Beverley Flynn wore white last night, but it was not a token of surrender. Describing herself as a loyal daughter of Fianna Fáil, she bemoaned what she said were the "unfair" procedures which saw her removed from the organisation by an overwhelming majority of the national executive.
After 20 years in the party, with powerful family support from the very beginning of her political career, she now faces the prospect of a prolonged period in the political wilderness.
But with characteristic confidence, she did not go quietly. While one of her supporters asked: "Is she allowed a priest?" before the meeting, Ms Flynn did not have the bearing of someone who had had a near-death experience. On the contrary, there was more than a touch of pride in her attitude.
Standing on the plinth outside Leinster House after making her appeal to the Fianna Fáil national executive, she was joined by her father, Padraig.
"Hello, Deputy Flynn. Your father is proud of you and I'm proud of all these people from Co Mayo, the best in the world," he said.
And there were cheers from Ms Flynn's local supporters when she set about answering journalists' questions. She was not present at the meeting when the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, proposed an expulsion motion which was seconded by the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern.
This deprived her of the opportunity to hear the charges against her. In addition, she believed the decision not to allow a private ballot meant that she would lose potential support.
"I believe very, very strongly that had I got a secret ballot tonight I would still be a member of the FF organisation. I actually believe there are other people in that room tonight who believe that as well," she said.
"I think a lot of my colleagues over the last few days have been extremely supportive. I think a lot of colleagues in the parliamentary party feel that to remove the whip from me was sanction enough, but to remove me from the Fianna Fáil organisation is a step too far.
"I believe that that is the case. I don't believe there is genuinely any support at grassroots level for this."
Ms Flynn's expulsion was the first since the removal of Mr Des O'Malley from the party in circumstances that led to the foundation of the PDs.
Her removal followed her third ejection from the parliamentary party on Tuesday night. Her first came in 1999 after she defied the party whip when the Dáil asked her father to clarify his position in relation to allegations that he had kept for himself a £50,000 donation to Fianna Fáil from Mr Tom Gilmartin.
"A Flynn must support a Flynn," she said then. It was a typical gesture of support for the father who famously described her as a "class act".
The tenor of her most recent attempts to avoid removal from Fianna Fáil suggests that she believes the party must support its own, no matter what. However, her attempt to secure access to last night's meeting for some of her Co Mayo supporters who are not on the national executive was a mark of her isolation.
One of those supporters dismissed the procedure as a "kangaroo court". In reality, however, Ms Flynn's fate was decided by the Supreme Court, which last week upheld the High Court ruling that she had no reputation to lose when a jury rejected her libel action against RTE.