Mr Dick Spring has gone to the opposition benches, but the country is still being run from Kerry, The Irish Times can reveal. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is on holiday in the Kingdom and is therefore still exercising his powers, according to a spokesman. It is only when a Taoiseach leaves the State that he designates an "acting Taoiseach" from among his Ministers.
Most of those Ministers have also fled their Dublin offices for holidays, although Mr Ahern will find many of them within easy reach should he feel the need for an emergency Cabinet meeting in Dingle. Most Ministers are in Ireland, with many clustered in the south-west.
But the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, would hardly make it back in time from Sicily for such a gathering, although in her present location she will have an opportunity to observe a somewhat different - or not - political culture from that to which she is used.
The Minister for Education, Mr Martin, is spending his holiday in west Cork - at least an hour from home - and is due back on Monday.
Not far away is the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, in Kerry. The Minister for Defence, Mr Andrews, is in Galway.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Burke, is touring Ireland. He spent the August bank holiday weekend in Killarney, briefly interrupted his holiday last week to return to Dublin to issue a statement about certain matters, and may go abroad for a week.
Yesterday afternoon the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, left these shores for two weeks in the Canaries. He left behind the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, as acting Minister for Justice.
Apparently the State needs a Minister for Justice 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to sign various orders and warrants and, as one source put it, "to let people out and lock people up".
Mr Walsh must know a bit about being locked up at this stage, having had no holiday yet and none planned. He has taken no significant break from his desk at Agriculture House since his appointment, according to a spokeswoman, `'apart from a few days at the Galway Races".
There is not much tourism for the Minister for Tourism either. Dr Jim McDaid also went to the Galway Races, spent most of the following week in Donegal and is back at work, planning "the odd day off" over the next few weeks, according to a spokesman.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, is in the US for a fortnight with his family.
Mr Ahern, the Minister for Social Welfare, is also on a family holiday at a secret location which his Department has been instructed not to reveal. The Departments of Health and of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht were only slightly more forthcoming, confirming only that their respective Ministers, Mr Cowen and Ms Sile de Valera, were on holiday "in Ireland". The Department of the Marine was more daring, narrowing Dr Woods's location down to "the sunny south-east".
In short, it is the time of year when politicians are doing little of national interest and newspapers are reduced to writing about where they have gone on holiday.