Bertie Ahern seems to have squared his backbenchers into accepting the amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution as an acceptable price to pay for the overall Northern Ireland Agreement. Some of them, though, can be expected to campaign less than wholeheartedly in the campaign for a Yes vote in the referendum. Bertie can live with that, but he will expect all Cabinet members to take to the hustings with enthusiasm.
But will Sile de Valera, granddaughter of the Constitution's principal author? In her Clare constituency, Fianna Fail members have been asking her what she thinks of the deal hammered out at Stormont. Political sources there say she is being non-committal, simply advising them to read the document and "reach your own conclusions". This does not sound like a wholehearted endorsement of a deal Bertie values so highly.
De Valera is currently in the United States. She and the Irish Film Board hosted a party in fashionable Jimmy's restaurant in Hollywood where the guest list included Anjelica Huston, Gregory Peck and Angela Lansbury. She is due in San Francisco this weekend to attend a Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann function.