Old guard is buried with full political honours

It was a very civilised coup. After seven hours and 48 speeches, the Fine Gael parliamentary party emerged from its meeting rooms last night having consigned John Bruton's 10 years of leadership to history.

There was no hint of acrimony. The old guard was buried with full political honours, having pledged its loyalty in advance to the new one. And to the applause of supporters gathered in the courtyard of Leinster House the party proceeded calmly, if with teary eyes, towards a pre-election meeting today. Mr Bruton had fought the battle of his political life and lost narrowly. But he accepted the decision without rancour, confirmed he would run again in the next general election, and spoke of his certainty that Fine Gael would return to power. The mood was sombre, but Mr Bruton's infamous laugh - perhaps freed at last from the shackles of the party's image makers - did manage an appearance. This was when his deputy leader, a tearful Nora Owen, paid tribute to him as a "convicted politician," before correcting the record: "A politician of conviction, I mean".

Liam Lawlor had been among those milling around the courtyard earlier. He looked relaxed and for once was ignored by the media. But he wasn't there to hear Ms Owen's gaffe, as politicians of other parties and none steered clear of intrusion on Fine Gael's private grief.

The grief was real. Richard Bruton, Phil Hogan, Ivan Yates and John Bruton himself seemed close to tears at the press conference.

The sadness affected the winners too. Olivia Mitchell paraphrased the Duke of Wellington: "The only thing sadder than a battle lost is a battle won".

The successful challengers were as dignified as Mr Bruton had been, although there was irony in Michael Noonan's comment that Fine Gael was "a big national family". Jim Mitchell didn't blink alongside him, but one of the features of the last four days has been the starkly different stands taken by the Mitchell brothers, Jim and Gay.

A more optimistic note had been struck earlier yesterday by Austin Deasy, when he arrived for his party's leadership showdown asking reporters: "Do you know what day it is? It's the last day of winter."

It must have been a hard winter for Mr Deasy. Two months ago, in expectation of mild weather, he planted the seeds for what he hoped would be a new Fine Gael leadership. But a sharp frost hit the parliamentary party, and his fragile plan was nipped in the bud.

Even before yesterday's meeting, he was claiming vindication for his gambit. It was worth losing "one small battle" to win the big one, he said.