Teacher was away and the substitute the class loves to torment was in place. On the last day of term there was a huge amount of work to get through and the students complained that there was no proper explanation of the topics.
There would also be an extra two hours of class, so the usually disruptive pupils were in petulant humour.
And there was concern about work to be done next year. First to express his outrage was a class prefect, the normally co-operative student, Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae, who was scandalised by proposed legislation.
The Bill was contentious, and combined with Deputy Healy-Rae's unique delivery, roused voices and volume in the Dáil chamber. The Kerry South TD wanted a special debate on the "scandalous proposal by the Minister for Health to take 15 per cent of a person's estate in payment for his or her nursing home care".
He said the elderly had paid their taxes and helped build the economy. Why should this burden be placed on them. "I object to this proposal in the strongest manner and publicly condemn it," he said to an Opposition chorus of "hear, hear". When the Ceann Comhairle intervened and called for a halt to the interruptions, Fine Gael TD David Stanton said "we're not interrupting, we're supporting".
When the substitute teacher, Tánaiste Michael McDowell, announced 11 issues to be dealt with and more than two extra hours of class on the final day of term to deal with them, the protests were voluble.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte was amazed that the Dáil was sitting late "given that the House collapsed on three occasions this term because there was no business". Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton was outraged that proposals, including one related to drug trafficking, would be taken without debate - the re-introduction of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 and the renewal of orders without debate.
But the Tánaiste was having none of it. "We must press ahead," he said, hoping "there will be unanimity today in sending a message to the Garda that we support the extension of provisions on drug trafficking and that we support the extension of time of detention for questioning".
He pointed out to the unruly class that most of the items for discussion had been considered in detail by other classes, ie in committee, and this should not be duplicated for non-attenders. That didn't go down well and there were howls of protest.
The Tánaiste was due to speak at the European Forum but the class was not amenable. So three votes and almost 90 minutes after Dáil business commenced, and 60 minutes longer than the normal order of business, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen took the chair and Michael McDowell headed for a more hospitable environment.
But not before he got a dig in. He agreed with the Opposition "that much time is wasted in this House. We have now spent over an hour discussing what we will discuss today and talking about talk and about work."