By BBC News Online political correspondent Nick Assinder

Ever since its opening night on new year's eve the Millennium Dome has been dogged by one controversy after another.

First it was the queues of VIPs and "ordinary people" - as Dome Minister Lord Falconer memorably put it - forced to stand for hours in the cold to pick up undelivered tickets.

Then when it opened to the public, people faced long delays to visit some of the zones inside the building.

Then visitor numbers plummeted and organisers executed a U-turn, saying people could buy tickets on the door after all.

Most recently, a further £60m of government cash was made available to avoid a severe cashflow crisis, and official figures showed only 3% of the annual visitor target had been met in January.

Throughout this unhappy five-week period there have been constant reports of looming job losses, crisis meetings of the organisers and sponsors' demands for swift action to rescue the project.

But, at the same time, ministers and organisers have been insisting the Dome was a huge success, would easily meet its targets and was only being rubbished by irritated newspaper editors forced to queue on the first night.

Difficult questions

The prime minister has been an enthusiastic supporter - despite Labour's original opposition to the entire project - and the message from Downing Street has effectively been that a tiny number of whinging killjoys were out to undermine it.

The government is now facing the deeply embarrassing question: "If all that was true, why was its boss Jennie Page unceremoniously dumped?"

It is an uncomfortable question but ministers will be expected to come up with a good answer. But critics should not hold their breath.

Mr Blair, who has previously cheered Ms Page to the rafters, apparently gave his blessing to her removal.

And we are already beginning to see the signs of the government desperately trying to distance itself from the affair.

Lord Falconer finally entered the row, declaring: "This is a board decision. They took judgements on the basis of business.

"This can't be run by politicians or people from Whitehall, this has got to be run by people who know how to run a visitor attraction."

But the critics argue that is precisely what has been happening ever since the project was first dreamed up by the Tory government six years ago.

Michael Heseltine was the first minister to be given charge of the project but it only really moved into top gear after the general election when Labour changed its mind and decided to press ahead with it.

New Labour project

Mr Blair clearly saw the project as neatly fitting into the New Labour mould - representing a modern, forward looking and confident Britain.

Peter Mandelson was put in charge of it but the first signs of dissent soon emerged when creative director Stephen Bayley quit, claiming Mr Mandelson interfered too much and was acting like a dictator.

But the government continued to put a lot of store in the project.

At its topping out ceremony in June 1998, Mr Blair claimed it would be "the best day out on earth".

And shortly before its opening he declared: "I defy anyone who sets foot in the Dome not to be awed by its sheer scale, variety or range of attractions.

"Like anything new in Britain, the Dome has had to see off the cynics - those who lack confidence in the British people, who despise anything modern, who are made uneasy by success."

Now the Dome is facing a serious overhaul by the man from Euro-Disney - exactly the sort of theme park the ministers insisted they did not want it to become.

Pierre-Yves Gerbeau was, apparently, most skilled at sorting out the rides and there is already talk of him introducing a spectacular ride into the Dome.

So while ministers are doing their best to play down the crisis and distance themselves from it, the Dome is embarrassing them on a virtually daily basis.

Tony Blair will now be desperately hoping that the combined efforts of Mr Gerbeau and the onset of lighter spring and summer evenings will start to turn things around.

If that fails, his words will come back to haunt him.