Jackie Healy-Rae rules OK! The Independent TD from Kerry South used his "special relationship" with the Taoiseach, and the regional map of the country was transformed.
Instead of the eight regional authorities established in 1994 to provide a framework for political devolution and structural and Cohesion funding, we suddenly had 10; or two, depending on how you looked at it.
In the regions, Kerry was detached from Cork and Clare was separated from both Limerick and Tipperary North Riding in order to make them free-floating entities that could be attached to the west region. Then the eight regions suddenly metamorphosed into two new super-regions for EU purposes.
The fact that average income in Kerry and Clare exceeded the cut-off point of 75 per cent of GDP, laid down by the EU for Objective 1 funding purposes, was ignored. Both counties were coaxed under the qualifying wire by averaging out the income for all 15 counties bidding for EU recognition. And the relative poverty of the other 13 counties pulled them down and in.
This political sleight-of-hand caused Fine Gael's Paddy Sheehan to round on Bertie Ahern in the Dail and complain about the exclusion of west Cork. Why should that independent kingdom be excluded when Kerry was shown favoured treatment? The decibel level was up to Jackie Healy-Rae's standard before the Ceann Comhairle intervened.
Proinsias De Rossa of Democratic Left was scathing about a cynical move that had more to do with the Government's political needs than the economic requirements of the country. The Government had, he said, made a nonsense of its claims to have a coherent policy on regionalisation by leaping the Shannon and bypassing the impoverished communities in Limerick city.
Derek McDowell of Labour felt the Government's approach was descending into farce. There was little evidence that the proposals were about tackling inequality.
Fine Gael, mindful of its support along the south-western seaboard, played it cute. The party's front bench accused the Government of "weakness and procrastination" and of fuelling inter-county economic rivalries. As for the outcome, it illustrated how poorly the Cabinet would perform if it had to face really difficult issues.
But nobody regarded the question as closed. The Government decision will now have to be ratified by the EuroStat office in Brussels. And there is no guarantee that the additions of Kerry and Clare will be tolerated. Should the plan be rejected, the Government will have to explain to Mr Healy-Rae that it did its best, but that the bureaucrats in Brussels would not wear it. And then submit a revised scheme.
One way or another, the Government has generated a political mess while failing to address the key issue of devolving political and economic power to the proposed regions.
The Commissioner for Regional Affairs, Ms Monika Wulf-Mathies, has insisted that political and economic power must be devolved from central government if new regional structures are put in place. The Government has declined to disclose its plans in that regard in advance of a EuroStat decision. But "minimum change" would appear to be the mantra used within the Department of Finance.
The Taoiseach told the Dail that revised regional structures would have to be discussed with the EU Commission. Mr Ahern was not sure whether legislation would be required, but said the matter would be discussed with existing regional authorities.
Into the political in-fighting dropped a sane voice from the west. Liam Scollan of the Western Development Commission said the priority should now be to establish expenditure plans to secure regional targets for infrastructure, new investment and job creation.
Ireland did not have the economic policies or systems needed to achieve balanced regional growth, he said. The result of our centralised decision-making process was to marginalise communities in cities and rural areas. All deprived areas would have to be brought into the heart of the decision-making process, he said, so that public policy integrated local activity with regional plans and forward planning at Government level.
There were outbreaks of hostility within Fianna Fail. John O'Donoghue's face showed he was fully aware of the cuckoo in his South Kerry nest. He took no delight in the publicity Mr Healy-Rae was attracting. In Limerick dissatisfaction gave way to hard words where TDs railed against the unfairness of being squeezed out by Clare and Kerry. Elsewhere there was simmering discontent.
That dissatisfaction is likely to grow as TDs realise that losing EU funding under Objective 1 status is just part of the deal. From January 1st, 2000, State grants for industry through the IDA will be cut back to a maximum of 20 per cent in the developed regions. But the poorer areas will be able to offer investors up to 57 per cent of the action.
That kind of discrimination could make a difference for the most underdeveloped counties. But the Government's decision to include 15, rather than 13, of them in the new arrangement will weaken their industrial pulling power.
By spreading the net and bending the rules to include the maximum area of the country, the Government has adopted a scattergun approach to economic development. And it has still to grasp the nettle of transferring power to the regions.