European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan has hardly unpacked from his move up three floors in the Berlaymont, but it looks like he could be on the move again, this time to Geneva as DG of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The WTO adjudicates on trade disputes among member nations, which is virtually every country in the world.

No doubt Hogan is well qualified, having been the most travelled Commissioner for Agriculture ever before moving to Trade last December. He has since been to China and the US, whose spat greatly undermined the WTO and is no doubt influencing the thinking of Brazilian Roberto Azevêdo, who is quitting his second term as WTO boss a year early.

However, Hogan will need to see off other interested parties. He will hope that being on first name terms with the key players in every continent will give him momentum.

If he makes it, the question then becomes who would be a suitable replacement commissioner, a decision for the new Irish Government.

Mairead McGuinness would be comfortable switching from being Parliament’s senior vice-president to the Commission, but she would have to get the nod from Dublin, at a time when Fine Gael clout is less than it was when Hogan got called up in 2014.