FG leader Michael Noonan might have ruled out Michael Lowry ever rejoining Fine Gael but that didn't stop Lowry from turning up at the party. He was among the merrymakers, not all of them blueshirts, at the FG staff Christmas party in the Leinster House restaurant on Tuesday night.
His appearance though, is not as unusual as it sounds. Members and associates of all parties and none tend to drop in late at night - and a 4 a.m. finish is late - to join the merriment and no one minds.