DAIL SKETCH: Despite his recent difficulties, Michéal Martin was dramatically promoted in the Dáil yesterday when he heard himself described as Bertie Ahern's "Dauphin", writes Frank McNally.
The compliment was somewhat dubious coming from Pat "Robespierre" Rabbitte, who has a penchant for comparing Government members with characters from 18th-century France.
But it was doubly undermined by the contrast yesterday between Mr Martin and the other prime contender for the Fianna Fáil succession.
Brian "Hot Lips" Cowen positively sauntered into the chamber, chewing gum and looking easy in his skin. There's nothing like a vicious attack from the Rev Ian Paisley to boost your Fianna Fáil leadership credentials.
And now that Mr Cowen is up there with the Pope in Dr Paisley's gallery of rogues, he's also up there with the Pope in the affections of Fianna Fáil TDs.
The good news for Mr Martin was that, contrary to the impression of recent weeks, he wasn't completely without friends in Government. He was flanked during Question Time by all his junior ministers: Ivor Callely, Tim O'Malley, and Brian Lenihan.
Together they looked like d'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers (as Pat Rabbitte failed to point out, maybe because those characters are from 17th-century France, too long before the Revolution).
And whenever the Minister faced a tough question, they shouted: "All for one and one for all!"
No, they didn't. But they presented a united front, and Mr Martin - who has endured the worst period of his ministerial career without even the benefit of a personal attack from Ian Paisley - was feisty in his own defence.
That defence was a variation on the old theme of "Crisis, what crisis?" but it was impressive, all things considered.
"Language is cheap," he said. "I have heard the word crisis used to describe the health service for the past five or six years".
Liz McManus suggested the minister was "suffering from amnesia" (if he is, he could be waiting a while for treatment), and it was in developing this theme that her leader compared Mr Martin with the heir to French throne.
Asking the Taoiseach if he remembered where he was a year earlier, Mr Rabbitte helpfully reminded him that he had been in Fianna Fáil's "lavish" election headquarters, alongside the "Dauphin," promising the elimination of hospital waiting lists within two years.
There followed the kind of heckling that sometimes annoys Mr Ahern and makes him snappish. But he refused to play the part of Louis XVI yesterday and kept his head throughout.