THE Minister for Tourism and Trade, Mr Kenny, who will sign the deal in Dublin today, was first off the blocks. The first stage should begin in Killala, he said, where the French landed in 1798, and it should proceed to his home town of Castlebar.
The logistics of bringing three car ferries into Killala - with 198 riders, nearly 2,000 team and race officials and a press corps of nearly 1,000 - ruled out the Co Mayo town, whose harbour would have difficulty accommodating a trawler.
Mr Kenny was probably not very serious, but it was quite a different matter for the Ministers for Agriculture and the Environment, Mr Yates and Mr Howlin.
Both Wexford TDs, they will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the 1798 Rebellion next year. The idea of having almost 1,000 journalists (mostly French) in Ireland in 1998 was politically mouthwatering.
Mr Kenny, in classic West of Ireland style, put on the poor mouth. The organisers were looking for £2 million to stage the opening days. Mr Kenny said his Department did not have this money. Lo and behold, Mr Yates and Mr Howlin looked into their hearts and thought that if the Tour passed through Wexford they could probably find some money in their Departments.
The Tour will start in Dublin, so the local TD with the most money was approached. Sure enough, the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, has found a few bob to assist the project.
The next port of call was Mr Bernard Allen, Minister for State with special responsibility for sport. Mr Allen is a Cork City TD and he considered it essential that the Tour should return to France via Cork. But the car ferries operating out of Cork would not have enough capacity.
Eventually an accommodation was reached with Stena Line the Swedish company that operates out of Dublin, Belfast and Rosslare. It undertook to make three ferries available, including one specially modified to take up the vast transportation vehicles.
But Mr Allen's work was not done. Stena asked Cork Harbour Commissioners to waive their £15,000 fee for port facilities, because of the cost it would incur in modifying a ferry for a one off operation.
The Cork Harbour Commissioners, who could see nothing in it for them, disagreed. Mr Allen took them to task in Tuesday's Examiner. The paper quoted him as saying: "If the Harbour Board don't waive their fee then I will find the money somewhere. The Tour de France must not be lost to Cork for the sake of £15,000".
Mr Allen was abroad on official business yesterday and could not be reached for comment. But no doubt the £15,000 will he found.
If it is not, the Tour will double back and leave from Dublin.