Drapier/An Insider's Guide To Politics: There was quiet, if relieved, satisfaction among Drapier's colleagues in the members' bar when the SDLP held its three seats in the Westminster election.
Alasdair McDonnell's victory was no surprise to those Oireachtas members who campaigned in South Belfast.
Conor Murphy was always going to take Seamus Mallon's seat, but Sinn Féin's rise has been decidedly slowed down as a result of the SDLP performance in the Westminster and local elections.
An additional factor for satisfaction, as far as Drapier is concerned, is the extraordinary success of the McCartney sisters in persuading the overwhelming majority of the European Parliament to tangibly back a request for financial support to pursue a civil action against their brother's killers if the PSNI cannot mount a criminal prosecution.
Drapier is surprised that Michael McDowell has not put his money where his mouth has been for the last six months, and offered to financially assist Robert's brave sisters and fiancée.
rrrr
Tony Blair's historic success has been marred by the collapse of popular trust in this unique progressive politician.
In winning three unprecedented terms with a comfortable majority, Drapier is amazed at some of the British and Irish media reaction.
Yet Blair will be forever haunted by his craven following of George Bush into the Iraqi war, and the way in which he communicated his intentions to his cabinet colleagues, his parliamentary party and the House of Commons.
The Belfast Agreement remains one of his great achievements provided he now gets it to work. But splitting the job of Secretary of State between Wales and Northern Ireland does not give Peter Hain a great start.
Drapier wishes Bertie and Tony all the best against difficult odds, but sadly the IRA is not going to go away. Let's face it, in the world of commerce would a lucrative €20 million a year business go voluntarily into liquidation? Northern Ireland is in for a long period of direct rule.
rrrr
Labour is preparing for its national conference at the end of May in Tralee, and Pat Rabbitte is hoping that some of the Spring magic will rub off on him and the party. The Labour leader will win the electoral strategy proposal after an open conference debate.
This is the last of the party conferences this year, and we may well have a general election before next year's round of conferences.
Drapier senses a despairing mood of stalemate growing around the corridors of Leinster House. The ideological standoff between Fianna Fáil and the PDs is now so convoluted that nobody seems to understand just how it has got to this point.
However, Mary Harney is now clearly out of her depth in the Department of Health and Children. Her vindictive sacking of Michael Kelly has not helped her situation with the public service. There are no quick solutions, as she once thought, and there are some things that market forces and private enterprise cannot readily solve.
By next May she and her colleagues will be looking for some juicy issue on which to jump ship.
Liz O'Donnell's appointment as a non-executive director with one of Denis O'Brien's companies is seen by some of the lads in the bar as a clear signal that not only will she not seek the leadership but she may not stand for the Dáil next time.
Micheál Martin is still hurting badly from the fallout of the nursing home/medical cards issue and his admission that he did not even read his brief. When Pat Rabbitte read some new material into the record of the House at Leaders' Questions on Wednesday, the former minister for health could not contain himself as he interrupted and heckled the Labour leader. Drapier thinks that it is a clear case that the usually suave Minister "doth protest too much".
Political accountability is clearly something that this Government thinks does not apply to it. It is amazing now to think that less than three years ago many of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party spoke openly of the Cork deputy as a future taoiseach.
rrrr
Bertie Ahern was the winner of the European of the Year award at a function organised by European Movement Ireland on Thursday. Drapier was not there, but heard that the new chairman, Ruairí Quinn, was in good form as he praised the Taoiseach's leadership of the Irish presidency team.
There was a big attendance at the lunch, and all the talk was about the French referendum due at the end of this month on the constitutional treaty which was so successfully delivered by the Irish EU presidency in June 2004.