In late 1994 a politically divided Fianna Fail/Labour coalition sailed into the storm of outrage over the growing revelations of the extent of clerical sex abuse. Labour was already deeply unhappy with the Fianna Fail leader and Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds.
In September came the first talk of government collapse as Mr Reynolds stuck to his desire to appoint the then Attorney General, Mr Harry Whelehan SC, as President of the High Court, despite fierce Labour opposition.
On September 14th, when Mr Spring was in Tokyo, Mr Reynolds proposed at a Cabinet meeting that Mr Whelehan be appointed High Court President that day. A Labour threat to walk out postponed the decision.
With a government collapse and general election seeming increasingly likely, alarmed Labour backbenchers began to make it clear publicly they did not back the leadership's tough stance on the issue. They did not want an election brought about by such a row.
Labour appeared to back off. The tension eased. But within weeks the government was on the road to disintegration.
In October 1994 it emerged that a request for the extradition of the Norbertine priest, Brendan Smyth, had been in the office of the Attorney General for seven months. It had been received by the Garda on April 23rd, 1993. A month later it was referred to the Attorney General's office. There it remained until Smyth opted to return voluntarily to Northern Ireland.
A statement explaining Mr Whelehan's position on the warrant said: "Because the offences went back 20 to 30 years we had to ensure that he was going to get a fair trial. The extradition request was being considered when we were told that he was going back to the North of his own free will. Then we heard he disappeared."
There was public outrage and political outcry. The Labour chairman, Mr Jim Kemmy, said this reinforced the party's doubts about Mr Whelehan's suitability for the High Court post.
But Mr Reynolds did not waver, although he did seek further information. Shortly after the delay became public, according to the account of the then Government Press Secretary, Sean Duignan, in his book, One Spin on the Merry- Go-Round, Mr Whelehan was asked to give a full explanation of the case to the next Cabinet meeting on November 10th.
On November 10th, Labour Ministers said they found Mr Whelehan's explanation unacceptable. Mr Reynolds made it clear the Cabinet was going to vote to appoint him anyway, so the Labour Ministers walked out. Mr Whelehan was appointed.
Mr Reynolds and other senior Fianna Fail figures hoped Labour had walked out in protest, and would soon return, but it became clear quickly that this was doubtful.
Labour ministers gave their Fianna Fail counterparts a series of specific points that Mr Reynolds had to make in the Dail if his administration was to continue. According to Mr Duignan, he was to apologise to the Irish people for Smyth being at large for seven months; he must not defend the AG's office; he must agree to reforms in that office; he must pay tribute to Labour's role in government and express his regret to Spring for the hurt caused.
A speech was prepared overnight for Mr Reynolds acceding to Labour's five points, although the word "apologise" was not in it.
Mr Reynolds delivered his speech and returned to his office. According to Mr Duignan, Mr Reynolds said there was a letter waiting for him there from the new Attorney General, Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons. In fact, the letter had been sent down to the Dail chamber but was never handed to Mr Reynolds.
That letter said, contrary to what Mr Whelehan had maintained, that the Smyth case was not the first to be considered under the 1987 Extradition Act. There had been a case involving a monk called Duggan in 1992 and it was a precedent for the Smyth case. Mr Fitzsimons's letter appeared to contradict the oftrepeated explanation for the delay - that the Smyth case was unprecedented and therefore required lengthy consideration.
That night, November 15th, Labour and Fianna Fail ministers were still in contact behind the scenes. Once again there was a desperate search for a formula to save the government.
They thought they had it. At 10 22 a.m., Mr Spring signed a deal saying that on the basis of the statement prepared for Mr Reynolds, he would lead his colleagues back into government. The statement involved Mr Reynolds apologising to Mr Spring and saying he would not have appointed Mr Whelehan had he known then what he knew now.
Then a telephone call to Mr Spring changed everything. Someone, whose identity has never been revealed, rang him to tell him about the Duggan case. Mr Spring called in Mr Fitzsimons and asked him when he told Mr Reynolds about the Duggan case. Mr Fitzsimons said it was on Monday, the day before Mr Reynolds made his Dail statement, during which he had made no reference to the case.
That afternoon, Labour finally pulled the plug.
But still it wasn't over. Mr Reynolds, while still acting as Taoiseach, was replaced as Fianna Fail leader by Mr Bertie Ahern, who began negotiating a new programme for government with Mr Spring. As those negotiations neared conclusion, a report by this newspaper's Political Correspondent, Geraldine Kennedy, led to those negotiations being abandoned by Labour.
Kennedy's report indicated Fianna Fail Ministers knew of the significance of the Duggan case before Mr Reynolds's statement to the Dail, that had made no reference to the case. Labour said it could no longer negotiate with Fianna Fail.