Outside the Radisson Hotel in Dublin there was the now-ubiquitous group of pro-Palestine protestors chanting. They were few in number but noisy.
Why they were there is unclear as the previous government was robust in supporting the Palestinian cause. Some people, it seems, are in a permanent state of protest whatever the issue.
To the delegates entering the special Fianna Fáil ard fheis to approve the new Programme for Government, they were little more than an irritant.
Fianna Fáil members were upbeat and nothing was going to spoil this day.
Assuming the leadership of Fianna Fáil in 2011 following the economic crash, Micheál Martin’s task seemed Herculean.
The tide was out on this party and it had suffered the greatest defeat in its 85-year history. Fianna Fáil haemorrhaged a whopping 57 seats.
Martin was dubbed by media pundits as being the first leader of the party who will never hold the position of Taoiseach. A lesser man would have walked away. But not the Corkonian.
He had a hide like a rhinoceros and the focus of Dustin Hoffman’s Rain Man. Martin believed he could revive his party from the grassroots based on its centrist roots.
Few agreed with his optimism – not least those within his newly diminished parliamentary party.
But rebuild he did. Root and branch. He also faced down internal disquiet and took decisive action on rogue members.
Like Sean Thornton in The Quiet Man, he asserted himself when required. Contrary to the conventional image, he was a reforming leader and brought about fundamental change to a tired national organisation.
Of course, he made mistakes, but never lost focus of the bigger picture. Soon Fianna Fáil was the largest party in local government and today it is the largest party in both national and local government.
Fianna Fáil activists, councillors and TDs began to believe in life beyond the abyss. The party now has 48 seats in Dáil Éireann, up 28 from the dismal performance of 20 in 2011.
On a cold damp Sunday in January, the nearly man arrived to address his party faithful. Nothing nearly about Micheál Martin today.
He now stands on the cusp of serving a second term in office as taoiseach.
The assembled media were in tetchy form at the informal press conference. Martin arrived slightly late, preceded by the current Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien. Both individuals were relaxed.
When Martin took to the microphones and cameras he was flanked by a youthful team of Charlie McConalgue, Jack Chambers, Aisling Dempsey, Catherine Ardagh and Albert Dolan.
This is the future Fianna Fáil. A future some thought (hoped?) would never happen. Martin calmly and in a considered away brushed away media negativity. One could almost sense their disappointment.
The Programme for Government is robust and meaningful, said the incoming taoiseach, and what’s more he chastised those present for overlooking its commitments to disability, better government and increased contributions to the Shared Ireland initiative.
Downstairs in the crowded bars and restaurants (Fianna Fáil could have hired the RDS), none of that mattered. The old guard were there but fewer numbers and no less enthusiastic. New faces glad-handed the veterans, like Dr Rory O’Hanlon – a sprightly 91.
There’s definitely a buzz to the Soldiers of Destiny. They can look forward to their 100th anniversary next year with confidence. There’s a vibrancy to Fianna Fáil - which will now charter its own course for a new generation.
And the quiet man of Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin, deserves their gratitude and he got it in spades.