Drapier: An insiders guide to politicsTwo weeks after the election, and the atmosphere in Leinster House still resembles a battlefield.
Both victors and vanquished gather in groups of three and four, and the mood is tense.
All of us had hoped to limp under the radar into the summer recess. The last thing anyone needed was a bust-up in the Coalition. It turned out to be a week of sideswipes and even slander across the board.
However predictable rumblings of post-election discontent might be on the Government back benches, inter-party divisions in Cabinet are never welcome. With the promised autumn reshuffle hanging overhead, a real insecurity has crept in.
To the delight of the media, Fianna Fáil spin doctors were bad-mouthing the PDs and vowing to reclaim Fianna Fáil core values, whatever they are.
The smaller party, which had taken its own mugging at the hands of the electorate, was in no mood to be blamed for the misfortunes of others. Both Harney and McDowell were taking no nonsense.
After Dermot Ahern's premeditated Scud missile implicitly attacking PD ideology, Harney issued a veiled threat to walk, and McDowell produced an encyclical on liberal market economics.
In Drapier's view, rather than turning on each other, the Coalition should concede that it has made inexcusable errors around health service delivery; that there have been blunders on electronic voting and Punchestown; and, to use a Bertieism, that they have made a "dog's dinner" of decentralisation so far.
However, voter disapproval on those key issues may not translate to overall rejection of this Government. The fact is that the alternative rainbow still looks a tad scary and incoherent, involving as it would Greens and a ragbag of loony-left independents.
As the phoney war rumbled on, the Taoiseach was out of the country, but never far from mind. The fact that he has left the door open on taking the top European job has caused insecurities within Fianna Fáil.
Few people in here can visualise Bertie as president of the Commission. But despite the Taoiseach's denial of interest, a whistle has clearly been blown in the leadership contest in Fianna Fáil. Brian Cowen's slick TV performance early in the week suggests a willingness to do business with the PDs, contrary to his earlier form under the Reynolds-PD government.
Drapier wonders if the Taoiseach has the stomach for a meaningful reshuffle in the autumn. Precedent would suggest not, but the local election result has frightened the Soldiers of Destiny, and there is plenty of talent willing and ready for promotion, Mary Hanafin and Brian Lenihan being the most obvious.
After years of disgraceful delay since the original Cabinet decision to restructure Aer Rianta by breaking it up into three autonomous authorities under State ownership, the State's Airport Bill finally emerged.
In Drapier's view this can only be for the good. A fresh start is badly needed in aviation. Aer Rianta in its present form has outlived its usefulness. By allowing Shannon, Cork and Dublin to compete with each other, they can maximise employment and economic activity for their customers and for regional trade and tourism. It's reckoned that for every extra million passengers 1,000 new jobs are created.
Not surprisingly, Noel O'Hanlon, the current chairman of Aer Rianta, is not pleased. Under Mary O'Rourke's reign he was effectively the minister for aviation and managed to block the restructuring plan. He made it his fiefdom and unfortunately had the ear of the minister.
Perhaps that's the reason Senator O'Rourke was in such scratchy form this week, casting around allegations that vested interest was driving Government aviation policy.
Drapier presumes she was referring to Michael O'Leary of Ryanair, who was her ministry's major critic.
Interesting, therefore, to hear the Tánaiste say that it would not be appropriate for a second terminal at Dublin to be run by an airline.
Staying Shannonside, the Bush visit continues to dominate public discourse. For such a short sojourn the huge security effort seems bizarre. The happiest people are, presumably, those hoteliers in the mid-west who are hosting all the advance personnel and security detail for the President. The visit should, if nothing else, put the region on the map all over the world.
Protest will be passionate and legitimate, given real anger about US foreign policy. But Drapier sees the EU-US summit as an opportunity to raise these concerns in a balanced way.
This time, unlike previous presidential visits, there is no hustling for invites or photo opportunities with the President. In Drapier's view, like it or not, Bush is the elected President of the US and deserves courtesy. People should not forget the vital importance of the US-Ireland trade relationship. Close to 500 US companies here employ 90,000, and it's very much in the national interest for our Ministers to walk a diplomatic tightrope. Pity McDowell can't resist a microphone for a day or two!
Decentralisation and its implementation were again the subject of acrimonious debate in the Dáil, with Fine Gael's Richard Bruton making some excellent points to Minister of State Tom Parlon.
The Government should tread warily on this one. An implementation committee report is expected next month. All the signs are that a bullish approach by the Government is not working and could cause irreparable damage to the workings and coherence of government.
The whingeing is not only coming from the trade unions representing public and civil servants. Prof Ed Walsh and other independent analysts are questioning whether sufficient thought has been invested in the endeavour. Such a major change deserves intense reflection and a degree of flexibility, which so far have not been forthcoming.
Flushed with the success of agreeing the EU constitution, the Taoiseach has taken on the air of international statesman. No pints in Drumcondra this week, with travel to Brussels, Japan, Downing Street, Dromoland and then Turkey. His capacity for work is awesome. After such a successful EU presidency, for Ireland to secure the Commission presidency would be an incredible coup for a small country.
All the bright boys have been mentioned; Peter Sutherland and John Bruton who, unlike the Taoiseach, are aligned to the right party, the EPP. However, Drapier wouldn't rule out the comeback kid, Pat Cox, who just might land it by default.