For the second time in two years, Padraig Flynn's daughter has found herself outside the supportive environment of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party. Losing the whip once was unfortunate; losing it twice may wreck her political career.
Sympathy for Beverley Cooper-Flynn within the parliamentary party shrivelled and died yesterday when the disciplinary wheels ground into motion and Bertie Ahern cracked the whip.
There was some support from personal friends. And a few soreheads took the opportunity to have a cut at the Taoiseach. But it didn't amount to more than 10 dissenting voices. And some of her father's old friends advised her not to push it.
Outmanoeuvred and outgunned, the Mayo TD went down in style, delivering an impassioned 55-minute speech in which she explained why she had taken the libel case and why she should have won.
Expecting that the motion to expel her would be based on her refusal to meet her would-be executioners - Rory O'Hanlon and Seamus Brennan - she had opened the disciplinary meeting by offering to discuss her case with the Taoiseach.
She should have got up earlier. The Taoiseach had anticipated the move and had already secured agreement from his Cabinet colleagues for the expulsion. Seamus Brennan would propose and Brian Cowen would second the removal of the party whip. The disciplinary motion before the meeting was not a simple one based her refusal to meet party officers. It was far more subtle.
While acknowledging that Ms Cooper-Flynn was entitled to exhaust all rights of appeal in the courts, it put the interests of the party and the Government first. And, on the basis of those ground rules, the whip would be withdrawn "pending the final outcome of any appeal she may pursue".
There was to be no legal bolt-hole, no jiggery-pokery in terms of an appeal. It was a simple case of "Out", "Out", "Out".
And when she reached for her lawyer and argued that her expulsion could negatively affect her Supreme Court appeal, Bertie would have none of it. The expulsion, he said, had nothing to do with her appeal. The Taoiseach's leadership style towards disgraced party members is usually one of incremental suffocation. But when a direct challenge to his authority emerges, the response is swift and unforgiving. Beverley dared him to sack her before due legal process had been exhausted. And she had the gall to quote his own words back at him in that context.
As a mixture of impudence and arrogance, it was breathtaking. She was certainly a chip off the old block. And, just in case there might be any mistake about her position, the Mayo TD told journalists on Tuesday: "There never was a question I was going to resign (from the parliamentary party). That is an option I have never considered."
The unstoppable force meeting the immovable object? Not quite. The political tide had been ebbing for Ms Cooper-Flynn for some time, driven by consistent criticism from the Opposition benches. The finding that she had facilitated tax evasion was the killer blow. Michael Noonan and Ruairi Quinn wanted to know when Mr Ahern going to exert his authority within Fianna Fail and insist on high standards.
Last Sunday, the Taoiseach finally changed feet. Out went prevarication and "due process". In came a new-found urgency and a declaration that "a very dim and serious view" was being taken of Ms Cooper-Flynn's situation.
From there, it was all downhill. Imposing his authority within the party took on a new urgency as relations soured with the Progressive Democrats over a promise of £60 million in funding for the GAA. The Taoiseach was forced into the Dail to apologise for his solo run to Mary Harney. And Mr Ahern doesn't like humble pie.
When the crunch came, the Mayo TD didn't stand a chance. Twenty of the 40 speakers had asked her to resign voluntarily rather than challenge the motion. And when she didn't, the tide rolled over her. No vote was called. All it took was a show of hands and the motion was "overwhelmingly accepted". Ms Cooper-Flynn - along with Denis Foley and Liam Lawlor - was on the outside looking in.