Mr Pat Rabbitte's election to the powerful position of leader of the Labour Party brings a frisson into the parliamentary line-up in the Dáil. He won a strong mandate from the 3,800 members of the party when the votes were counted last night.
His victory is all the sweeter as the lengthy election process marks the first occasion on which an Irish party granted ordinary members the power to choose their parliamentary leader.
There will be other occasions for the post-mortem as to why the ex-Democratic Left TD, Mr Rabbitte, rather than the more traditional candidate with senior Ministerial experience, Mr Brendan Howlin, emerged as the clear winner in the election. It is reasonable to assume, however, that the party faithful - like the former leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn - was bruised and disappointed by the results of the general election last May when the Green Party and Sinn Féin successfully challenged Labour on two separate flanks. The party went into the campaign expecting to increase its share of the seats quite substantially but it returned to the new Dáil with the same number of seats.
These circumstances created the conditions for Labour Party members to go outside of its traditional hierarchy to award the baton of leadership to Mr Rabbitte. He brings many distinguishing features to the task. For one thing, he possesses a distinctly different style to his main opponents, Mr Bertie Ahern and Mr Enda Kenny. He is abrasive in character and he calls a spade a spade. He distinguished himself for forensic detail during the DIRT inquiry. He was a creative and hard-working Minister of State for Commerce, Science and Technology, sitting in the high-chair at the Cabinet table during the Rainbow Government.
For all of that, Mr Rabbitte's oratorical flourishes have, on more than one occasion, exceeded good judgment. He has a reputation of being a loner and will have to build a team and avail of the Labour apparatus around him. During the last election campaign he defied the party line to say that he would not join a Fianna Fáil-led government.
Mr Rabbitte will face a formidable challenge to forge a new identity for the Labour Party. The emerging breakdown in consensus politics, however, on the choices to be made with scarce public finances presents the new leader with his greatest opportunity.