There was a great scare in Leinster House on Wednesday night - the division bells were faulty. One minister was alerted in the bar, by an Opposition deputy no less, to hurry to the vote or his Government might collapse.
Chief Whip, Seamus Brennan told the Ceann Comhairle Seamus Pattison that, frankly, he was worried as bells were not ringing in certain quarters. But the vote, on a FG motion on inflation, went ahead and the Government had a comfortable majority of 74 to 66. Had it lost, there might not have been an election, at least under the circumstances, but the embarrassment amid all the wailing about the new building would have been acute.
