John Bruton is gone but his lieutenants remain at the helm of procedures. Yesterday they ended the hopes of the Noonan/Mitchell camp for a short leadership campaign, ensuring there will be an eight-day contest during which any opponent of the early favourites will have every chance to build support.
Michael Noonan and Jim Mitchell have already been running for five days, airing their thoughts in the media and furiously working the 72 parliamentary party members. Now Enda Kenny has got on to the starting blocks and Charles Flanagan is considering doing the same.
For anyone who wants a chance of catching Mr Noonan and Mr Mitchell, a long campaign is essential. With Mr Noonan the clear favourite, a number of senior figures who may not have much chance of prospering under his leadership have little to lose in backing the alternatives.
The front bench is expected to be slimmed down from the unwieldy 23 it grew to under Mr Bruton. In addition, Mr Noonan has a number of supporters he might feel like rewarding.
Some senior figures who voted for Mr Bruton have already calculated that there may be no place on the new front bench, let alone in a Noonan-led government.
They include Mr Flanagan, Frances Fitzgerald, Phil Hogan, Gay Mitchell and the deputy leader - and acting leader - Nora Owen. They will be examining the other options and will form the basis of support for whoever becomes the main alternative.
Enda Kenny was anxious yesterday not to put himself forward solely as a candidate of the demoralised and bruised Bruton camp. His supporters claimed yesterday to have the support of several of those who voted to oust Mr Bruton - including Avril Doyle, Fin tan Coogan and Sean Barrett. He said he had received approaches "from many members who both supported and opposed yesterday's motion of no confidence".
But his two-sentence declaration of candidature did contain a little swipe at the Noonan/Mitch ell axis. He was running, Mr Kenny said, "to provide a real choice for members of the parliamentary party and in the best interests of Fine Gael nationally".
The none-too-subtle implication was that in being presented with a choice between the two who wielded the dagger against Mr Bruton, the party was not getting a real choice at all.
Mr Kenny's early declaration within hours of Mr Bruton's defeat may secure him as the main opposition to Mr Noonan. His personal laid-back style would ensure a civilised and calm campaign. Popular, witty and an accomplished raconteur and mimic, his personality would not spark a bitter campaign.
Charles Flanagan's entry - should it happen - could ensure a more combative contest. His style is blunter and tougher. As party whip, he was a key Bruton organiser during the unsuccessful campaign to save his leadership.
Jim Mitchell maintained again yesterday that he was running, but many in the party doubt whether he will be a candidate when nominations close on Monday at 6 p.m.
While he has a core group of loyal supporters, Mr Noonan is widely seen as having a considerable lead over him at this stage. He yet has to decide whether running as a single ticket - for leader and deputy leader - is necessary to ensure victory.
Sources from different sections of the party predicted that Mr Kenny would put in a creditable performance, but none was predicting victory. One senior figure in the Bruton camp said that while a good campaign could perhaps garner 25 votes, "it's a long climb" to the 37 votes needed to win. After the last week, he knows that very well.
While Mr Bruton's supporters deeply resented Mr Noonan's challenge to their leader, that's all over now. They are pragmatic politicians and will choose the person they think best placed to lead the party back into government.
Mr Noonan made the first significant policy intervention, signalling he would shift Fine Gael to a more traditional pro-nationalist position rather than the one of neutrality favoured by Mr Bruton in relation to Northern Ireland.
Mr Bruton regularly disputed the Fianna Fail view that the Government's primary role in negotiations with the British government was to represent the Northern nationalist position. Instead, he argued several times, the Government must represent nationalist and unionist concerns equally. Yesterday, Mr Noonan harked back to the days of Peter Barry and Garret FitzGerald, when, he said: "SDLP supporters in Northern Ireland looked to Fine Gael as the party that they had an affinity with in the South . . . Fine Gael are a nationalist party. We're a party with the generous nationalism that has given rise to the Good Friday agreement and I would certainly ensure that our position is not misunderstood".
This is substantially shifting the basis upon which Mr Bruton built his Northern Ireland policy. It was a rare intrusion of policy into what has been an entirely personality-driven internal debate over the past 10 days.