It's no major surprise that Bertie Ahern has bowed out of the contest to be Fianna Fáil’s presidential candidate.
However, the former taoiseach has not wasted the opportunity to take several swipes at party leader Micheál Martin on his exit, along with settling some scores.
He has made it very clear that he was willing to serve but those entreaties were spurned by the party leadership.
Others have also noted that Mr Ahern did not appear to have the required five nominations to proceed to the internal party vote.
But he has chosen to focus his ire on the Fianna Fáil leader.
In a 35-minute recording of remarks to supporters, he said he believed he had all the attributes to be President, but he acknowledged he did not have the backing of the leadership.
"The decision was made beyond my control. And I can do sweet nothing about it," Mr Ahern said.
He went further though and relitigated some of the old accusations on his stewardship of the economy and the findings of the Mahon Tribunal.
On the crash, he spread the blame widely, saying "we were all in it together".
It seemed obvious to everyone else that there was no way that Fianna Fáil wanted to reopen these old wounds after working so hard to rebuild the party brand.
But Bertie was determined to have one more go.
For Micheál Martin, this removes one minor headache.
Another remains in the form of the challenge to his authority mounted by Billy Kelleher.
The Ireland South MEP and party stalwart has succeeded in ensuring there is a contest in the party rather than a coronation.
At this stage however, he looks likely to be defeated.
His camp maintains that it is mathematically possible for him to emerge victorious from the parliamentary party vote on Tuesday.
However, the sheer numbers of Jim Gavin’s public declarations mean that it is unlikely, although not impossible in a secret ballot.
For Mr Kelleher’s supporters, they are taking heart from the number of undeclared TDs and Senators.
Watch: Billy Kelleher questions early endorsement of presidential candidates
They say this is against a backdrop of strong pressure being exerted on people to bend to the will of the leader and come out publicly for Jim Gavin.
Tuesday is D-Day. The party’s 71 TDs, Senators and MEPs will gather in Fianna Fáil rooms in Leinster House.
Both Mr Kelleher and Mr Gavin will be asked to make a ten-minute pitch for votes.
Then a secret ballot will be taken with results expected around lunchtime.
If, as expected, Jim Gavin wins out, Micheál Martin will have succeeded in exerting his will over the party once again.
But he has also expended some serious political capital in his personal selection and backing of a man who is an unknown quantity politically.
That means there is a lot riding on a decent performance from Jim Gavin in what can be a bruising and unpredictable contest.
And a failure to connect with the electorate would ultimately be damaging for Micheál Martin.
