It was all more in sorrow than in anger that Fine Gael ushered in a new era last night by deposing their leader of 10 years, Mr John Bruton.
The meeting went one for seven hours and heard contributions from 48 of the 72 party members eligible to speak. There was no blood-letting, although a number of contributions were said to have been passionate. In the end just six votes separated the sides - it would only have taken three people switching to have kept Mr Bruton in his job.
Earlier yesterday a further six people declared against Mr Bruton - Mr Simon Coveney, Mr David Stanton, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, Mr Joe Doyle, Mr Tom Enright and Mr Sean Barrett - which saw Mr Bruton's chances fade before the meeting began. A further indicator, during the meeting, was when Mr Paul Connaughton stood up to speak against Mr Bruton. His intentions had been unknown prior to that.
The meeting began about 2.45 p.m., with Mr Jim Mitchell proposing the motion, which was seconded by Mr Michael Noonan. Mr Mitchell was the first to speak in favour of the motion of no confidence in Mr Bruton.
A decision was made that there would be no applauding after each speaker. The first Bruton supporter to stand up was Mr Enda Kenny, who spoke for more than 15 minutes.
Other speakers included Mr Louis Belton, Ms Nora Owen, Mr Donal Carey, Mr Gay Mitchell, Ms Monica Barnes, Mr Paul McGrath, Mr Alan Shatter, Mr Donal Carey, Mr Simon Coveney, Mr Dino Cregan, Mr P.J. Sheehan. Virtually all of the female members of the party spoke, including Ms Frances Fitzgerald (who spoke in favour of Mr Bruton just before the meeting yesterday), Ms Deirdre Clune, Ms Monica Barnes, Ms Avril Doyle and Ms Olivia Mitchell.
The speeches selected for mention afterwards were those by Mr Paul Bradford, Mr Enda Kenny, Mr Ulick Burke, Mr Richard Bruton and Mr Ivan Yates, but the one most frequently praised was that by Cork deputy Mr Coveney. Colleagues said he gave a very impressive speech, stating why he had taken the decision to vote against Mr Bruton and why change was so important for young people involved with Fine Gael.
Afterwards, an emotional Mr Coveney said it had been a very tough decision to make. "It is very sad for me. I feel I let somebody down on a personal level, someone I respect. But I feel I made the right decision for the party."
Almost everyone contacted agreed that there had been no bitterness throughout the marathon meeting, although it had been heated at times. Mr Michael Creed, who voted against Mr Bruton in November and again yesterday, said he and others were feeling emotionally exhausted after the meeting. "John behaved himself with enormous dignity and composure and took the result in a very dignified manner. I don't have any regrets about the outcome," said Mr Creed.
According to Senator Dinny McGinley, Mr Bruton's speech had been exceptionally impressive, but "everyone had made their minds up before the meeting and they stuck to their principles".
Ms Olivia Mitchell, one of the first TDs to declare her support for the motion against Mr Bruton, described his 40-minute speech as "a tour de force". Asked if there had been any particularly tense moments she said: "Some people said things that shouldn't have been said but on the whole there was a spirit of reconciliation.
"We realised that John Bruton was certainly not the source of all our problems but he is one of them - or rather he was."
Senator Maurice Manning said he was "personally devastated" by the vote going against John Bruton. "I think the party made the wrong decision but it's done now and we have to move on, there is a bit of reconciliation to be done."
Mr Brian Hayes, who also supported Mr Bruton, said he was also devastated, particularly since it was by such a small margin. "John's speech was the best I ever heard."
"The tone of the meeting was tense, but not aggressive tense. There was also an air of expectation," said another TD, adding that people were not gratuitously critical of Mr Bruton and took little pleasure in stating his failings.
One discordant note was bickering between Mr Alan Shatter and Mr Gay Mitchell, concerning an appearance by Mr Mitchell on RTE's Prime Time. He was judged to have been particularly harsh with Ms Olivia Mitchell, who also appeared on the programme. He was criticised for this by Mr Shatter. Mr Mitchell subsequently apologised to Ms Mitchell.
Three of the four MEPs - Mr Joe McCartan, and Mr John Cushnahan, and Ms Mary Banotti - were the first to cast their votes, prior to leaving to return to Brussels about 5.30 p.m.
Mr Michael Noonan was one of the last to speak. He gave "a superb analysis" of why the party needed a change of leader, saying the Fine Gael brand name and logo were now "worth nothing", according to one of his supporters .
After over six hours of listening, Mr Bruton stood up and spoke defending his position and saying how a second leadership battle, so shortly after the first was so damaging for the party. He also spoke of the foolishness of taking such action against a leader on the basis of the results of an opinion poll.
But once the result of the vote became known he took the result in a dignified manner, according to a number of party members, and made a speech which was short and to the point. Mr Noonan and Mr Mitchell responded in kind. He left the room quickly to telephone his wife Finola and deliver the news to her.
Ahead of the meeting yesterday there was a palpable air of excitement in Leinster House. The canvassing of party members went on right up to the last moment.