The Budget debate took a worrying turn midway through Jim Mitchell's speech, when the Fine Gael finance spokesman said last year's huge surplus had "gone with the wind".
Perhaps subconsciously, he was quoting his namesake, author Margaret Mitchell, to condemn the Government's fiscal incompetence. But his words had an alarming effect when Brian Cowen, in a passable imitation of Vivien Leigh, responded: "Tomorrow is another day, Rhett."
The appalling image of the Minister for Foreign Affairs playing Scarlett O'Hara to Mr Mitchell's Rhett Butler haunted the Dβil chamber, and those who were there can only hope it fades with time. If not, it'll be yet another thing to blame on Charlie McCreevy, who had pushed the debate towards populist literature in the first place.
Finishing his speech to raucous applause from the Government benches, he described his latest Budget as the fifth and final chapter of his "first book", and predicted he'd be starting on a second "best-seller" next year.
The critics across the floor were already sharpening their knives as he sat down, with inevitable suggestions that he had lost the plot. Labour's Derek McDowell was particularly scathing about his social chapter, which featured a surprise twist in which, rather than borrowing as everyone expected, the Minister took €635 million from the Social Insurance Fund. The more helpful Opposition backbenchers offered alternative titles for this section of Mr McCreevy's book. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" suggested Brian Hayes. "Robbing Peter to pay Paul," shouted another.
Before his career in writing, Mr McCreevy's interest in books was mainly confined to those operated by the likes of Ladbrokes and Paddy Power. A man who likes a bet, not even he would have backed himself in 1997 to present five budgets with the current Government. So yesterday, he could be forgiven some triumphalism as he completed his full hand with a flourish, even if it wasn't a royal flush.
He had no aces up his sleeve either, apart from a now-characteristic cut in betting tax - down to 2 per cent from next May, just in time for the bookies to offer odds on his chances of writing another book. While the readers' verdict is still awaited, Mr McCreevy remains optimistic.
The outlook for the economy remains bright, he insisted yesterday, but it was "a time for cool heads and steady hands".
The new realities were underlined when he announced he was increasing excise duty on cider. From the Fine Gael benches, Louis Belton quipped: "What about champagne?" And while the Minister riposted that the Government would be drinking "loads of champagne" after the general election, there was no avoiding the conclusion that the sparkle had gone out of the economy. Jim Mitchell even accused Mr McCreevy of presiding over a reverse miracle, in which he had turned "wine into water".
This was a bit of an overstatement, but if the Government does secure a second term, the next book could be a case of Cider with Charlie.