In a deepening crisis, an anxious nation wants clarity, not clichés. As Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan is second in command in government, but increasingly, she has earned a reputation as the undisputed queen of jargon. In a Morning Ireland interview nearly two weeks ago, she wasted time prefacing sentences to the nth degree with the overstatement "It's important to say". More seriously, in that same week, she claimed the government had public finances "under control". That assessment was news not only to the nation but also to bewildered party colleagues, such as Mary O'Rourke, who pointedly disagreed. Then came last week's announcement of an emergency budget to restrain a public-spending monster raging out of control.

As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Coughlan's blathering over key issues has been pounced on by the Opposition, notably Labour's spokesperson on finance, Joan Burton. "You couldn't even discuss the exchequer figures yesterday, you were so unknowledgeable," accused the accountancy-savvy Burton last month. The incensed Tánaiste's retort was more school playground than Dáil chamber: "You just watch it now." Labour deputies have also jibed her on the controversial Pricewaterhouse- Cooper report on Anglo Irish Bank, referring, for her benefit, to "the Ladybird version".

Last Wednesday, the Taoiseach commented on the continuing fallout from the Morning Ireland interview on 25 February and read out some of what his right-hand woman had actually said on the radio – though without quoting her "under control" remark. But the public support of her boss may not be enough to drown out the howls of derision which must surely affect her confidence: the Tánaiste's speech to the FF ardfheis last weekend had all the fiery passion and dynamism of a Daniel O'Donnell ballad.

The flat delivery of that address is all the more surprising considering that Coughlan is described by many political correspondents as a warm, bubbly optimist. And she has come through a lot in her family life. On Miriam O'Callaghan's chat show last summer, Coughlan spoke about her garda husband David Charlton (whom she met in Leinster House), who had a partial leg amputation after a serious car crash while on duty. She also talked about her eldest child's hearing difficulty. Even her entry into the Dáil, aged just 21, sprang from family loss: the highly respected uncle who died in a car crash, and the brief illness and death of her father.

She was still a schoolgirl when
40-year-old Donegal South West TD Clement Coughlan was killed in a road accident in l983. His brother Cathal, the Tánaiste's father, took up the vacant seat and Couglan remembers calling in to Leinster House "like any student who has a parent in the Dáil – doing the letters, getting fed, coming in for a few quid". Then in 1986, Cathal Coughlan died very shortly after a cancer diagnosis. While clearing out her father's Dáil office, a few months later, she was summoned by Charlie Haughey. "Was I intimidated? Probably. Everybody was," she told The Irish Times in an interview last Christmas. "It was Mr Haughey. And I didn't know it but that was my interview."

Being part of a proverbial Irish political dynasty, like Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan, meant her candidacy for "the Coughlan seat" was a foregone conclusion. But she defends the "keeping it in the family" tradition, and says voters appreciate how a generation within a political household build up contacts and knowledge of the system.

Coughlan's cheery, down-to-earth approach throughout her 13 years as a Fianna Fáil backbencher, followed by ministerial posts in social welfare and agriculture, was met with approval by both public and press. She was praised for securing additional funding for a number of services and introducing big increases in child benefit – one of the benefits her government will now reduce. Stepping into Joe Walsh's "large Wellington boots" as the first female agriculture minister brought further challenges, notably the potential spread from the UK of foot-and-mouth disease.

But it has been Coughlan's foot-in-the-mouth gaffes since her surprise appointment last May as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment that have increasingly attracted attention. During the Lisbon referendum, Coughlan mistakenly referred to the bigger EU countries as having two commissioners. Her request to the Comptroller and Auditor General to investigate Fás was seen as an embarrassing u-turn. "God, you know, I can't remember" she dithered when asked to comment on a Bank of Ireland report last autumn. Her meeting with Dell workers facing redundancy was criticised as too little, too late in January. Unflattering nicknames have been coined, including Calamity Coughlan and Ireland's Sarah Palin. She's also briefly been Mary Loo – her new Dáil office shower and toilet was installed at a cost of €47,000. Ironically, the employment minister's former personal trainer Enda Coyle has to emigrate – due to lack of work. Dubbed condescendingly the 'Lovely Girl' by some more critical chamber colleagues, Coughlan is, however, known for resorting to language far from lovely, when under pressure. A heckling farmer was famously told to go away – although those weren't the exact two words.

The early loss of a parent, and becoming a TD as a result, gives Coughlan a mutual empathy with the Taoiseach. And Brian Cowen is said to have a lot of respect for his Donegal Mary. But with his own satisfaction rating trailing, the Taoiseach hasn't time to defend his gaffe-prone Tánaiste indefinitely.

The TD who confidently assessed Coughlan last May as "the pleasant face of Fianna Fáil – a good person to put out when the going gets tough" now seems wide off the mark on at least one count. Donegal old-guard Fianna Fáil supporters may complain that the flack is the usual Dublin media bias, but increased speculation that Mary Coughlan has been elevated to a post well beyond her capabilities can't be ignored – especially now that enterprise, trade and employment is so perilously absent. And that is important to say...

CV

Born Donegal May 1965; mother Marian, father Cathal Coughlan TD

Educated Ursuline Convent, Sligo; Social Science graduate UCD

Career: Donegal County Council, Donegal VEC, North Western Health Board (from mid 1980s –early l990s); member of Dail Eireann (1987-) for Donegal South West

Married to David Charlton, two children Cathal (11) and Maeve (9); family home in Frosses, Co Donegal

In the news The fallout from her claim that public finances were "under control" and increasing use of jargon