It would be remembered, Vincent Browne said, in a rare moment of understatement, as a remarkable day in Irish politics. At 10 p.m. on Wednesday, the politically curious minority of the population tuned into what has often sounded like the longest-running show on the radio, the Flood tribunal, as dramatised on Tonight with Vincent Browne (RTE Radio 1, Monday to Thursday).
If Frank Dunlop's evidence was some sort of vindication for Flood and Co against the shut-it-down naysayers, the triumph must surely be extended to the Tonight programme itself, which has stuck with the tribunals through thick and very thin.
On Wednesday, the show "cleared the deck", in its presenter's words, to present extended coverage of the evidence. The scheduled Holy Week discussion of the New Testament had to wait. (Theologian Robert Dunlop wasn't warned off in time, and so was present to finish off the programme with a dramatic passage from Isaiah.)
Frank Dunlop at last turning State's evidence was also yet another triumph for actor Joe Taylor, to go on the long list that includes his renditions of Dunne, Gogarty, Burke etc. etc. (he really should put out an album). As Dunlop, Taylor's accent minced unsteadily along a zigzagging line between Dublin 4 and Kilkenny. And, my goodness, he hit the ground running, matter-of-factly relating Dunlop's earthquake of an opening sentence: "I will answer any question you ask me, to the best of my abilities, in relation to the lodgements and the dispersements."
In fact, it didn't get all that much more obviously dramatic than that, what with no names as yet being named. This did, in itself, lead to some amusing passages, as Dunlop struggled to say "he or she" when he clearly had someone particular in mind. "You have to understand this is a very difficult exercise for me," he said.
Counsel for the tribunal, Patrick Hanratty, wondered aloud: "I wonder should we refer to them as `It'?" But it seemed in the end that "he" would substantially cover it.
And while the substance covered was remarkable, regular listeners to the Tonight dramatisations have become accustomed to a certain bifurcated listening. We take in a few "plot" details, but largely wait for the panel to flesh these out; our ears spend more time seeking character clues in Taylor's interpretations of a witness's unique turns of phrase. "I cannot absolutely recollect that the person had specified a figure" . . ."The reason I am pausing is because of identification issues" . . . "I valued my briefcase".
The delicacy of Dunlop's situation was almost unbearable. Finally, out of the blue, out of the tension, he suddenly begged off: "Could I, Mr Hanratty, beg your indulgence . . ."
In his own way the guy on Today with Rodney Rice (RTE Radio 1, Monday to Fri- day) sounded equally dramatic. Spinning the dial one morning this week, I heard someone called Phillip Harris say: "The government will make an announcement declaring that the pound has ceased to be legal tender." And I wondered if I had managed to miss news of a total financial collapse, and/or a coup.
Alas, no. Harris was simply helping us to "euro-ise". It hardly seems likely that the introduction of the euro will pose complications to match, say, the demise of the shilling, but Rodney Rice is nothing if not a public-service broadcaster. If the explanations occasionally cross over into championing the new currency, we can hardly be surprised at the fit-up.
Glenroe has often been another of RTE's blunt propaganda instruments. And Biddy, in particular, has been a mouthpiece for progressive rural Ireland, leading the way on market gardening, agri-tourism, housing development etc. That may help to explain the absurd argument about the sensitivity or otherwise of the decision to kill her off in a car crash. Liveline (RTE Radio 1, Monday to Friday) started there but, happily, moved on to have some real, loopy fun with the topic, Joe Duffy audibly enjoying himself.
We heard it all, from the people who thought this plot development was particularly cruel to real people who have lost relations in accidents, to the amateur dramatists with murderous improvements to suggest: why not have a summer of "who killed Biddy?" speculation, with the local property developer as the topical chief suspect?
Joe, ever alert to controversy, had other topical suggestions: when Biddy is finally despatched to the great beyond, will there be a eulogy at her funeral?
Then there were the right off-the-wall comments, like those from a woman who, a propos of viewers' love for TV stars, recalled a friend who was infatuated with Delia Smith. "She puts her fingers on things," it seems.
Anyway, it seems it will be left to Miley to urge acceptance of asylum-seekers on a dubious Glenroe. The good news from Cloneen, Co Tipperary - as related on Tipp FM's local news on Wednesday - was that a local councillor said he was happy for the village to accept refugees, as has been proposed.
The bad news? He reckons Cloneen can only accommodate 10 (that's 10, count your fingers). The State's proposal of "38 to 40" is "just not suitable". What's more, Cloneen only has a part-time garda these days. The councillor wants a "24-hour Garda presence" in light of the refugee plans.
I wonder should we refer to them as "It"?