Inside Politics: Given the reams elsewhere which well cover Bertie Ahern's increasing tribunal difficulties, Inside Politics today will be a Mahon-free zone, if only to show that there are other things that matter in politics - even if they are dull at first glance.
For many of the public, John O'Donoghue's term as Ceann Comhairle may still be defined by his red-faced outburst in his first days in the job last June which dominated news bulletins and entertained the nation.
However, Leinster House inhabitants, particularly those on the Opposition benches, have warmed considerably to the Kerryman in the chair in the intervening months.
For years, those who spend part of their days in the seats above the Chamber have endured a diet of ulcer-inducing rows about the Dáil's arcane procedures that were always interpreted in the most conservative manner possible. Nearly every day under Rory O'Hanlon, the Opposition would attempt to raise some issue or other only to find the doctor from Monaghan immovable. This is not to single out O'Hanlon. His predecessors were little different. A pointless row would then ensue, an hour would slip by, the gallery would empty as the public headed for mid-morning coffee, shaking their heads at this childishness as they went.
Sitting in the Chamber this week, one had the opportunity to reflect that in the O'Donoghue era such pointless, interminable battles have not disappeared, but they have, thankfully, become rarer.
Using the same rules as his predecessors, he has allowed - more often than not - exchanges to flow, rather than spending an hour trying to stop a question being asked.
Just as importantly, his attitude has led to the Opposition tempering some of its tendencies to stage protests for the outside audience, or simply to throw rattles out of the pram - lest they threaten the more co-operative spirit on offer from the chair.
Although he has denied it, and he gets annoyed when the view is expressed, O'Donoghue was not a happy man when Bertie Ahern named him to take over from O'Hanlon.
The Opposition was not happy either. During his time as a minister, he had the reputation of being one of the most partisan in a partisan business, and Fine Gael's Nora Owen still bears the scars.
In truth, they expected little more from him in the chair. Since then, however, Fine Gael and Labour have been surprised, and repeatedly so, although they are reluctant to express the view publicly.
O'Donoghue, in recent months, has taken to the highways and byways to give talks in schools, and to hosts of organisations about the work of politicians. In the eyes of some, the work may appear trivial, but at a time when the Oireachtas has slipped from the public consciousness in a way unimaginable 20 years ago, it has never been more necessary.
More importantly, the Ceann Comhairle has tried to nudge a Government/Opposition committee to agreement on a package of Dáil reform. Under the House rules, he cannot propose changes formally, although he has done so unofficially in a bid to kick-start change in a building badly in need of it.
If a pact can be agreed, it will then go before a sub-committee of the Dáil's Committee on Procedure and Privileges for, hopefully, ratification.
The proposals are hardly revolutionary, but, if introduced, they would help - particularly to allow TDs to probe the plethora of agencies and quangos that are now so much part of Irish life.
Last summer, Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan bemoaned this "Government by quango" during a speech to the Magill Summer School. However, the majority of them have been set up since Fianna Fáil took power in 1997, and they exist largely unexamined and unprobed, and often affronted on the rare occasions when they emerge into the glare.
Faced with a question about the multi-billion euro National Roads Authority, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, for example, says that he has no responsibility for the body.
Subsequently, questioning TDs may write directly to the NRA, or to any other of its equivalents. If lucky, they may get a reply within weeks.
Only rarely will they be better informed.
Under the changes proposed, Ministers would accept such questions and demand a briefing from the relevant body within eight, or 10 days before facing the Dáil. In addition, the adjournment debates - one of the very few opportunities that TDs have to raise current issues - would be taken earlier in the day.
Currently, they often happen late in the evening, attracting little media attention - partly because the relevant Minister does not turn up, and, instead, passes on the duty to a colleague, who will read out a script, and take no questions.
The Ceann Comhairle, some sources say, had wanted to be given a role in the prioritisation of Government business, but the latter has baulked at that idea.
Tánaiste Brian Cowen this week sought to blame the lack of progress on Dáil reform on the Opposition, sighing as he often does, in his "I know best" manner, when faced with questions from across the floor.
Regardless of their merit, the Opposition, however, has put forward ideas. Brian Cowen has not. It is about time that he and others did if the Oireachtas is to regain some of the lustre it once had. John O'Donoghue deserves credit and support.
Stephen Collins is on leave