Having seen John Bruton off by a margin of six votes, Michael Noonan moved to consolidate his leadership of Fine Gael yesterday when he comprehensively beat Enda Kenny by 44 votes to 28. The job was done and dusted. And Jim Mitchell sat at his right hand.
"Everything that has been done in recent weeks," Mr Noonan explained, "was done to ensure that the Irish people have an alternative to Fianna Fail."
There was no messing about policy. That would come later. The traditional enemy was again the prime target. And Fine Gael was on the high road to government.
It was hardly a message to stir young blood. But Fine Gael was in such dire trouble that the immediate task was to sound the trumpet of war and to gather the old guard.
Mr Bruton had spoken of "rallying to the colours". And Mr Noonan wasn't too proud to steal his clothes. There would be time enough to "mol an oige" when Fine Gael got the show on the road.
It was back to basics for the party.
First, identify the quarry. Then choose your harpoon. Fine Gael was going to hunt the Fianna Fail leviathan. And it would do so by returning to the people and building support there.
The party would major on integrity in public life; support a ban on corporate donations to political parties; advocate a new social contract; and clarify its position on the North.
There was nothing there that would stick in Ruairi Quinn's craw, even if Fine Gael was playing clever on business funding. In the long term, support for a ban on corporate donations would probably grease the path to an accommodation with the Labour Party.
Mr Noonan was refreshingly honest when confessing to having no magic receipe to attract young voters. Others, he suggested, would have to design the magic wand.
For the rest, he offered a vision of a European-style social contract which would provide a unified, high-quality health service; equal opportunity in education; a major public housing programme; affordable childcare; and a tax system which would not lock women into the labour force on a lifelong basis.
However, given his support for low taxes, it was uncertain where the funding would come from, other than through an ever-expanding economy.
The biggest thing Mr Noonan had going for him was his relaxed humour.
On more than one occasion the Limerick TD had journalists laughing with him. He handled the delicate and potentially damaging McCole issue with sensitivity.
And when pushed to say how he would fight Bertie Ahern in the Dail, he played cute.
Some people would love to see a Punch and Judy show in the Dail, he said, but he would offer to fight the Taoiseach on policies, rather than personalities.
New tactics are already in play. Two weeks of limelight on the leadership issue has already lifted Fine Gael's public profile. Mr Noonan will ensure the publicity oxygen continues to flow by delaying a front bench announcement until next Thursday.
In three weeks, the party will be back cultivating public support through its two-day ardfheis. And there are dark mutterings about a March by-election in Tipperary South which could seriously unsettle Fianna Fail. It's all go.
The centre of gravity is shifting again in Fine Gael. Back towards the more liberal, social democratic notions of the FitzGerald years.
But it's early days yet. The message has yet to be fleshed out and sold to the electorate. That will test the effectiveness of a new front bench system and Mr Noonan's leadership qualities.
Already, there is a sense of movement. Fine Gael people are talking about the "Noonan ripple effect" which could give them three extra seats in Limerick West, Clare and Cork North West.
There are new policy ideas. Sharper tactics. And there is that deadly, dry wit.
Asked if the Celtic Snail was now dead, Mr Noonan replied the slug pellets were in the back of his car.