Sarah Bardon, a political reporter with The Irish Times, is the latest journalist to leave the fourth estate and go into government. She will be press adviser to Simon Harris, the health minister.

Within months she will be dealing with the next “trolley crisis”, but as spin doctor rather than reporter.

Bardon replaces Kathyann Barrett, who is leaving for Ulster Bank, trading the frying pan of hospital waiting lists for the fire of tracker mortgages.

Bardon will join other former media colleagues at Government Buildings. Chris Donoghue, a former Newstalk broadcaster, is a special adviser to tanaiste Simon Coveney. Niall O’Connor, a former INM reporter and co-author of a biography of the taoiseach, is an adviser to defence minister Paul Kehoe. Caroline Murphy, ex-RTE, works