If Verona Murphy is elected Ceann Comhairle today, it will mark a significant step forward in forming a new government.
The role was after all the opening request from the Regional Independents Group in advance of detailed discussions to form a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Verona Murphy is a competent and formidable politician, but one who has often irked those on the government benches.
Even during the Covid pandemic, she was never afraid to ruffle feathers and once accused the government of "blaming, scapegoating and ostracising" people who were not vaccinated.
As a rigorous questioner of those who appear before Oireachtas committees she has been known to urge witnesses to speak in plain English.
Plus, her warnings about what she viewed as the government's failure to plan properly for the post-Brexit trade environment at times bordered on the apocalyptic.
Before all that there was her acrimonious parting from Fine Gael after her controversial and failed attempt to win a seat for the party in Wexford in 2019.
That campaign saw her talk about the need to "deprogramme" asylum seekers coming here as they might have been infiltrated by the so-called Islamic State.
But all this has now been swept aside as Micheál Martin and Simon Harris look to have shepherded their TDs into supporting Ms Murphy's candidacy for Ceann Comhairle.
As always, almost everything in politics is ruled by the circumstances of the moment.
Indeed, Micheál Martin went to the trouble of ringing his TDs on Monday night to explain why it made sense to vote for Ms Murphy.
Her former constituency rival, Malcolm Byrne, did ask if TDs can be certain that Ms Murphy will be fair, impartial and respectful of all members?
The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting which followed heard that in an ideal world the party would nominate its own candidate for the post.
However, it was stated that the path to government requires difficult choices to be made.
When Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs vote by secret ballot they will make that choice in a move that almost certainly paves the way for a coalition involving those parties and the Regional Independents.
Simon Harris, too, recommended supporting Ms Murphy on the basis that it would help form a government and it "was the right thing to do."
It will probably take until mid to late January to fully stitch the new government together, but the first stage will in all likelihood be completed today.
The move has been derided by opposition parties, with the Social Democrats branding it a stitch up, while Sinn Féin said the role of Ceann Comhairle was being dangled in front of the Regional Independents like a bauble.
Whatever the trenchant criticism though it seems the die has now been cast.
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