It was bucketing out of the heavens, but nothing was going to rain on the parade of Mr Tom Hayes yesterday as he made his way into the Dail for his first day as a TD.
Mr Hayes is the eldest of 10, and all his siblings were there to wish him well. They were joined by a group of about 70 from south Tipperary as well as many of his Fine Gael colleagues.
"We've a larger crowd than Jackie Healy-Rae did," shouted the new TD to loud cheers from his supporters as they stood on the Leinster House plinth.
Standing beside him was the party leader, Mr Michael Noonan. It had been a great victory for Tom, he said, but the real victors were the people of the constituency who had elected themselves a great TD. Mr Hayes was accompanied by his wife, Marian, his three children, Padraic (14), Ronan (12) and Cathal (10), and his mother, Kitty.