After qualifying for the Euros in 2012, then-Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni famously declared: "The cat is in the sack but the sack is not closed. The cat is in it, but it's open - and it’s wild!"
Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman appeared to let the cat out of the bag yesterday morning, stating that 29 November was the preferred date for a general election, fuelling the view that it was all but set in stone.
But the Taoiseach did not waste any time in putting the cat it back in.
"Certainly not," Simon Harris said when I asked him if we now have the election date - that date being 29 November.
"I want to do this at time that is right for the country and a time that makes sense."
But as Trap colourfully explained through translated Italian, that the bag was left open, so it seems to be the case with the 29 November election date.
The expectation has been contained somewhat - but not quite quelled.
We now have the closest thing to clarity, without it actually being called.
But the coalition parties have inadvertently placed themselves in a field battle over how it should happen.
It all kicked off when Mr O'Gorman, became the first of the three coalition party leaders to state definitively and publicly when he would like the election to be held.
"We need to bring clarity. My preference is for a date in November ... 29 November," he told reporters addressing the political elephant in the room.
It will be brought into a room in Government Buildings on Monday night when the three party leaders meet.
Minister O’Gorman said he will tell Micheál Martin and Mr Harris that the public is sick and tired of the "will they, won't they" speculation, and it is time to give them certainty.
It is hard to conceive that Minister O’Gorman would have put a date into the public domain without having a firm indication that he is right.
To get it wrong would make him look like the weaker party leader who is left out of the decision-making loop.
There are reasons the date he mentions makes the most sense from a logistical and chronological point of view.
It allows a number of long-awaited pieces of legislation to get over the line next week.
This includes the Maternity Protection Bill - a priority of the Green Party which enables new mothers who suffer serious illness to defer their maternity leave until after their sick leave ends.
That date allows for the Finance Bill - giving legal effect to many of the measures in the Budget - to be passed on the first week of November before the dissolution of the Dáil.
The Dáil is in recess on the last week of October for the Halloween midterm.
A break from Dáil questioning and scrutiny provides a soft backdrop to launch the campaign which would then last three weeks.
Anything later than 29 November would mean running into December and a clash with that more eagerly anticipated event - the Late Late Toy Show.
Anything earlier risks interfering with the passage of the Finance Bill.
That legislation "putting meat on the bones of the Budget" is the key determinant now, according to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.
He backed calls to bring clarity to the matter, saying: "This is something we can deal with next week."
There are now two out of three coalition party leaders saying clarity should be given in the coming week or so.
The difficulty with that is - if a date is given and the starting gun sounded - even if it has not officially been called - the campaign would be on.
Given that long campaigns usually favour the opposition, that is something the Taoiseach will be eager to avoid.
Mr Harris told RTÉ News that he wants to finish the work the Government has underway and will then "engage and take the views of the other coalition leaders in relation to the appropriate timing for a general election".
Pointedly, he said he will not be doing his engagement or consultation through the media "but I will be bringing clarity to this matter shortly."
He said: "I am conscious it’s my constitutional prerogative to decide when to seek a dissolution of the Dáil. But I’m also very conscious of the fact that I think this Government has worked very well together and therefore I want the government to end well too."
Following events yesterday, it is highly likely that the election will happen on 29 November.
The coalition leaders agree that clarity is needed. But when it will be given and how is something they are not in unison on.
No matter how hard they try, an orderly end to any government’s term is never guaranteed.
