In the wee hours of the night of Ireland's win away to Wales last month, at the Hilton Hotel where the squad was based, there was only a handful of IRFU officials celebrating in the same room as Warren Gatland. And they were all Connacht men.

Both that night, and on the night of Ireland's victory over England, several IRFU officials could not bring themselves to congratulate the Irish coach. After the earlier defeat in Murrayfield, and regardless of the win over England and the rattling of the All Blacks' cage a fortnight ago, there were still IRFU officials who had bullets with Gatland's name on them.

This week they flexed the muscles of their trigger fingers and fired. They like flexing their muscles every so often.

Many will wonder how the most successful year the Irish team have enjoyed since the Triple Crown and championship-winning season of 1985 culminated in this. Many will suspect there were other factors at work. That perhaps there was a row or, as some were immediately surmising, Gatland had asked for too much money.

In fact it never even came close to money. After Monday's round of interviews with Gatland, Eddie O'Sullivan and Brian O'Brien by the six-man IRFU sub-committee of Eddie Coleman, Noel Murphy, Syd Millar, John Lyons, Eddie Wigglesworth and Philip Browne, they made their decision on Wednesday.

After Coleman and Browne notified Gatland in the Berkeley Court that afternoon, by tea-time Kidney had been spotted arriving there.

The sub-committee made the final decision to remove Gatland but they have been granted the authority to take these decisions by the full committee. Not only was Thursday's monthly full committee meeting of the union not informed of the decision, but apparently none of the 20 or so present raised the matter.

But some of them did notice the unusual absence from the general meeting of Browne and Billy Glynn, a solicitor and long-time friend of Gatland's, and the union's lawyers had also been spotted in the Berkeley Court on Thursday.

Gatland was by then back home in Galway.

By late yesterday morning the word was spreading through a stunned rugby community. One of the full committe said yesterday: "There's going to be terrible aggro over this. People are going to be asking me why we made this decision and I'm not going to be able to answer it. I don't know why. People are already speculating that perhaps there was a commitment to Eddie, but one can only guess."

Reports that O'Sullivan had been offered a lucrative contract to take over as USA Eagles coach the day before Monday's round of interviews with the management trio - reports which O'Sullivan yesterday verified - are unlikely to have forced the union's hand.

Many union officials had become rather smug about having got their much-lauded structures right, about the relative success of the provinces, and they now expect major success with the international team.

Some weren't happy Gatland was based in Galway, and didn't feel he spent enough time moving around the provinces. Gatland was never the cutest political animal, and he did not enjoy a particularly talkative relationship with them. They had criticised the coach loudly after the defeats to Argentina in the 1999 World Cup, and the subsequent mauling by England, and then, after an upturn in results, they took umbrage when Gatland began agitating for an extension to his contract (which was due to expire in April) to take in the 2003 World Cup, which was in line with the position of other Six Nations coaches.

After last September's defeat in Murrayfield, there was criticism in rugby circles of the Irish coach, which helped to fuel an orchestrated media campaign against Gatland. The head coach was blamed for selectorial mistakes and flawed preparation in Scotland, and the word was that he was doomed.

But then the record 36-6 win over Wales and the 20-14 win over England (so ending a run of seven defeats against them, and ending their run of 11 consecutive wins) made Murrayfield look more of a blip, and that feeling was re-inforced by the performance against the All Blacks two weeks ago.

Those behind the decision were, typically, tight-lipped yesterday.

"No, I'm not getting involved," Murphy said. "Philip Browne is handling the media. I'm not talking one bit about it."

Coleman was not available for comment.

Browne, available for comment for the first time this week, shed little light as to the reasons behind this decision.

"What we're trying to do is move up another notch. I can't be specific in relation to the reasons why. I have to say that there was no one reason. There was a whole myriad of factors."

Browne conceded that "I'm sure quite a lot of people are astonished. We are trying to ensure we have the correct structures to move forward.

"We fully acknowledge the progress that has been made to date. Inevitably it was a very difficult decision and not taken lightly. It's disappointing for Warren and difficult for us."

The new head coach, O'Sullivan, admitted: "I'm delighted and honoured and pretty excited to be honest."

He was officially informed at lunchtime on Thursday and says this is the culmination of 15 years' involvement as a coach. "I never managed to play for Ireland, which is something of a regret for me as I got close when I played for Munster, but this is pretty special.

"Obviously we've achieved a lot in the last two years and I want to consolidate that and then help to nudge the bar higher and higher. We've a pretty exciting bunch of players," he said.

Though he admitted that he and Kidney had never formally coached together, they were of the same vintage and had both come through the Irish under-age structure.

Asked if Kidney was his choice as assistant, O'Sullivan said: "Well, when I was asked my immediate reaction was 'no problem'. We've already had a chat and we're very much on the same page."

Kidney was not available for comment.

As for Gatland, one senses part of him will be relieved to be rid of all the sniping and the pressure, though he maintained last night that: "I've enjoyed my time as Irish coach, and particularly in working with the players, and the support I've been afforded from the general public."

A planned two-week trip back to New Zealand will now be extended to five, but the Gatlands intend to stay in Galway. Along with his wife, Trudy, and children, Gabby (8) and Bryn (6), he has been living there since 1996, and he and Trudy first set up home in Galway when he was Galwegians' coach from 1989 to 1993.

As to his coaching future?

"I'm not going to rush into any decision."