It should have been a vital week of discussion and negotiation on Strand Two of the Northern talks, on the crucial question of North-South relations and institutions. But it was completely wasted by the media circus generated by the intention of the two governments to remove Sinn Fein from the talks.
The governments would appear to have been clearly justified. Indeed, if they were to abide by the Mitchell Principles and uphold those principles of political action and non-violence, they had no option but to request the departure of Sinn Fein in the light of the two most recent murders by the IRA, which Sinn Fein refused even to condemn.
Instead of getting on with vital and important work, the three days of the Dublin Castle meeting were hijacked by a Sinn Fein public relations stunt, where it sought to portray itself as some kind of hapless martyr.
The vast coverage given to Sinn Fein at home and abroad was a godsend to it. Even the foul language of Gerry Adams, in his outbursts caused by his alleged frustration, seemed contrived and intended more to obtain media attention than to express any genuine emotion.
Drapier remembers that it was not so long ago that Sinn Fein and its allies were refusing to recognise the courts here. Now it uses the courts to try to launch a major action by inviting these selfsame courts, that it condemned so roundly so recently, to intervene on its behalf to save it from the consequences of its own undemocratic behaviour.
The two by-elections have formally got under way at last with the moving of the writs this week. Things will begin to move now, as they will be over in two-and-a-half weeks' time. Unlike many by-elections, the result in each case is not predictable with any certainty and, indeed, things may move strongly in one direction or another.
At the moment, from Drapier's soundings, it would appear to be a close call between Labour and Fianna Fail in Dublin North and an equally close call between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats in Limerick East.
Fianna Fail appears to have more than its share of troubles in Limerick East, where Willie O'Dea likes to run things his way. He has generated some friction within the organisation there which has resulted in a reluctance by some prominent Fianna Fail people in the constituency to involve themselves in the campaign - in support of what they feel is Willie's nominee.
Things appear to have come to a head for Willie a few nights ago in Castleconnell when, at an obviously very fractious meeting, O'Dea claimed that some of the members of the party had called him a liar.
The shock of this to the finely tuned and sensitive O'Dea system was so great that Willie was forced to promise a libel action against the alleged offenders as soon as the by-election is out of the way. This promises to be one of the great political trials of our time and Drapier hopes Willie will do better than Albert, who got nothing from the jury and a penny from the judge as the value of his good name.
Willie gives Mount Street the jitters and it announced about 10 days ago that it was wheeling in Gerry Collins from Europe to take over in Limerick as director of elections and to push Willie aside. By all accounts Gerry has not yet arrived. However, when he does finally land in Limerick, Drapier would love to be a fly on the wall to hear his impassioned plea to O'Dea: "Willie, I appeal to you, don't burst up the party".
People think a by-election is a difficult time for the candidates, which of course it is. But it is also a fraught period for the incumbents, who are never happy to see a new political star arise on their own party horizon in the constituency. Their enthusiasm for their own candidate therefore varies from lukewarm to freezing cold depending on the threat he or she offers at the next general election.
These two by-elections are causing a new and different grief to all parties that have to operate the expenditure provisions of the electoral Act of 1997 for the first time. The Act seems to have thrown up all kinds of problems and anomalies which were never foreseen during its passage.
It is claimed on all sides that some of the interpretations being put on the Act by the Public Offices Commission, that has to operate it, were never intended by the Oireachtas when passing it.
The talk around Leinster House is that amendments are likely to be made to the Act but they will probably be made by agreement because the Government does not have the stomach to introduce legislation on this topic which would be mightily contested.
Its lack of stomach for a fight was vividly illustrated in the past week by Charlie McCreevy's speedy capitulation on the credit union matter. In all his years in the place Drapier cannot recall a faster volte-face.
The Minister's proposal does not seem to have been totally out of line with what the credit unions were looking for - but there was such an instant angry reaction that he abandoned his intentions with extraordinary haste, presumably because his phones were hopping with calls from Limerick and Dublin North.
Credit unions are one of the great untouchables of Irish life. They are like the GAA, the Legion of Mary and the St Vincent de Paul Society all rolled into one.
The banks may not be best pleased at the very favourable treatment of credit unions, but they are hardly in a position to complain in the week when AIB announced an increase in its annual profits to a figure in excess of half a billion pounds.
That is real bread. No wonder your local bank manager loves you more than you love him.