However Mr Charlie McCreevy's nomination as a European Commissioner is interpreted - and the country was awash with argument yesterday on its pros and cons, the politics of the decision and the extent to which he departs domestic politics voluntarily - attention will now focus on what it will mean for Ireland's role in the European Union and the portfolio he is likely to be offered.
Mr McCreevy is a genuine political heavyweight with long-standing experience of, and interest in, European affairs. One should not conclude from his liberal economic views, forthright response to criticism from Brussels or frank welcome for the democratic credentials of the first Nice referendum that he is a a Eurosceptic. He is too engaged with the EU and convinced of its central importance in Ireland's future for that.
And in any case European affairs can only benefit from more open political argument about the future shape and scope of policy of the kind that Mr McCreevy revels in.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, emphasised yesterday that the nomination affirms these realities and the need to consolidate the political capital gained internationally from Ireland's successful EU presidency and recent stint on the UN Security Council.
Quite correctly, he insisted that Ireland's representation in central and eastern Europe and in China and Asia needs to be strengthened to avail of the opportunities arising.
Within the spectrum of European politics Mr McCreevy is relatively close to Mr José Manuel Durao Barroso, the new Commission president. He comes to the job as arguably the most successful EU finance minister of recent years, from an economy many regard as a model for development.
Mr Barroso's opposition to clusters of portfolios run by "super-commissioners" and his determination to be a more hands-on president than Mr Romano Prodi should mean he has more leeway in making key appointments and imposing his authority on a larger Commission. Mr McCreevy is thus entitled to hope for a good economic portfolio in keeping with his talents and achievements and has made a timely bid for it.
His political profile in the Ecofin council over recent years has been centrist in the arguments over the Stability and Growth Pact and he has been enthusiastically involved in the Lisbon process of economic reform. Making the best of a Commissionership depends not only on the portfolio received but on what is done with it and what happens in its competencies. Mr McCreevy is well placed to play this role.