It was a vintage week for Bertie watchers. Just when we thought the old Bertie was gone forever, back he comes, and with a vengeance. Of course he will get out of it. He always does, but at what cost is the question.
In many ways it boils down to the fact that you can't cover all the angles all the time and that not even Bertie can square all his circles. But what is worrying this time is the sense in which the Bertie Bowl has become an all-consuming obsession, the pursuit of which is now the first national aim.
The worrying aspect is that obsessions lead to a loss of proportion and consequently to bad judgment calls. Bertie had his worst Dail days this year on Tuesday and Wednesday as he tried to explain himself. Straight questions from Ruairi Quinn and Alan Dukes did not get straight answers. They got no answers at all, only ineffective attempts at further obfuscation.
It did not need too much insight to see that Cabinet procedures had not just been ignored but had been trampled upon. It was clear that the PDs had not been consulted, indeed had been studiously evaded. And it was clear too that the cavalier throwing around of taxpayers' money to help get a negative decision at the GAA Congress, to ensure tenants for the Bertie Bowl, had within it an arrogance which could yet prove self-defeating.
No sane politician criticises the GAA. Many pretend to be more knowledgeable and interested than we really are. But when Bertie gave a smaller sum to the GAA in the past, hundreds of other groups shouted "foul". Now that the GAA is to get over £100 million, the FAI close to £60 million and the IRFU has yet to put in its bid and all this to be followed by at least another £500 million of public funds, is it not time to cry halt? Is there a madness here? Drapier believes there is but there is nobody in the Cabinet to tell the Taoiseach he has no clothes.
Drapier detects a change in public mood. Every interest group has its agenda and sees the bulging public coffers. But, as in the nature of things, most of these groups have got far less than they believe to be their due, and in some cases have got nothing at all. The fact that such large sums are being thrown at the sporting organisations has angered many of them. It's an anger which won't go away as queues lengthen, childcare facilities remain scarce and the Government pursues the family of Jamie Sinnott.
The Bertie Bowl was the politically significant story of the week, but the excitement was provided by the Beverley Cooper-Flynn saga, though in terms of drama it had little of the passion we have come to associate with such nights at Leinster House.
For a start the outcome was clear from the beginning. From the moment selected backbenchers began publicly to urge Bev to stand down the die was cast. These things do not happen by accident and it was all very reminiscent of the succession of plinth men who lined up two years ago to savage Charlie McCreevy's Budget. From the outset we knew how the top floor was thinking.
Still, Bev did not make it easy for anyone. She fought a tough and hard battle - and a clever one. Drapier has always seen Beverley as somebody with great natural ability and her capacity to present her case at the party meeting impressed many. One colleague remarked to Drapier afterwards that she was the toughest woman he had ever seen in politics - and even Mary O'Rourke would not disagree with that.
But toughness or advocacy were never going to be enough. Beverley simply did not have the numbers and that was that. Even if Bertie Ahern had not taken such a tough line, she had little natural support to count upon. But once Bertie made it a "her or me" issue the game was up - hence the lack of any real surprise.
But Beverley is no shrinking violet. She was down among us in the voting lobbies within the hour, resolutely voting the party line, dropped into the bars showing cool and composure and went on to give a series of impressive radio interviews. In other words Beverley was telling the world this was merely a temporary little setback. As soon as the other business was sorted out she would be back on track once more and make no mistake about it. The Flynns are no ordinary people.
In its own way it was impressive. But was it real? Drapier doubts it. For a start re-election in Mayo is not a certainty. She may discover the hard way that there is only one Michael Lowry, as her local enemies seize their chance. And the court business may not turn out to be easy to settle. Far from it.
And she will find too that Headquarters will set its face resolutely against any return of the prodigal daughter. When all the excitement dies down Beverley Cooper-Flynn is going to find the world of politics a lonely and cheerless place. She is still young enough and able enough to make another career, but somehow Drapier doubts if she will try. And he sees little point in even trying to persuade her.
And then this week we had the Prime Time programme on the Arms Trial. It was a good programme and it certainly caught the imagination. It is a mark of how times change that the predominant reaction among Fianna Fail people was the pleasure of seeing Dessie O'Malley discomfited and pleasure too at the possibility of seeing Charles Haughey vindicated after all these years. Drapier detected little sympathy for Jim Gibbons, but then dead men can't easily defend themselves.
Drapier was not fully persuaded by the programme. A one-hour documentary, however good, can only tell part of the whole story. There were many unanswered questions and little of substance that was new.
The arms crisis was a key moment in modern Ireland. The full story has never been told and the danger with a programme like this week's is that the issue risks becoming part of a current political debate run by people with their own particular agendas, rather than an attempt to establish the full truth.
That is not the fault of the programme but the Government would do well at this stage to set up a small team of independent historians to go through all the documents and all the evidence to try to come to some overall conclusions. After 30 years of Northern horror we are old enough and mature enough to handle the truth about this episode, whatever it is.
Finally this week the sad news of the death of Godfrey Timmins. Godfrey was a gentle, charming man, ever courteous, always warm and friendly and was a great fund of common sense and decency. When Godfrey spoke people listened. News of his death came through late on Wednesday evening and the sadness all round was enormous. Godfrey had no enemies, only friends and he will be hugely missed.