The Dáil will never be the same again. That was the Taoiseach's view on a week where dire warnings about the health of Irish democracy were furiously issued by politicians.
Such was the heat and fervour in the chamber that the chairperson of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, Micheál Carrigy, reckoned it must have resembled the Treaty debates of 1921 and early 1922.
Despite the shouting and dogged determination on both sides of the speaking row argument, that is probably a stretch. But it was that kind of week where hyperbole was abundant.
Yet, by Thursday afternoon the mood was almost sleepy as the scheduled working day was completed some two hours early.
There is another act in this drama and in more regular times it would be quite an extraordinary period ahead.
After all, the Dáil will - for the first time in its history - vote on a confidence motion in the Ceann Comhairle next Tuesday.
Verona Murphy will survive that vote but five parties in the Dáil believe she did not apply the rules in a fair and impartial manner this week.
Those two words, fair and impartial, are the key components of the declaration each Ceann Comhairle makes upon taking office.
The Wexford TD insists that she followed the correct procedures of the House and the advice of the impartial officials at all times.
Indeed, there is a report from the Clerk of the Dáil which supports that contention.
Sinn Féin argues, however, that while this document was compiled in good faith it is nonetheless deeply flawed. The party is challenging its conclusions.
In a letter to Ms Murphy, Sinn Féin whip Pádraig Mac Lochlainn stated that the Order of Business was not validly passed as no vote was allowed despite Vótáil clearly being called by a TD.
He also writes that "in your haste to get the vote through you inadvertently proceeded with a vote on the Opposition Amendment, which itself had not been moved. The Government motion was never put".
If this were the case then the controversial new speaking slots for the Regional TDs and coalition backbenchers have not been ratified.
Without a formal legal challenge though this line of argument is likely to run into the sand given the procedural weight attached to the official record.
It does indicate that while Tuesday's confidence motion could mark the last major joust in this row, there will be residual gripes and deep-seated bitterness.
In the words of one veteran politician, the resolute approach of the Opposition and the imperious tone of the Government has inflicted lasting damage.
And of course every great act of destruction has a neat image to sum it all up and this is no different.
Independent TD Michael Lowry's invocation of the 1990s comical figure Fr Dick Byrne, with his two-fingered "errant gesture", is the picture that will define this particularly corrosive period in Irish politics.
But it is still possible that the ever darkening economic forecast will restore a sense of collective purpose in the Dáil.
If that does not happen, then Peadar Tóibín's call to bring in a Kieran Mulvey type mediator may just have some merit.
