Freezing fog prevented the Taoiseach from visiting Waterford on Tuesday to make a presentation to the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Had Mr Ahern been in the county yesterday, he would have found it even frostier.
Political and business interests in Waterford reacted with extreme disappointment to Mr Ahern's decision not to appoint local Minister of State, Mr Martin Cullen, to the Cabinet.
The chorus of disapproval was led by the mayor of Waterford, Labour's Mr Pat Hayes, who pointed out that neither the city nor county had had a Fianna Fail Minister since the late 1950s, when Mr Sean Ormond was minister for posts and telegraphs.
He had been inundated with telephone calls from people who crossed party lines and wanted to make their feelings known. Mr Cullen was a hard-working and talented junior Minister who deserved his place at the Cabinet table. "Waterford has a right to feel let down yet again," he said.
Mr Cullen himself was not hiding his disappointment at being overlooked, but said he was heartened by the "enormous support" he had received yesterday from members of all parties.
"Naturally I'm disappointed but the real burden of disappointment is in my own county and city of Waterford, and indeed throughout the region," he said.
"I understand the feelings that are being expressed but nevertheless I have a very important job and a very big agenda to pursue in the Office of Public Works and the Department of Finance. That's something I'm very committed to."
Mr Frank O'Donoghue, the chief executive of Waterford Chamber of Commerce, said he was "extremely disappointed" that Waterford had been denied a Cabinet seat again. He had spoken to a number of business people in the city and was speaking on their behalf.
Business interests claim the south-east's particular problems are not being recognised.
Waterford has an unemployment rate of 9 per cent, well above the national average, while the south-east as a whole has the second-highest unemployment rate in the State, behind the Border region.
