It was a good day for the 23 citizens, among them a heavily pregnant woman and a one-year-old baby, who in recent weeks have escaped ongoing bombardment, faced energy cuts and food shortages, to finally make it to the border crossing with Egypt.

It was also a good day for Mr Martin.

Many politicians would have used the situation to ensure their faces were recorded in history. But instead of waiting around for the photo-op with delighted children and families, the Tánaiste was back on a plane on route to Tel Aviv for yet another round of discussions, which without doubt will be testing.

It will now take an even greater level of quiet and consistent background maneuvering to ensure our remaining Irish citizens, especially eight-year-old Emily Hand, also escape the Palestinian enclave.

Word that a breakthrough in evacuating Irish citizens was imminent came on the tarmac of Baldonnell airfield yesterday evening as the small group of journalists travelling with the Tánaiste were alerted to the unfolding situation.

Department officials had been made aware that “several” Irish citizens were likely to be among the list of names published for evacuation.

Opposition members have in recent weeks been suggesting that the delay in getting Irish people added to the daily list of evacuees was a retaliatory move from Israel against Ireland, a country viewed as being overtly pro-Palestinian.

This was never publicly acknowledged by members of the Government, but one senior source involved in the discussions privately admitted: "We were worried".

They added that there is very little that Israel doesn't have a hand in when it comes to decisions being made in Gaza.

By the time Mr Martin and his officials arrived at the private terminal in Cairo at 2.30am local time, the list had been published and with it the hope that up to 30 Irish citizens would exit the strip.

Those selected citizens had been asked to be at the Rafah border for 7am, and by 11am Mr Martin was being briefed over an outdoor breakfast at the Marriot Hotel that the first group was making their way through the crossing.

In reality, substantial work to get the Irish trapped in Gaza had been in train since almost immediately after the October 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent bombardment of the Palestinian enclave.

Two calls between Mr Martin and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in recent weeks were highlighted as important and led to the Tánaiste's visit to Cairo yesterday.

It is this constant cultivating and minding of relationships that is hoped will ultimately prove successful in protecting Irish citizens trapped in war.

Mr Martin is acutely aware of this and his years at senior level politically are now standing to him.

When he met with secretary general of the Arab League Abu Gheit yesterday, he was stepping into a room with the man who he had met back in 2009 when he was serving his first term as Foreign Minister. During that visit, Gheit managed to help his Irish colleague across the border from Rafah into Gaza.

As dusk fell and those who had made their way out were in transit to the Egyptian capital yesterday evening, Martin paid tribute to those on the ground who had been working to ensure Irish citizens were finally added to the list of evacuees.

One source, in stressing the level of diplomacy that has been at play across Egypt, Israel, and other parts of the Middle East over the last 30 days, said: 

In the background, there has been daily contact — and by daily contact we mean multiple calls between the Foreign Ministry in Egypt and embassies in the region.

Taking a co-ordinated approach, officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin have been holding daily, or in some instances twice daily calls with embassy staff in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, and Cairo to strategize, and this will continue.

Getting more people out will require working with both the Israeli and Egyptian authorities, Martin stressed.

"I've been taken aback by the argument that the first thing you do in a war situation or a conflict situation is expel an ambassador, there's no substance to that and it makes no sense in terms of the conduct of diplomacy, the maintenance of communication channels, which are which are absolutely essential."

While the meetings with both the Egyptian foreign minister and secretly general of the Arab League were yesterday described as positive, Mr Martin will have to speak to a considerably tougher audience in Israel tomorrow.

He will be using the opportunity to "stress the urgency in getting all of our citizens out as quick as we possibly can given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza itself, and also to raise the issue of Emily Hand."

Turning the focus to an eight-year-old who is believed to be in Gaza after being taken hostage in the October 7 Hamas attacks, Mr Martin said the overall situation with hostages is “very delicate” and "very complex”.

“We haven't gotten precise confirmation as to precise location, whereabouts, or indeed haven't got any definitive proof of life.” 

Mr Martin said work is ongoing to ensure that when hostage releases are being negotiated Emily Hand is prioritized.

He said: “The Egyptian authorities have been very helpful here and have a very good overview, given their past experience in negotiating ceasefires between Hamas and Israel.

“And I've also spoken to the Qatari foreign minister who likewise has channels."

Mr Martin understands that diplomacy must trump personality politics if Irish citizens are to be protected.

He may not have sought the limelight yesterday, but his quiet approach should be recognised.