Drapier: The PDs have an annoying slogan that they "punch above their weight". This week it felt like they were single-handedly running the country, with McDowell and Harney dominating the political stage.
Drapier in all his days cannot recall such an intensity of focus on the Garda Síochána.
Ever since the second Morris tribunal report hit the fan, the place has been baying for Garda reform and increased accountability. The findings of conspiracy, framing and intimidation by some gardaí in Donegal, "consumed" with malice against the McBreartys and lying to the tribunal, has scarified even the most conservative in here.
Bad enough if confined to some gardaí in Donegal, but Michael McDowell's sensational disclosure last week that the Carty report was withheld from him as attorney general and the minister of the day John O'Donoghue, raised the stakes to a higher level.
Brendan Howlin, who has played a blinder on this for nearly six years, smelt blood. The notion of the chief law officer of the state and the Minister for Justice being denied complete information on such a grave matter as a miscarriage of justice beggars belief.
Worse still, there appears an inconsistency between John O'Donoghue's replies to parliamentary questions at the time and what McDowell now says.
The Labour Party was forensic and uncompromising on this point and sent out their heavy hitters Eamonn Gilmore and leader Pat Rabitte to back up deputies Howlin and Costello. Amid the din it was hard to distinguish between substance and blather. But the temperature rose visibly when Gilmore declared we were in "resignation territory".
Despite more time being conceded, the furore continued. The Ceann Chomhairle had a tough time in the chair and will enjoy a break from the temper-filled bear pit that the chamber became this week.
Under fire McDowell's retort is to bulldoze ahead, taking no prisoners. His new Garda Bill will deal with the horrors exposed by Morris and radically reform the relationship between government and the Garda. There is broad support for independent inspection and oversight and a Police Ombudsman Commission.
Whistleblowing gardaí are protected and even powers of summary dismissal are included, which raised a few eyebrows.
The Opposition wailed about the folly of rushed legislation and, in fairness, railroading through 300 amendments in a couple of hours is not good parliamentary practice.
But Drapier can see both sides on this. On the one hand, rushed law is frequently open to challenge in the courts.
On the other, reform is now urgent.
But Drapier has a hunch the Minister's indecent haste may have more to do with what's coming down the tracks as Morris continues to dig. We may not have heard the worst of it yet.
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health was battling on all fronts as usual. Her war on dirt in hospitals will be popular and easily understood and with over 500 cases of MRSA in our hospitals last year, regular and random hygiene inspections are very much in the public interest. And will save lives.
Reform in health truly is an obstacle course. Each initiative immediately runs into opposition. Even the doctor-only medical card was held up by the GPs until now. Mary Harney must look back on her days in Enterprise as halcyon.
The Taoiseach has been quiet of late, apart from some surprising comments on Northern Ireland. Many were puzzled to see him making reps to the Brits on behalf of Seán Kelly, Shankhill Road IRA bomber, who had his licence revoked by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and was returned to jail.
Then there was Bertie's bizarre notion that the IRA might transmogrify into a benign commemorative organisation rather than disband. What would they be commemorating? Mass murder, kidnapping, subversion of the State? The Taoiseach should be careful not to buy into Sinn Féin's self-serving delusions about IRA criminal activity over the last 30 years.
Word is the two governments are quietly confident of an offering from the IRA, which might allow the institutions to be reinstated.
On the European front, Blair is cutting a political dash. The British presidency will be a showcase for him to lead the debate on the future of Europe. Blair is a consummate politician with a proven feel for what ordinary people want to hear. (Don't mention the war). His address to the European Parliament was combative and revealed that he could be closer to Boston than Berlin on economic matters.
The rejection by the French and Dutch of the EU constitution has in a way liberated leaders from the phoney consensus about integration and enlargement. Not before time. The fact is that the French and Dutch voters have done us all a favour and forced a rethink of the European project.
Bertie may be depressed but the bitter divisions around the collapse of the budget negotiations actually strike a chord with the punters, who prefer passion to bland Eurobabble.
Privately the main parties here are relieved that the referendum is off the agenda. apart from giving too much airtime to the Shinners and the loony left dangerously close to the next general election, the view was that it was unwinnable.
The Revenue rained on Bertie's parade by asserting that stamp duty will apply to first-time buyers whose parents make a contribution to their homes.
This in the same week that he launched a new initiative to kick-start affordable housing!
As the summer recess draws near, hot days and late sittings have colleagues worn out. For light relief everyone is glued to the Haughey documentary. younger deputies are gobsmacked by the intrigue and high drama. Nothing quite as exciting ever happens these days.
However, older members are less misty-eyed about the programme. They were dangerous times in politics for individuals and for the country. Some of players remain on the stage and are haunted by the Haughey era. CJ himself is now elderly and unwell and, as with the expressions of sympathy for the late Seán Doherty, deputies are content to airbrush the past for the sake of old decency. In a climate hostile to all politicians, there can be more that unites than divides us in here these days.