In the Leinster House canteen last night, the chalked menu board offered a dessert of custard pie.
It was snapped up by many Fianna Fáil TDs as they prepared to watch their party leader eat a pie of the humble variety later in the evening.
And that he did in an emotional address laden with sorrow.
The build up to the crunch gathering had seen Micheál Martin phoning more TDs and talking in a tone that was strikingly humble.
There was even word that some ministers had received calls from communications experts asking how their leader might improve his internal messaging.
Anyway, by the time he got to the Fianna Fáil meeting rooms on the fifth floor of Leinster House, the swagger he displayed on the RTÉ Six One News on Monday was long gone. It had infuriated his already seething colleagues even further that evening.
This time his voice seemed to break with emotion, and his hands momentarily shook as he said sorry.
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Micheál Martin spoke of being devastated about how it all had gone wrong for Jim Gavin.
He said that he understood the enormity of recent events and the disappointment of party members around the country.
After all, he was a man who always had the best interests of the party at heart.
Whether it was an outpouring of genuine emotion or a skilled politician again demonstrating his agility, what followed was a far better humoured and measured meeting than had been expected.
Yes, there was harsh criticism of how Jim Gavin had been selected, from TDs such as Séamus McGrath, James O'Connor and Pádraig O’Sullivan.
Indeed, when Mr O’Sullivan set out the timeline of the chaotic events of last weekend, he was challenged several times by Micheál Martin, but a spat did not develop.
An impassioned speech from Pat the Cope Gallagher contended that the party leader conjured up a contrived majority to make the Gavin selection happen. No one publicly disagreed.
Galway-West TD John Connolly was equally scathing about the entire process and called for an independent review.
That’s not quite how it is going to play out though. Instead, the party will set up a committee to look at these matters, but the party leader will not get to select its members.
Speaker after speaker vented about how their views were never taken heed of in Micheál Martin’s world.
Privately some had compared themselves to mushrooms, always kept in the dark and covered with s***.
Former Ceann Comhairle Seán O Fearghaíl stuck with the food theme.
He reminded those present that Charlie Haughey’s portrait was looking down on them, before recalling how the former party leader once brought a few TDs to a restaurant. After ordering his food there, the waiter asked, "what about the vegetables?" to which he responded, "they’ll have the same as me".
This approach sums up the treatment of the current parliamentary party, he stated to much amusement.
Perhaps even more significant though was his view that Fianna Fáil must have a plan in place for a slew of internal reforms by the beginning of 2027, after the country completes its EU presidency term.
This is viewed as a signal that the leadership question should be broached at that point, something those close to Micheál Martin last night dismissed as "wishful thinking".
That is for another day. In the early hours of this morning the curtain finally came down on the parliamentary party meeting after more than five hours of talking as contrition filled the air.
Roll on the review.
