Dáil Sketch with Frank McNally: Apart from their accents, their capacity for savage indignation and the fact that they've both lost a yard of pace in recent years, Bernard Allen and Roy Keane do not have that much in common.
But there was a strong sense of déjà vu yesterday when the turbulent Cork TD was given his marching orders from the Dáil after one outburst too many.
There were even shades of the recent MUTV incident, with Opposition TDs later demanding to know why there had been an attempt to clear the press gallery during the standoff.
Unlike the footballer, the Fine Gael politician had at first refused to leave the House. And when asked, the press refused too, in case - again - events leading to a Corkman's dramatic departure would go unrecorded.
In the event, the press was there to record not only Mr Allen's farewell, but also those of Kathleen Lynch (Lab) and Dan Boyle (Greens), as subversion swept through Cork like a War of Independence flying column.
The big difference between this and the Keane affair was that Mr Allen's team was doing well at the time of his outburst.
Inspired by the complaints of a Cork oncologist, the opposition launched an attack on the Government's record on cancer care. Enda Kenny, Pat Rabbitte and Trevor Sargent played neat triangles around the Taoiseach. And although technically without a role during leaders' questions, Bernard Allen acted as midfield enforcer, harrying Mr Ahern with sliding verbal tackles while maintaining a constant banter with the referee.
Even so, it looked like a straight red card when the Ceann Comhairle ordered him out. Dr O'Hanlon suggested otherwise, insisting the Corkman had been warned.
But after Enda Kenny sprang to the defence of his colleague and accused Dr O'Hanlon of acting from "vanity", the stage was set for a showdown.
Before you could say "Up the rebels", Kathleen Lynch was urging her constituency colleague (and rival) to stay put. When after two suspensions of the House Mr Allen finally did leave, she followed him out, ignoring the taunts of Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher that Allen had beaten her to the interviews.
The stigma of being an unejected Cork deputy was now considerable, and Dan Boyle was next over the top. Heroically facing the snipers on the Government benches, who rained sarcasm at him, he demanded to know under what rules his fellow Corkonians had been ousted.
Sadly, this was not sufficient to warrant expulsion, and Dan was reduced to leaving voluntarily, lest his comrades face the volleys of media questions alone.
Even Billy Kelleher thought better of remaining aloof from the rebellion. Getting thrown out was not an option. But amid Opposition jeers, he asked the Chair if it might arrange for a Dáil discussion on cancer services, in view of the "very strong feeling in Cork".