For all the talk at the end of last year - mostly from the Council of Ministers’ office - about how the Island’s own Brexit Bill, was the most important piece of legislation in a generation, the current House of Keys will be remembered most for modernising the Manx abortion law.

Royal assent for both bills was announced at Tynwald on Tuesday.

There is a certain irony in the fact the European Union and Trade Act was confirmed on the same day as Theresa May’s devastating defeat in the House of Commons.

But everyone is talking about the Abortion Reform Act.

The scale of the task that Dr Alex Allinson undertook when he started the reform journey in parliament two years cannot be underestimated. He instigated a massive consultation exercise and listened to every argument - from every side - while maintaining a calm demeanour that must have proven to be a huge reassurance to those patients he looked after in his ’day job’ as a GP.

He would be the first to point to campaigning that had gone on for much longer and the bravery of women who had shared their own personal nightmares to highlight the need to change the island’s restrictive regime.

But his handling of such a delicate issue has drawn praise from all sides.

He rose above the deliberate provocation of a vicious campaign from anti-abortion group Abort67 - whose failed attempt to win Manx hearts centred on displaying graphic images - while never dismissing genuine concerns.

Even when the debate was respectful, as it was inside the confines of Tynwald, there were times when many observers desperate to see reform seethed at what they saw as delaying tactics and red herrings.

But Dr Allinson listened to every argument and, when he felt it necessary, countered it. Although only an MHK for two and a half years, his performance in the handling of the Abortion Reform Bill, now an Act of Tynwald, had the hallmarks of someone with decades of political nous.

Or perhaps not? Maybe it was his relative naivete in the Tynwald sphere that helped?

His determination to do what was right and his methodical approach might have been compromised if it had been coupled with old-style political experience, the kind which can sees good intentions undermined by a fragile ego and a desire for self-preservation.

Whatever the reasons behind it, Dr Allinson’s performance was as impressive as it was remarkable.