Bertie Ahern isn't a country and western man, but his back-benchers could be forgiven for humming the tune "one day at a time, sweet Jesus", as they went about their Dail business.

The Philip Sheedy case was back to haunt them with all its Fianna Fail ramifications. Their main man and John O'Donoghue were in trouble for withholding relevant information from the Dail. Worse than that, the most cunning Dubliner of them all had become so flustered that he had effectively called Mary Harney a liar at the weekend and had nearly precipitated an unwanted general election. What were they to make of it all?

Members of the Reynolds faction had been there before. And they smiled coldly as they remembered the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrats break-up in 1992 over Albert Reynolds' assertion that Des O'Malley had been "reckless, irresponsible and dishonest" in his evidence to the beef tribunal.

But the new Fianna Fail Taoiseach doesn't operate on a winner-takes-all basis. And when Mary Harney challenged him to confirm he had given her an undertaking to tell the Dail about his representations in the Sheedy case, there was no contest. It was a time to put his hands in the air and then get on with the business of running the State.

Mr Ahern repeated his act of contrition in the Dail yesterday while, at the same time, he sought to minimise the importance of his actions. They had to keep a sense of proportion, he told his detractors. This "incidental detail" involving a political representation which was "essentially immaterial" should not be treated as a vital link in the Sheedy chain.

It was nonsense to suggest the Government had shown any special sympathy for Philip Sheedy, the Taoiseach pleaded. He himself had always acted with complete propriety and had made no representations, direct or indirect, to any member of the judiciary. And he had no recollection of discussing the matter with his good friend, Joe Burke.

The only issue in the Sheedy case, the Taoiseach insisted, was whether judges had acted properly - and the Chief Justice had been critical on that score. It was such a delicate touch that Mr Ahern didn't even mention their resignations.

As for withholding information from the Dail, the Taoiseach accepted he should have taken the Tanaiste's advice. No disrespect was meant to her or to the House but, he added, there had been a legitimate and understandable concern in Government not to feed conspiracy theories.

From that position, Mr Ahern complained about attempts to undermine trust in his political integrity. And he promised there would be no want of honest intent on his part to do the right thing in the future.

The offer cut no ice with John Bruton or Ruairi Quinn. With a weather eye to revelations at the Flood tribunal which were likely to feed into the Dail and embarrass the Government, they continued to hammer away at the Taoiseach's veracity and secretiveness.

Mr Bruton went for broke. The Dail didn't know if it had a truthful Taoiseach. The Sheedy case had revealed a chain of personal relationships from Philip Sheedy through Joe Burke to Bertie Ahern, to Hugh O'Flaherty to Cyril Kelly, forming a circle linking business, politics and the law. And Mr Ahern's reaction to the case had been marked by untruthful statements, evasions and concealments.

That was just for starters. The Fine Gael leader delved into Mr Ahern's earlier omissions. Out came the Rennicks case and his failure to tell the Dail or the Tanaiste; out came his Dail statements relating to his appointment of Ray Burke as Minister; out came the appointment of his brother-in-law as an Appeals Commissioner. And then there was his failure to tell Mary Harney about the content and number of his meetings with Tom Gilmartin and about that £50,000 paid to Padraig Flynn.

Given that record, Mr Bruton was taking nothing at face value. He listed the discrepancies and contradictions in recent Government statements on the issue. The "why" questions in the Sheedy case had yet to be answered, he maintained.

Mr Quinn didn't hold out much hope for the survival of the Coalition Government. The Taoiseach had brought it to the brink of disintegration by his actions and while the cracks between the parties had been papered over, it was only a matter of time before it imploded.

Having set the tone, the Labour Party leader also trawled the record of the Taoiseach's memory lapses before advising that John O'Donoghue, the bungling, inept, ill-informed and incapable Minister for Justice, should be sacked. If Mr O'Donoghue was correct in claiming he had never read the Sheedy file during the height of the crisis in April - and therefore wasn't aware of the Taoiseach's representations - he was so incompetent he should be fired.

And then Mr Quinn switched focus to the Flood tribunal. It was clear, he said, that the Dail hadn't been told the half of what had gone on in relation to Mr Burke. Ministers, including Mary Harney, were going to have to answer publicly about that appointment. As for the Taoiseach, his political integrity and reputation were in tatters and the Coalition Government was stretched to breaking point.

From there, the exchanges deteriorated into repetition, assertion and denial as the Taoiseach rolled with the punches and covered up against a brawling Opposition. Later, the Progressive Democrats welcomed the content of Mr Ahern's statement. Perhaps they were sizing up their chances in an autumn election?