Dáil Sketch/Marie O'Halloran:On the day that was in it the Upper House outshone the lower - certainly if the mood of the visitors from the US was anything to go by. Governor Brad Henry of Oklahoma and his delegation clearly preferred the offerings of the Seanad.
They had no problem leaving the Dáil chamber when it was time to move on to the next stage of the tour. They were, however, reluctant to leave the Seanad and stayed for a highly charged debate on the Civil Unions Bill on same-sex relationships and a spat between Independent Senator David Norris and Fianna Fáil's John Hanafin.
The Dáil could not compete. The silver-haired governor, the youngest ever when he was elected five years ago at 39, had earlier strolled into Leinster House with his jacket slung over his shoulder and a can of Diet Coke in his hand. Observing the proprieties and suitably jacketed in the chamber, he must have been glad of the caffeine fix when confronted with the sleepy atmosphere of the lower House, and the mellifluous mutter of the Tánaiste.
There can be no doubt that if Brian Cowen ever gave up the day job, he could forge a career in curing insomnia. Recordings of his Dáil contributions, his softly spoken muttered replies, would be bestsellers.
They would initially baffle the sleep deprived, who would concentrate furiously trying to work out the meaning of the sotto voce speech, coherent but puzzling. Perplexity, however, would quietly give way to sleepiness, and they would drift off to slumber.
It works most times with the Opposition and regularly with observers. The issues mentioned are important and the responses serious and considered, but the rarely raised soft voice has a tranquilising effect.
And that's what the visitors got. They heard the banter when Fine Gael's Paul Connaughton called for a debate on giving retrospective payments to all pensioners who lost out when they put in late applications.
"You got the same after 1997 and there wasn't a word about that," quipped Fianna Fáil's Johnny Brady.
"Tell that to the guards the next time you're stopped," retorted Noel Coonan of Fine Gael in reference to a garda refused pension retrospection.
The debate moved on and the visitors moved to the Upper House. So they missed a rare occurrence - the Tánaiste cracked a joke. Understated, but a joke nonetheless. It happened when Labour's Tommy Broughan spoke of the mayhem caused in his constituency by Halloween bonfires, which he had seen when he visited at midnight. He suggested that the Minister, Eamon Ó Cuív, might be given a role in this.
"Minister for Hallowe'en" quipped Labour leader Eamon Gilmore. "Many people were terrorised," said Deputy Broughan.
"Was the deputy going around Dublin North East in a black cape?" quipped the Tánaiste to laughter.
"If I had my way I'd send in Willie O'Dea," said Fine Gael's Michael Ring to more guffaws.
"I commend Deputy Broughan for his assiduous attention to his constituency, even at that hour of the night. It's obviously a competitive constituency," said the Tánaiste.
There was no disputing that.