When the Healy-Raes were negotiating the agreement to form the Government, they colourfully cast themselves as the fourth leg of the Coalition stool.
The Government is still standing, but it has been shorn of that leg after Michael Healy-Rae surprised the Dáil chamber and quit his job as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture.
The numbers tell the story; the Government began the day with 94 TDs aligned to it. Now it has 92 after both Healy-Rae brothers returned to the Opposition benches. Eighty-seven is the number required for a Dáil majority.
There were clues that something was afoot, but they were subtle ones.
Colleagues spoke of the Kerry TD looking glum from early morning. He had confided in them that the political waters were getting choppy.
But it was interpreted as a reference to his brother Danny's imminent departure from the Government ranks.
Watch: Michael Healy-Rae tells Dáil he will resign as Minister of State
Then just after 3.30pm Michael's son, Jackie, and his sister, Rosemary, walked up the steps to the Dáil's public gallery.
Moments later, Chief Whip Mary Butler left her seat in the Dáil chamber and sat on the steps beside Michael Healy-Rae.
Both looked dejected, and he shrugged his shoulders a few times.
There is a view offered by someone with a knowledge of the last-minute negotiations outside the Dáil chamber that Michael Healy-Rae was told by the Taoiseach that his job as minister was over, if his brother did not vote confidence in the Government.
This is something the Kerry TD denies.
When he stood up and began to speak, his tone was laden with emotion. His ministerial colleague at the Department of Agriculture Timmy Dooley was sitting several seats away.
Four sentences into the speech he shot a sudden glance in Michael Healy-Rae's direction, apparent incredulity etched on his face.
There was a man overboard and his brother was sure to follow.
Politics is primarily fuelled by local issues, but international events played a major part in this resignation.
Indeed, he told the Dáil that it was the sight of grown men crying over the cost of diesel that convinced him to ditch his ministerial role.
There was an accusation too that the leaders in Government were not listening to the people and a claim that Taoiseach Micheál Martin was condescending.
Known for their high functioning political antennae, the Healy-Raes concluded that the fuel protests left them too vulnerable to remain in Government.
The Government's €500 million package announced at the weekend was not enough to alter their thinking.
Their exit does not bring the house down on the Coalition, but it shows that the rising fuel prices have unleashed a political crisis.
And there is no end in sight to the greatest energy shock in half a century.
That makes the road ahead for the Government increasingly challenging.
