DRAPIER has an admission to make. His family has been the recipient of a handout from the Dunne family. Yes, it's true. Drapier's spouse's name may very well appear on the Price Waterhouse list.
His wife is willing to go before any tribunal, with or without legal representation, in order to clarify her position. She feels she must do so in order to clear her good name.
Drapier admits it is only in the last few days that his spouse owned up to him and he can assure readers and voters that at no stage was he compromised in any way because of the Dunne generosity to his wife. Of course, he feels that she is duty bound to come clean.
Drapier also believes he has a duty to tell his readers that, yes, his wife availed of the Dunnes Stores "Saucepans for Stamps" promotion, just like hundreds of others around the State.
All joking aside, the tension last week was such that every deputy and senator was on tenterhooks trying to remember if they or their nearest and dearest had received any contributions from Dunnes, either monetary or otherwise.
While the public may feel politicians are "all the same" that is, no use and always out to make a quick buck, Drapier can assure them that nothing could be further from the truth in his experience.
The atmosphere around the House last week was probably one of the nastiest Drapier has experienced in his long years. This week the feeling around the place was that no current members had anything to hide.
The nervousness which pervaded Fine Gael's erratic action made most observers question the reason for this. From what he hears, Drapier thinks that by far the biggest scandal in the Dunnes Stores issue may very well be the involvement of public officials and not politicians.
If this is proven, it will raise serious questions as to the moves which have been made, in various areas of our administration, to take decisions out of the hands of elected representatives and to make officials more independent.
For the second week in a row Bertie Ahern seems to have made the running on the Dunnes Stores/Lowry issue. In his speech in the Dail on Tuesday he pulled no punches when he called into question Lowry's right to be a Dail deputy.
This was taken up in the Dail the next morning when the Taoiseach, questioned by Mary Harney, said Mr Lowry would make his statement to the Dail "soon". It was obvious then that there was intense pressure from within Fine Gael for Mr Lowry to come forward.
Not to be outdone, eight Labour TDs from Dublin issued a similar call to Mr Lowry. This latter statement was greeted with extreme cynicism by most. It was seen as an attempt to call for something which (by the time it was issued) was already inevitable.
While it echoed the sentiments of quite a lot of what Lowry's own Fine Gael colleagues were saying privately, it was seen as a betrayal by those same Fine Gael deputies. Drapier thinks that it will not be easily forgotten by Fine Gael.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fail were taking delight in Fine Gael's dilemma but were even more tickled by the Labour statement which Drapier feels was the height of stupidity and was merely playing into Fianna Fail's hands.
Fianna Fail weren't slow at the end of the debate to rub it in. One way or the other, this "rushing to the barricades" by the Labour deputies is the first real public sign of inter party tensions in this Rainbow Coalition. The glue is slowly becoming unstuck, and Drapier can see that there will be, in the new year, a mad scramble by each of the parties to ensure that they are on the much quoted "high moral ground".
LABOUR, by their action this week, are showing that they will go to extreme lengths to reclaim their position in the polls.
But any keen observer would tend to agree that what they were at over Lowry this week was an obviously cynical effort to try and have themselves painted as the "keepers of morals". Mind you, some of Lowry's own Fine Gael colleagues didn't take long to dump on the former minister when they saw how the wind was blowing.
For the Government the last few weeks and months have been disastrous, and a lot of it is their own fault. In a time of unprecedented economic boom, one would have thought that the Government would be riding on the crest of a wave, but Drapier feels that even the very flush estimate figures and the superb job announcements will not be enough to lift the perception of the Government parties with the ordinary punter.
While all the other mess ups can be put down to political ineptitude, whether it was Proinsias De Rossa's costly policy group around him made up of Democratic Left supporters; whether it was Eithne Fitzgerald's £100 dinner invitations; or indeed the many problems caused by Fine Gael's Yates, Noonan and Owen, Drapier feels that the Lowry Affair (Mark 2, or is it 3?) will cause the most damaging long term reverberations for the Government parties.
Labour can see the writing on the wall and are endeavouring to ensure they are the least affected. Of course, it will be made out that the Labour Eight were "on their own", but mark Drapier's words, their effort has all the hallmarks of their party leader's imprimatur.
Lowry's statement to the Dail before the Christmas recess may have been Labour's price for their support in the Dunne/Lowry debate, but Drapier thinks they will not come out unscathed in all of this.
This week's announcement by the Government regarding State funding for political parties was a knee jerk reaction to the current crisis of confidence in politicians.
The Government justified this by stating that the legislation would put in place restrictions on party political funding. Mary Harney had a point when she said that the Government was trying to have it "both ways".
Drapier heard Democratic Left's Eamon Gilmore justifying the Government decision while at the same time reminding us all that he and his party (apparently) represent the poor. Drapier is not altogether sure that the poor would thank Eamon and his colleagues for burdening them with even more tax, in this regard.
Tuesday saw the winding up of the debate on the Universities Bill. Drapier is not altogether sure if the academics from the universities bother to read this column, but so much heat and invective was created by what would appear to be a fairly innocuous Bill that it caused many deputies (mainly from Fianna Fail) to speak in the wind up debate.
Apart from Fine Gael's Seymour Crawford, who is not renowned for his interest in academic matters, the Government is not able to put up any other speakers whereas Fianna Fail contributors were well into double figures.
Obviously, they felt they were on to something but, at the end of the debate, while they were claiming victory, so also were some of Ms Breathnach's Labour backbenchers. They were claiming credit for the fact that the Minister had changed, they said, at their insistence, several of her proposals, whereas Fianna Fail were crying U turn on the Minister's part. All in all, Drapier is certain that no matter what the Minister does she will not please all of the academics, all of the time.
Drapier and his colleagues received a most welcome invitation in the post within the last week or so. It was from none other than the President, Mrs Robinson. There was great speculation in the House on receipt of these missives as to whether or not the President would look to serve a second term.
No doubt when we all congregate in Aras an Uachtarain next Thursday for our Christmas drink with Mrs Robinson we will be waiting for any hint as to her intentions.
So far the only names of the current Dail who are being mentioned as possible candidates are Mary O'Rourke, David Andrews and Albert Reynolds.
This weekend Drapier is hoping to get to bed early each night because next week is to be a long week, being the last before Christmas. Not necessarily because of the excessive workload, which will be there anyway, but more particularly because of the many Christmas parties which happen in and around the House. Much stamina will be required.