Good to see they haven’t lost their sense of humour in Fianna Fáil despite all the upheaval of the past week.

Who decided to send the Minister for Transport into the Dáil on Tuesday night for the votes on the budget measures that needed to be passed by midnight?

He arrived in the chamber to propose the increase in cigarette taxes.

Darragh, who has been publicly shamed by this Taoiseach for having sneaky fags around the back of Government Buildings when he thinks nobody is looking.

He took it well.

And who is the Shakespeare buff in the parliamentary party who told RTÉ’s Barry Lenihan on Tuesday that Wednesday’s much anticipated parliamentary party showdown with leader Micheál Martin would be like Titus Andronicus, the Bard’s bloodiest play?

There are a lot of theatregoers in the FF parliamentary party. Arts spokesman Páidí O’Sullivan and musical theatre stalwart Malcolm Byrne were immediately in the frame but they ruled themselves out.

“It felt more like Othello — a family row,” said Páidí. “I think we would have been more Henry IV,” said Malcolm.

The meeting went on for 5½ hours with 48 speakers.

There was no break for a breather or a brandy.

The top table, which included party chairman Brendan Smith and chief whip Mary Butler, was very concerned about preventing leaks to media.

The leaks were live-streamed, as usual. However, critics of the Taoiseach and his supporters claim they were not the ones dishing the dirt from behind closed doors.

“Three quarters of the leaks that came out in the first half of the meeting were favourable to the Government,” said one.