This week's debate in the Dail on the payments made to Ray Burke demonstrated that since the Belfast Agreement the Taoiseach has changed. If the same debate had happened late last year Bertie Ahern would have reacted differently to the barracking he received.
His answers would have grown shorter and more testy. His temper and his temperament would have been stretched to breaking point. What we saw last Wednesday evening was a man more sure of himself. Capable of dealing with a flood of repetitive attacks calmly. A skilled Dail performer who has added an extra dimension to his abilities.
Defusing or neutralising hostility is a skill. One of its key disciplines is the ability to react to aggression by removing the emotional element and handling the factual core of the issue. What the Taoiseach did was listen to the accusations, discard the hyperbole and personalised attacks and answer the question at the heart of every tirade. He refused to get involved in the sort of slanging match that cheapens the Dail chamber and reinforces the low opinion the Irish people have of their politicians. But his opponents kept trying to up the emotional stakes until they looked comical by comparison with the even-tempered responses they were getting.
A number of commentators have claimed this was not a good performance. They're right, it was a great performance, one that showed Bertie Ahern has grown into his role as Taoiseach and matured as a politician.
Proof of this can be provided in Friday's papers. The only major new Ray Burke-related story was the statement from the Tanaiste on the outcome of an examination of the files relating to his time as minister for industry and commerce. A story relegated to page 6 of this publication indicated that no political meddling took place in relation to grant applications from Rennicks, the company at the heart of the accusations against Ray Burke.
In particular, Mary Harney's extensive written reply to John Bruton's questions points out that, while a £240,000 grant was approved, this all took place a month before Mr Burke became the minister responsible for this area.
The only other new element of the Ray Burke story reported at all was that the legislation to widen the scope of the Flood tribunal has been completed and ail business has been adjusted so that the expanded powers will be in place by Thursday afternoon.
These powers will be enormous, and the tribunal's remit will be a large one. Specifically it will be empowered to determine "whether payments were made to Mr Burke in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that the motive for making the payments was connected with any ministerial office held by him or had the potential to influence the discharge of such office".
This speedy response was exactly the right thing to do for two reasons. Firstly, it shows the current Government is not in the business of covering up anything. It wants this issue to be dealt with efficiently, quickly and independently. If there is anything there to be exposed it will be exposed in such a way as to reassure the public.
Secondly, it shows that Bertie Ahern understands that the Fianna Fail party has to treat this sort of thing as what it is. A historical irrelevancy. An element of the past that must be examined, clarified and put behind us.
I say "us" not as a supporter of Fianna Fail, but as a citizen of this State. Even the suspicion that brown paper bags or envelopes might be involved in politics has to be removed. Consigned to the past, to the bad old days. We deserve a forward-looking Government that is grown-up enough to admit to mistakes, to understand their scale and implications and to learn from them so that they are not repeated.
That learning process has already started. Yesterday's papers include the specific details of every contribution over £500, including clothes and cars, made to the presidential candidates last year. Next week the figures for the last general election will be published. When that level of transparency is in place the sort of questions that have been raised this week cannot occur again.
There's one final element of this whole controversy that has been widely hinted at: that the Taoiseach appointed Ray Burke because Burke had something "on him". I know Bertie Ahern a long time, and this doesn't sound like something he would do. I think the real reason for the appointment is much more straightforward, logical and appropriate.
Consider the situation facing Bertie Ahern when he came to create his Cabinet. He knew the single most important issue facing the nation was the situation in Northern Ireland. So he needed an experienced minister in the Department of Foreign Affairs. A minister with impeccable republican credentials, a first-class negotiator who had been deeply involved in the area in a previous administration and someone who understood the precise workings of Government.
He put the best qualified person into that job. And that minister performed excellently at those talks. But when the baggage that Ray Burke had brought with him began to overshadow the work he was doing, the Taoiseach did the right thing, and he was replaced.
Accusing the Taoiseach of a lack of judgment in appointing Ray Burke in the first place knowing that the baggage was there is unfair. The events of this week have shown that Bertie Ahern did not know the full extent of the problem, and it will take a full judicial inquiry to find out what the truth of the matter is.