On Tuesday morning Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrat Ministers met in Government Buildings for a group therapy session to try to restore some equilibrium to their increasingly unstable relationship.

For the past three weeks the PDs had been waking up every morning with what one of their members described as "anxiety pains in the stomach", wondering what allegation would raise its head that day.

They were all falling foul of what Seamus Brennan dubbed the "Sunday morning disease" - the latest Sunday newspaper charge that grows legs and runs all week. A kind of paralysis had settled on the Government as hints and accusations of Fianna Fail skulduggery kept flowing.

"We were sleepwalking our way over the cliff edge," says one Fianna Fail TD.

On Tuesday Mary Harney was back from a 13-day trade mission to Japan and the Antipodes for the usual weekly Cabinet meeting. But first, in view of the consistent controversies, she and the Taoiseach decided they had better review their position privately.

The so-called honeymoon was long over, gone after the Burke affair broke just two months into the union. Now, nearly 18 months later, commentators were predicting a general election within weeks and it was time to set about salvaging the rocky liaison from disintegration.

The PDs had become the Hillary Clinton of the marriage with Fianna Fail. As Bill is lost without his wife, so are Fianna Fail without the PDs. As Hillary wants to remain as First Lady, so do the PDs want to stay in office. There is a powerful interdependency at play.

After 20 minutes of private talks, Mr Ahern and Ms Harney were joined by the other Fianna Fail Ministers and Bobby Molloy, the super Junior Minister who accompanies the Tanaiste to Cabinet but does not vote. By all accounts, the talking was tough.

When chided over the PDs' less than full-blooded endorsement of the Coalition in recent weeks, Mary Harney reminded her colleagues that she, more than any other Minister, had backed Ray Burke when the first allegations of the political donation were made. She got her fingers badly burned in the process. And, since the burned child fears the fire, she was not going to end up in that mess again.

Fianna Fail Ministers told her this bout of instability had many of its roots in the perception that the PDs' devotion was so obviously waning. Des O'Malley's lambasting speech to the Dail during the previous week's debate on the Flynn motion had not helped that impression.

Certain sections of the media were doing their damnedest to bring down the Government, according to more than one Cabinet member. In fact, there was a view expressed by one Minister that RTE was bracing itself for a May election. Unless they pulled themselves together, their demise would become a fait accompli.

But, to the intense relief of her Fianna Fail colleagues, the Tanaiste insisted that she would not be stampeded into a withdrawal from government by newspaper headlines.

Within 24 hours she and her colleagues would be briefed by Fianna Fail on the latest story, about to break in The Irish Times, concerning a payment of £10,000 to the party by a passport applicant.

Now, as part of the strategy to fireproof them against damaging drip-drip stories, Fianna Fail will attempt to anticipate what allegations lie ahead, research them, and explain the circumstances in advance to their Government partners.

None of the PDs was seen applauding Mr Ahern in the Dail after his stout defence against The Irish Times on Thursday. Nor did they applaud him after his lengthy address to the House two weeks previously over allegations about meetings with the Luton-based property developer Tom Gilmartin.

BUT, in spite of the PD deputies' reluctance publicly to join Fianna Fail's loud acclaim of the Taoiseach, there was no mistaking the difference in Ms Harney's body language. Relaxed is one way of putting it.

The PDs are now engaged in a delicate balancing act. They must continue to exude a distant air between themselves and Fianna Fail while simultaneously demonstrating unity of purpose in government.

These days, the PDs realise that the often pious attitude they adopted in their last coalition outing with Fianna Fail is no longer the height of political chic. Today's approach is a more streetwise version of integrity.

"We've dropped the sanctimonious bit. We used be lambasted for being Holy Joes. Now it's straight dealing. We're not looking over our shoulders but we're taking every week as it comes. We are only looking for reasonable, decent, honest government," says one party figure.

The quest for a separate identity was clearly illustrated in Des O'Malley's speech before the vote calling on Commissioner Flynn to state the circumstances surrounding the alleged payment to him of £50,000 by Tom Gilmartin.

Just before the speech Liz O'Donnell noticeably joined him on the backbenches, a few rows back from her normal seat among the Ministers of State. Putting clear blue water between himself and his Fianna Fail colleagues in government, he pointedly began: "I am speaking here on behalf of myself and my three colleagues in the Progressive Democrat party." He proceeded to clobber Charlie Haughey and laid out the PDs' position.

"It is a successful Government and we in the Progressive Democrats would like to see it continue in office. But it can continue in office only while there is trust and confidence between the two coalition partners," he said. The Opposition applauded; Fianna Fail did not.

After the latest drama to unfold this week - concerning the £10,500 interest-free loan to Fianna Fail - Ms Harney told The Irish Times: "There is no such thing as qualified support. Either you do or you don't, and I do support the Government."

Alongside this show of accord runs a fresh strategy in Fianna Fail to defend itself robustly against further attack. There will be more of that there is little doubt. Meanwhile, as one PD pragmatist put it yesterday, "We keep sailing, but the weather eye is out."