Leinster House became centre stage again this week with a vengeance. One of the great rituals that survives, whatever the other changes, is the move against the party leader.
It is not much evolved from what happens in the animal kingdom. It is usually well under way before it is detected by outsiders. At first you smell it. Then a signal is given and the battle is joined. Other parties maintain a respectable distance and a discreet silence. They know the rules. The wheel will come full circle in due course. They survive on scraps dropped by warring factions. Little else is discussed as the implications of every possible fallout are analysed.
John Bruton must allow himself a wry smile out in Dunboyne as he peruses the newspapers and listens to the broadcast media. Why were none of these eulogies to his sterling qualities written or broadcast when he was leader? Since his political passing most commentators have marked his consummate conduct as Taoiseach, his integrity and innate decency.
He is a cerebral politician and, as he demonstrated in recent days, a tough and determined one. Yet no senior politician in recent times got such a consistently bad press. Charles Haughey may contest that assessment but in his case, as was ultimately borne out, the suspicions of the media were justified. No such suspicions were attached to Bruton but the charisma deficit identified by Jim Mitchell seems to have been enough to erode his stature in the television age.
All that having been said, nobody in here anticipated the knockdown, no-holds-barred, bruising contest which led to Bruton's departure. To believe that he would have thrown in the towel when confronted by the apparent inevitability of defeat was a mistake. That may have been Alan Dukes's way, but it is not John Bruton's way.
Bruton loyalists were highly emotional in the aftermath of battle. They saw the Noonan/ Mitchell pincer movement as being motivated only by opportunism. If Bertie Ahern, for the moment anyway, is unassailable on the economy but is vulnerable on the sleaze factor, why get rid of a leader acknowledged for his honesty and integrity?
Also, the view was that both Michael Noonan and Mitchell had been extremely careless in some of the things said in the heat of battle.
The less emotional view is that the people are waiting in the long grass for Bertie Ahern's Government but only if they are presented with an alternative. Since Irish general elections are fought almost independently in the 41 constituencies, a modest bounce in Fine Gael fortunes would still make a Fine Gael/Labour government possible.
Assuming that Ruairi Quinn's new Labour Party will harvest an extra half-dozen seats, a Fine Gael/Labour government is certainly possible but, for whatever reason, improbable under the continued leadership of John Bruton. Therefore Michael Noonan had to make his move.
It is not clear yet if the weekend will be sufficient to soothe the raw nerves and open wounds. On the face of it the entry of Enda Kenny would seem to be to protect the Bruton votes. The Mayoman is the most popular deputy in the House but has not been noted either for his ambition or hunger for the job. Unless it is a signal that Fine Gael is now as divided as was Fianna Fail for two decades, the smart money must be on Michael Noonan.
With Fine Gael otherwise engaged, the Labour front bench focused on the funding for elections controversy, to the manifest discomfiture of Bertie Ahern and Mary Harney. In particular, Brendan Howlin and Eamon Gilmore drew blood.
While it is undesirable to have the Joint Treasurer of Fianna Fail introducing legislation to permit increased spending at elections, it is arguable whether Noel Dempsey is actually conflicted in the matter. What is beyond argument however is that since last February both Dempsey and his Taoiseach concealed the true purpose of the Electoral Bill.
Shifty talk about use of photographs, permitting experiments in electronic voting and other incidentals was only window dressing. We are likely to hear more in the weeks ahead of Ruairi Quinn's charge that Mary Harney is supporting a Bill designed to help Fianna Fail buy the next election.
Memories of Bernadette Devlin's famous encounter with Reginald Maudling seemed to flash across the countenance of a startled Seamus Brennan when confronted by an indignant Liz McManus purposefully crossing the chamber towards him.
Fortunately she did no more than present him with a copy of Labour's health policy. Apparently the canny Brennan had asserted on radio that Labour had no health policy.
Meanwhile, Harney and Charlie McCreevy are making common cause in ridiculing the European Commission strictures on the Government's Budget day profligacy. The inflationary fears articulated by the man who Bertie calls Peadar Solbes are dismissed with derision.
It is a time, according to Ms Harney, when all Irish people must wear the green jersey.
Wiser heads know that Ireland will yet pay a price for McCreevy's hubris.
Nobody, least of all himself, thought it would be possible to relegate Liam Lawlor so quickly to footnote status. His "all I have ever wanted is the opportunity to co-operate with the tribunal" contrition was spoiled by further scattergun assaults on all and sundry who commented on his plight.
At the same time he denied that he ever intended to make allegations against several prominent politicians on his departure from the Ethics Committee. He had only intended to pose questions.
Drapier wants to take this opportunity to extend sincere sympathy to our colleague Mary O'Rourke and her family on her sad bereavement.