He who laughs last laughs the loudest, and Warren Gatland, the burly Wales head coach, might be feeling as though the whole of Ireland is chuckling at his expense this morning.
The New Zealander had tried his best to defuse the atmosphere surrounding his return to Ireland by claiming the fierce barbs directed his way by the Irish media in the lead up to the game had caused hilarity amongst his Welsh charges.
However, there was little doubt Gatland will have been chastened by the vitriol that spewed forth, which included him being deemed as "snappy as a menopausal warthog".
There has been little love lost between Gatland and some sections of the Irish press corps since he departed his role as Ireland's head coach in 2001, when he was replaced by the man who was hitherto his assistant, Eddie O'Sullivan.
Wales versus Ireland matches have been infused with added significance since he took over the reins of the Welsh, hence the pre-match baiting. He attempted to laugh off the jibes, but he was forced to suffer the final indignity when Wales were comprehensively outplayed by his former side last night.
In addition to the Gatland-bashing, much had been made of the mouth-watering battle between the two Ospreys wingers, Tommy Bowe, of Ireland, and Shane Williams, the Welsh flier.
Yet it was the least heralded winger on the field, Keith Earls, who eventually stole the show.
Until the start of this Six Nations championship, the 22-year-old Munsterman had been best known to many for his error-strewn debut at centre in the opening match of last summer's British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa, a tour on which Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley, the Wales coaching triumvirate, were part of the management. The performance of Earls, the youngest member of the squad, in the first tour game against a Royal XV, was compounded by a shoulder injury he sustained.
Since then he has reinvented himself as a winger of substance, making the most of the injury-induced absence of Luke Fitzgerald by scoring three tries in the past two games in the green shirt.
The Irish stole a march on their guests midway through the first phase following indiscipline from Lee Byrne, the Wales full-back.
While he spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin, Earls and Tomas O'Leary, the scrum-half, took advantage of the added space by touching down tries.
The Irish should have been out of sight by the half-time whistle, but Johnny Sexton allowed them a glimmer of hope by way of his wayward radar.
The fly-half was ruling with the ball in hand, yet was less convincing with the boot, passing up eight points in the first-half, which eventually ended 16-6 to his side.
Wales had a fine chance to reduce the arrears early in the second-half, but botched their opportunity after the stand-in captain, Martyn Williams, opted against a gettable three points in favour of a scrum close to the Irish line.
Once that chance went, the away side's problems were exacerbated as Earls helped himself to his second, and Ireland's third try.
Sexton's travails continued off the kicking tee, but he was coming into his own out of hand, and sealed the victory when he dropped a goal with four minutes left.
The preceding days had not brought solely bad news for Gatland. The evening before the game Gavin Henson's pop star partner, Charlotte Church, announced on BBC TV show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross that he was ready to return to the game.
The dual Grand Slam-winning centre is believed to still be a key part of the coach's plans, even though he has been on indefinite unpaid leave and has not played since March 2009.
How Gatland could have done with him as the Irish eased to their triumph at Croke Park.
sports@thenational.ae
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.