At least all sides can agree they’re happy the campaign is over

Fittingly, the lacklustre referendum campaign finally died of embarrassment in the very place it had been trapped in all along — a dead end.

Eamon Gilmore was pursued around a leafy cul-de-sac by three relentless female no protestors in a sort of sombre, slow-motion reverse of the famous Benny Hill sketch in which the British comedian chased women around a park. But instead of the jaunty speeded-up music for a soundtrack, there was just a chorus of abuse from the noisy naysayers, with the whole spectacle ending when the Labour leader disappeared through a gap in the far wall. Curious.

The other campaigns all ploughed on to the end in similarly suitable style, with Declan Ganley once more gripped by delusions of grandeur, Enda Kenny refusing to answer questions, Sinn Féin tipping up at their concrete comfort blanket of the GPO, and the lights going out on the Socialists.