A BSTRACT Since 1973 ministerial advisers have become a permanent feature in the politicaladministrative nexus of Irish government and other countries derived from the Westminster model. This article puts forward a classification of the adviser's role in the policy-making process which may consist of singular or overlapping profiles of an expert, partisan, coordinator and minder. In conjunction, results from a survey and interviews conducted with a group of advisers serving in the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat government of 2002-2007 are presented in order to understand the adviser's own assessments of the value and effects of what they do in government. Their profiles, motivations for service and the concrete tasks they carried out within (vertically) and outside (horizontal) government departments are examined.It is argued that the role of the Irish ministerial adviser best fits with the 'minder' category but that as a collective there is potential for advisers to contribute more effectively to the political coordination of policy-making.

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The twin processes of Europeanization and Transition provide significant opportunities for the development of Public Administration education in Europe and provide a possibility to further the 'emancipation' of the discipline. In terms of Europeanization, the increasing challenges of politico-administrative interaction between national administrations and the institutions of the European Union illustrate that it is essential for Public Administration graduates to acquire an informed understanding of both the European context of policy-making and of the administrative organization and culture of other member states and countries associated with the EU. As a second element, the transition process in Central and Eastern European states could provide the discipline with further impetus to search for its own identity and approach in a European context. This article reviews the key findings of the results of the comprehensive inventories undertaken by the SOCRATES Thematic Network in Public Administration with regard to the current direction in which Public Administration education in Europe is moving. It addresses whether attention to European issues is reflected in the curriculum as well as links with the profession and whether cross-fertilization between the development of new programmes in the transition states and PA academic programmes in the EU member states has actually occurred.

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