Dail Sketch: Fianna Fáil backbenchers continue to wonder what really went on between Bertie Ahern and Síle de Valera.
There was no great light shed on it yesterday as the Opposition questioned Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue, who represented the Government on the Order of Business.
Perhaps the confusion is due to faltering fax machines.
Assured by chief whip Tom Kitt who was sitting behind him, Mr O'Donoghue insisted that documents from Mr Kitt's office were faxed to the Opposition whips on Thursday night. The Opposition whips said they did not arrive.
Eventually, Mr Kitt, in soothing tones, assured his Opposition counterparts that the matter would be checked out.
Mr Kitt needs to have a soothing tone given that he was the one who had to ring Seán Haughey to tell him that he was not getting the junior ministerial job which went to Mary Wallace.
Ms de Valera, meanwhile, made one brief appearance in the chamber to vote and was gone before Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny confronted Mr O'Donoghue on the controversy surrounding her tenure.
He wondered if former taoiseach Charles Haughey was correct in stating that Mr Ahern was the most cunning of them all, and if Ms de Valera's post was not filled by Seán Haughey "then a de Valera and a Haughey will be gone in one stroke".
He also wondered if there would be an amendment to the Minister and Ministers of State Bill to allow junior ministers to decide when they could leave or change positions.
Mr O'Donoghue replied: "There is no promised legislation on Ministers or Ministers of State, no more than there is planned legislation to prevent the speedy rotation of Fine Gael leaders."
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte attempted to bring matters closer to home for Mr O'Donoghue when he inquired about the sale of the Great Southern Hotels, some of which are in the Minister's Kerry South constituency.
He asked if they would be sold as a going concern, adding that the Minister had once told Kerry's Eye, the Kerryman and the Sunday Business Post that they would remain in State ownership.
Mr O'Donoghue did not rise to the bait, replying that Minister for Transport Martin Cullen had met management and unions.
Fine Gael's Bernard Durkan asked about the absence of a proper telephone system in the Black Valley, also in the Minister's home patch.
"I greatly appreciate the unprecedented interest in my constituency," said Mr O'Donoghue dryly.
Meanwhile, Green Party leader Trevor Sargent offered the view that "dogs, horses and fat cats are healthier under this Government than ordinary men, women and children, given that €1 out of every €3 spent on sport goes to horses and greyhounds".
Junior Minister Ms de Valera had long left the chamber, with the speed of a greyhound out of the traps, by the time Mr O'Donoghue had vacated the Taoiseach's seat, which was occupied by her grandfather for so long.
The Devs continue to cast a long shadow over Irish politics.