The letter writer was from Kildare. He is an outsider who doesn't understand 'Bev'. In Mayo, things are very different.

Hundreds of people turned out at The Welcome Inn in Castlebar last Saturday night for Beverley Flynn's election victory rally, where she made the shock announcement that she had settled her outstanding debt with RT�.

Just days after the Taoiseach stirred up a major controversy when he indicated that Flynn would be readmitted to the Fianna F�il party and that he wanted to see her back in the fold as an "office holder, " Flynn found herself in the eye of yet another storm.

Opposition politicians and media commentators vented their anger at RT� for allowing her off the hook and leaving TV licence payers to pick up the tab. But amid the uproar, the members of the local Fianna F�il cumann in Castlebar found themselves in a situation they had not anticipated for at least another year-and-a-half.

Members of the Johnny Jordan cumann, which was set up in 2005 after the disbandment of the longstanding Miche�l � Mor�in cumann for its continued support for Flynn, had told the Sunday Tribune last weekend, "It could be 18 months down the road before the whole RT� issue would be resolved. Until these issues are decided, there will not be any moves in relation to her rejoining the party." They also said a protracted "healing process" was needed within grassroots Fianna F�il ranks before 'Bev's' return.

Forgive the clich� but a week really is a long time in politics.

Speaking to the Tribune this weekend, Eamon Joyce, secretary of the Johnny Jordan cumann, said, "The reason Beverley was expelled from the party was that she did not have her house in order. Now that she has reached a settlement with RT�, it looks as if her house is in order and she should be welcomed back into the party. The longer this drags out, the harder the process of healing will be. I believe that Beverley Flynn will be allowed back into the party by the end of September and she will be welcome back into the local cumann then."

Tom Kelly, political editor of the Connaught Telegraph, also contends that Flynn will return to the Fianna F�il parliamentary party from her three-year exile at that time.

He believes that officers of the county's Fianna F�il D�il ceanntair will be contacted in regard to convening a meeting at an early date to discuss the process by which her membership will be restored.

Meanwhile, the Mayo News speculated last week that Flynn could be "back in the Fianna F�il fold within weeks, with the dissolved Miche�l � Mor�in cumann in Castlebar likely to be reconstituted to facilitate her re-entry to the party."

Eamon Joyce claims this would not best serve Fianna F�il in Castlebar and said it would be "disrespectful" to the memories of Miche�l � Mor�in and Johnny Jordan if any acrimony were to take place between different Fianna F�il factions in the town.

"The cumann we have [Johnny Jordan] is well organised and there are good vibrant members in it so we should build on that and we need to have everyone working together, " he said.

One of the most striking images to emerge from Flynn's victory rally in The Welcome Inn last Saturday night was a picture of Flynn with five suited men - each of them a past president of the � Mor�in cumann. Could it be that this photo opportunity was choreographed to show that the rebirth of the original cumann was imminent?

Local solicitor and Fianna F�il councillor Aidan Crowley also spoke to the Tribune about Flynn's return. "Before her election victory celebration last weekend, Beverley owed nearly Euro3m to RT�, she had launched a constitutional challenge and she was in the bankruptcy court. Her announcement that she has settled her debt with RT� has changed her circumstances, " he said.

"She was chucked out of the party for making serious misjudgements and for bringing the party into disrepute.

Her return is now inevitable towards the end of the year.

She will have to go through the process of applying to rejoin the party and that will have to involve the local Fianna F�il organisation.

"Beverley can't set the agenda for her return as it was her who was thrown out of the party. I would hope that the party headquarters would be conscious of the role we who have remained loyal to the party have played.

"The party has been fractured and went through ongoing difficulties and as a result Mayo has suffered without a strong Fianna F�il party in the county. The party will be stronger with two good, young and very able deputies in Dara Calleary and Beverley working for Mayo."

In nearby Foxford, Fianna F�il councillor Jimmy Maloney, who attended Beverley's election victory rally, speaks with affection about her return to Fianna F�il.

"Before the election there was a lot of talk in Mayo about Kenny the Taoiseach, Rabbitte the T�naiste and Michael Ring becoming a minister. So for Beverley to go out and get 6,700 first-preference votes on her own against that wave and without party support shows how strong a candidate she was.

"With Dara Calleary and Beverley working together, Mayo will be one of the strongest represented counties in the D�il for the next five years. The party needs Beverley. The media has tried to do everything to her and she has fought them so we want her in the party fighting for us."

So some might say Beverley has an "extensive neck." But it looks like Fianna F�il's grassroots are willing to forget this and welcome her back, if with somewhat reluctantly opened arms.