Game over.

Two weeks ago, An Taoiseach and leader of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, Brian Cowen announced he was happy with the outcome of the confidence vote he had called and that he would "lead a party determined to face into the upcoming electoral contest". He sounded like a premiership manager claiming he had the full support of the team's board of directors.

Today the very same Brian Cowen gave his farewell speech following the dissolution of the 30th Dáil. His is no longer the leader of his country, he is no longer the leader of his party, and his political performance over the last two weeks has been so disastrous that he will not be contesting the parliamentary seat he held for 27 years. There can have been few falls from political grace that were as great, or as quick.

It has not been a good two weeks for Mr Cowen, but it has been a worse two years for the Country. Despite the inevitability that Mr Cowen's leadership will go down in Irish history as the worst the country has seen since it's formation, Mr Cowen still gave us one last great quote;

"I leave very proud of the fact that my integrity is intact and my good name remains intact"

There can be little doubt that Brian Cowen was, and still is, in denial.
The poster are up already
But for now, we get to move on without Mr Cowen. By the time I reached Blackrock Dart Station at 5pm this evening the election posters had already gone up. In just over three weeks we will have a new government.

There are commentators who think Fianna Fáil could see their current total of 70 seats drop to the low 20s, and given the failed policies and cronyism that they became infamous for, it seems like just deserts. Maybe, just maybe, Fianna Fáil and the voters have learnt a very expensive lesson.