EU: It was a remarkable day for Pat Cox in Strasbourg yesterday as he took his leave from the European Parliament where he has represented Munster for 15 years.
It may also have been the first day in Mr Cox's political life that he avoided cameras and reporters, instructing his spokesman to say that the president's statement to the House "spoke for itself".
Mr Cox told his fellow MEPs that, as president, he had given more than 1,000 interviews in Brussels and Strasbourg, and a similar number elsewhere.
He is not a naturally shy person, so yesterday's silence bred lively speculation about what questions he wanted to avoid answering.
In his statement, a comprehensive report on his 2½ years in the job, Mr Cox remarked that policy in many aspects of day-to-day life in the member-states has been Europeanised.
"European public policy and regulation is deeply embedded in the national and political decision-making environment. For all of that, although we have Europeanised policy we are still searching for a way to 'Europeanise' politics."
He made it clear that his own political life was already thoroughly Europeanised, dropping a broad hint about his ambitions when he said that he would continue to serve the cause of Europe "any way I can".
If Mr Cox's emotions on leaving the European Parliament were "very mixed", the feelings of his fellow Munster MEP, Mr Gerard Collins, on hearing the news may have been less difficult to untangle. Mr Cox's departure from the field has dramatically improved Mr Collins's chances of holding his seat in the reduced constituency, now called South.
Mr Collins said his former rival would make an excellent Commission president, and should be considered as Ireland's next commissioner even if someone else got the top job. It appears that Mr Collins would wish Mr Cox well in almost any job - as long as it is far away from the constituency.
Those with perhaps the greatest reason to feel sad yesterday were Mr Cox's constituency workers, who came to watch his last appearance as president. Mr Donie Howard, a key supporter, said he understood Mr Cox's decision and said the departing MEP still has friends he could rely on.
As Mr Cox's supporters prepared to drown their sorrows and toast their candidate's future in Strasbourg last night, they identified Paul Brady's Crazy Dreams, with its final words: Tonight we'll go and paint this town/We're gonna drink champagne till we both fall down/And we'll find some other crazy dream tomorrow."