As she now faces a Sinn Féin motion of no confidence, Ms McEntee must brace for another week as the focal point of this Government's performance. She is unlikely to be ousted from office, barring a massive volte face by coalition colleagues, so it will be another week of scrutiny for the justice minister.

The week started with Ms McEntee looking to fast-track legislation on facial recognition technology to combat future riots, as gardaí sought to trawl through 6,000 hours of footage of the scenes that unfolded in Dublin on November 23. 

While news of the stabbing of three children and their carer at a school in the north inner city reverberated around the country, the riot that followed put policing in the public eye.

Sinn Féin called for Ms McEntee to be sacked or walk of her own accord, but the party had missed the deadline to put forward a no-confidence motion, meaning that Tuesday's Dáil proceedings would focus on mere statements on the issue of policing. 

The stakes were lower, but the temperature of the debate was high.

Before that even began, Ms McEntee had called a short-notice press briefing, but her tenure was unlikely to end in the cold winter sunlight outside Government Buildings.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the discussion on policing must be "about more than asking for heads to roll". He praised the justice minister for her work and said that gardaí had more money available than ever and would have between 700 and 800 recruits this year. 

He said that the Dáil chamber could not act as "judge and jury" on Ms McEntee's career.

During her statement, Ms McEntee said that her thoughts are with the five-year-old child and her carer, who both remain in a critical condition in hospital. 

She said that such a "happy scene could become one of horror" has "shaken" the nation. 

However, she said that the riots that followed were conducted by a "group of extremists seeking to cause havoc" and said that these protesters were joined by "opportunistic thugs" who would be "treated as such" by the justice system. 

A group of extremists had used a tragedy to "sow hate", Ms McEntee told the Dáil.

Putting the blame on those who had stirred up the riots was Ms McEntee's strategy, but this was called "brazen arse-covering" by Mary Lou McDonald. 

Ms McDonald, a TD for the area affected, was passionate and forthright, but the Government benches met her head-on.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said Sinn Féin "cannot police its own party" and was in no position to speak about law and order. 

While Fianna Fáil TDs were not strong in their support, there are few planning to vote against Ms McEntee.

As it happened, Ms McEntee had already been pencilled in to take Wednesday's Leaders' Questions and the opposition wasn't ready to move on from the riots just yet. 

What followed was a strange sight as Louise O'Reilly held up a picture of a man drinking on the steps of a building next to the school which was the site of the stabbings, and Ms McEntee called those involved in the riots "scumbags".

At the same time, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris arrived at Leinster House to speak to the Oireachtas Justice Committee and it was Ms O'Reilly who pulled at a thread that had been making some ministers privately nervous. She asked Mr Harris about a timeline of the day of the riots. 

Mr Harris' inability to give a clear account at first go would have increased that nervousness, but following a short break, the commissioner clarified that he had spoken to Ms McEntee just 30 minutes after the stabbing and they were in contact throughout. 

Mr Harris' calm and the committee's inability or unwillingness to make any criticism stick meant that his job was not under any immediate threat as he left the campus, beyond barricades and additional gardaí which remain in place in case of renewed violence.

On Thursday, Ms McEntee defended her use of language while an innocent Algerian man had been identified as the suspect in the stabbing online following the publication of an anonymised story about his asylum case by the website Gript. 

The man is receiving Garda assistance and security advice because of the actions of far-right agitators, some of whom are being investigated for their part in the riots.

It is a reminder that real people, most importantly a child and her carer, remain affected.

However, the Sinn Féin motion means the politics will rumble on.