Since Covid restrictions became a part of life almost a year ago, Government ministers have frequently had to brace themselves for what they feared would be public resistance to the further crackdowns on personal freedoms which they warily agreed around the Cabinet table.
But far from being worried once again that public patience for stricter rules is wearing thin, ministers are now concerned that the measures agreed at Tuesday's Cabinet will be deemed to not go nearly far enough.
The apparent clamour to "bring down the drawbridge" on the country, as the Taoiseach phrased it, took the Government by surprise.
Calls for a so-called "zero-Covid" strategy grew louder as experts warned about new strains taking hold, and the public got spooked by