It was the elephant in the ard fheis room and it took less than 10 minutes to come trundling into view. But if grassroots Fianna Fáil voters are to be believed, it is unlikely to stamp the party’s leader into the ground just yet.

There could well be birthday candles on the Christmas cake in Rachel Harte’s house from now on — as a happy reminder of the dramatic roadside birth of her baby girl Sienna on Christmas Day.

Students preparing for the Junior Certificate in June could be the first with the option to take politics as a Leaving Certificate subject.