism.

"Frank believed the best thing for the west was for the gas to come on shore there, bringing investment and jobs to the west, " said one well placed source.

The lobbying by Fahey, on behalf of the government, at European level in relation to the licensing of Atlantic Dawn caused some resentment among small fishermen and strained relations with the European Commission, but there is no suggestion there was anything untoward about it.

Demoted A few months after the compromise deal was struck to enable Atlantic Dawn to be fully registered, Fahey was demoted from the cabinet on the government's re-election . . . a surprise given his friendship with Ahern. To make matters worse, it was his constituency rival Eamon O Cuiv that took his place. Numerous reasons have been put forward for the decision . . . including Fahey's failure to deliver three seats in Galway West and his extensive property portfolio . . . but it may have been as simple as Ahern not wanting to exclude de Valera from the cabinet.

Although he did steer the Disability Bill through the Oireachtas, Fahey has maintained a relatively low profile in his two junior ministries since the election . . . one recent report suggested that just two of the 57 press releases from the Department of Justice this year were issued by him. In contrast, 46 press releases were issued in the same period by his local constituency office on a range of local issues, strengthening the perception that his focus is more local than national.

A savvy politician who is a lot smarter than he is given credit for, Fahey might have good reason for concentrating on his home base. He has bitter memories of losing his seat in 1992 when boundary changes worked against him. And with O Cuiv certain to top the poll and Galway city councillor Michael Crowe predicted to be added to the ticket, he won't be taking anything for granted in next year's election.