From the people chanting on the doorstep, to the workers at Leinster House walking across the grass taking pictures of the red, green, black and white flag, to a senator voting for an opportunity via Sky News.
John McGahon brought it back to a two-state solution worked out in 1922 during an unusually long interview on the British International Broadcasting Service over lunch yesterday.
“Ireland has a deep affinity with the Palestinian people because we too were oppressed by a colonizer,” he said, without naming the empire in the room.
There was a two-state solution between Britain and Ireland, said Senator McGahon, providing reasons why three-state recognition could ultimately pave the way to a peaceful future for the Middle East.
Everyone applied the historic move for their own purposes, but also called it a historic first step.
Eamon Ryan said he was proud that the Green Party had demanded the inclusion of Palestinian recognition in the government's program four years ago.
Sinn Féin reminded everyone that it was his motion ten years ago that led to the Dáil voting unanimously to recognize a Palestinian state.
Mary Lou McDonald said, “It is never too late to do what is right.”
And then, just as the big speeches were over and speaking rights were being exchanged between rank and file and the opposition, there was more reaction from above.
At 4.29pm a group of young people in the public gallery began chanting “sanctions now”, while Leas Cheann Chomhairle Catherine Connolly raised her eyes to the public gallery and rang the doorbell in a vain attempt to restore order.
Within seconds she realized that it would not stop while the proceedings were being conducted, so she abruptly adjourned the Dáil. Parliamentary staff entered and the demonstrators were literally led out.
Four minutes later the House was back in session, with the Leas telling the public gallery: “I understand the depth of feeling,” but asking everyone to respect the House and its speakers.
The debate resumed with a little back-to-statement resolution.
Subsequent reports emerged of a man successfully climbing the railing of Leinster Lawn, at the back of the House, with the intention of pulling down the Palestinian flag. He was intercepted by ushers and handed over to gardaí. Indeed, passions ran high.
Applause rang throughout the speeches, with a particularly impassioned speech from Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy, with that party and other left-wing MPs also arguing that MEPs should not back Ursula von der Leyen for Speaker after next week's election of the European Commission. In that sense, all politics remains local.
Litanies of young victims were read, as well as the names of companies that stood to profit from discord and death.
There were calls to revive fallen legislation such as the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban the import of products made in illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made a sharp verbal attack on the Israeli government that he would never have done as head of government.
Freed from all restraint, he called that country “very illiberal” and said the Gaza offensive was “a total military and political failure, not just a humanitarian catastrophe.” Hamas had not been destroyed, he said.
Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, became emotional over the deaths of children in Gaza and appeared to cry over the rocket attack on Rafah last weekend which left “a headless child”.
He shouted out loud: “I hope Benjamin Netanyahu burns in hell the same way those children burned.”
People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny wore a keffiyeh. “Some people may call it symbolic, but symbolism brings tremendous hope around the world,” he said simply. “Israel must be held accountable, otherwise it will be a stain on our history and our humanity.”
Then he added, “Sometimes there are no more adjectives.”
But there were nouns, and he chose genocide from them, just like Bríd Smith, PBP European election candidate, who spoke after him.
She claimed that Palestinians were among the asylum seekers camping along the Grand Canal who had been evicted and their tents taken. Meanwhile, 100 Israeli engineers were granted expedited visa applications to work at Intel, she claimed.
The Greens' Patrick Costello made it clear that Ireland, Spain and Norway were not the first – that Sweden had recognized Palestine years ago. But he did not want to downplay the importance of the occasion, especially in the current context.
So there they stood, all friends of Palestine, fervently hoping that solidarity will have a solid effect, even as demolition and destruction seems to be the grim order of the day.