It was a sweet moment for Fine Gael so the party and its leader savoured every minute of it.
Mr Simon Coveney, the new Fine Gael TD for Cork South Central following the recent byelection, was led down the stairs of the Chamber by the party's chief whip, Mr Sean Barrett, to applause from all sides of the House.
Mr John Bruton said: "Simon is following in the footsteps of his late father, Hugh, who was a distinguished and much-loved member of this House. As Deputy Simon Coveney has already clearly demonstrated, he will carve out an equally valuable and constructive role for himself in public life."
It was a sentiment which would later be repeated by all shades of political opinion in the Chamber.
Mr Bruton paid tribute to his Cork South West colleague, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, director of elections, who positively beamed from his position on the FG front bench.
Then Mr Bruton sounded a political note. "Simon Coveney's first preference vote of 37.7 per cent put him over 3,500 votes ahead of the Fianna Fail candidate. At the final count, Simon's lead had grown to almost 7,000 votes, representing by far the largest ever winning margin for a Fine Gael candidate in a by-election.
"The result of the by-election in Cork South Central also means a third consecutive by-election defeat for this Government. One would have to question the pertinence of opinion polls when one examines the outcomes of these three by-elections."
The Taoiseach, who has been getting high ratings in the same opinion polls, smiled from the Government benches.
"It is certainly not a day for partisan speeches so I won't engage in one," said Mr Ahern. "I want to congratulate Simon wholeheartedly. He ran an excellent campaign. There is no argument about it . . . it was a comprehensive and outstanding victory for himself and for his party.
"I was glad to see that my relatives, who usually strongly support us, voted for you 90 per cent in Minane Bridge. I hope they come back to us next time around. I have no doubt your own charm might hold on to them down there."
A large group of Mr Coveney's supporters who travelled from Cork with him filled the public gallery and joined in the applause for the new TD. Later they had a drink in the Dail bar.