Michael Noonan doesn't take prisoners. Those who cockup had better take out insurance. The new leader of Fine Gael knows he has one shot at becoming Taoiseach, so he's not going to worry about niceties. And time is wasting.
Yesterday he got rid of the two men who challenged him for the position of party leader. Enda Kenny and Bernard Allen disappeared off the front bench and into Limbo. Mr Kenny cried "foul" and felt his demotion was bad for the party. Hadn't he received 28 votes of confidence from his colleagues only the previous week?
Mr Noonan wasn't listening. He wanted shut of Mr Kenny. He also wanted three Fine Gael seats in Co Mayo and a sympathy vote for Mr Kenny might be the clinching factor. The promotion of Jim Higgins was aimed at stabilising the Fine Gael centre in the constituency. After that, it would be a case of watching Michael Ring slog it out with Mr Kenny.
Bernard Allen got his comeuppance in Cork North Central for daring to throw his hat in the leadership ring and aspire to political control of the southern capital. Deirdre Clune - Peter Barry's daughter from Cork South Central - was given pride of place on the front bench while her constituency colleague, Simon Coveney, got a leg up as deputy whip.
After that, it was a case of allowing John Bruton time out, while indicating the chance of a place in a future government. No such consideration was shown to Nora Owen. The former deputy leader was forced to made way for Mr Noonan's fellow-conspirator, Jim Mitchell, who also grabbed the plum job of finance spokesman. It fell to Jim O'Keeffe to offer her a role as his junior spokesperson in foreign affairs.
Elsewhere, Paul Connaughton dropped to the junior ranks while Dinny McGinley took charge of arts, the Gaeltacht and the islands. And Denis Naughten was forced to make way for Gerry Reynolds, who had proposed Jim Mitchell's leadership challenge. It wasn't much of a blood-letting, as these things go. Fine Gael's front bench remained largely grey and unchanged, with the emphasis heavily on experience. The underlying reason was not the finer feelings of Mr Noonan, but a shortage of young, talented TDs. In a move to disguise this lack of talent, while maximising the effectiveness of his colleagues, he introduced a "cabinet" system under which each senior spokesman will be supported by two TDs and one senator.
By differentiating between spokesmen on policy and organisational matters, the party leader also sought to portray a leaner, hungrier front bench. It didn't work. Juggling figures is fine for financial spokesmen, where inflationary tendencies and government spending are concerned. But heads can be counted in a political party.
And when all the quasi-frontbench positions were added in yesterday, middle-aged spread became apparent. It was estimated that when all "cabinet" members have been appointed by the end of next week, an estimated 61 out of 72 parliamentary party members will - if they wish - have something to do.
It was hardly the aggressive, slimmed-down machine Mr Noonan had envisaged when he publicly challenged John Bruton for leadership of the party. But that was then. And the tyranny of geography and political alliances had to be assuaged.
A cutting edge is developing, however, under Michael Noonan's leadership. It is evident in the Dail, where the Limerick TD has adopted a waspish, hectoring tone towards Bertie Ahern that is beginning to grate on the Taoiseach's nerves.
And Ruairi Quinn, the smaller parties and Independents have been put on notice that Mr Noonan will be single-minded in pursuit of advantage for Fine Gael. Co-operation is all very fine on the opposition benches, but there will have to be a net benefit in it for the largest party. Fine Gael was in the business of leading the next government and Mr Noonan was determined to stamp his authority on the position from a long way out.
That kind of political hard-ball wasn't evident yesterday. But Mr Noonan didn't control the show. He was depending on others. Compared to his skilful performance as party leader last week, it all went slightly pear-shaped.
First, there was the embarrassment of hearing Paul Bradford announce him as "the new leader of Fine Gael, John Bruton." And then there was the matter of the nameless businessmen behind a private opinion poll on the Fine Gael leadership.
Jim Mitchell tried to head that one off by taking sole responsibility for the poll, wishing it had never happened and saying that while he knew the names of the businessmen, he would not disclose them.
When journalists persisted in their questioning, Mr Noonan's cutting edge showed razor sharp. "It's up to Jim to answer questions on this," he declared. Chop. Chop. As sharp as that. The deputy leader was on his own if the issue caught fire. It's certainly a change in leadership style.