Ireland week at Rainy Day
It's election week in Ireland. On Thursday, people go to the polls in the Republic so things Irish will be on the agenda here this week. It's a watershed vote in many ways and Twenty Major fears that the paramilitaries (recently demobbed) could end up dictating terms. Terrifying thought, that.
Ireland in 2007 is a prosperous island that houses the European HQ of Google and the country's increasingly variegated population is famously entrepreneurial and hardworking. But those old stereotypes die hard. In an episode of the hugely popular FOX animated television series Family Guy, Peter's mother tells him that she had an affair while holidaying in Ireland 40 years earlier and as a result Francis is not his real father. So Peter and Brian fly over to Erin's green shores to search for Peter's real dad. This clip depicting their arrival on the sodden auld sod is priceless.
Ouch! But as Brendan Behan said upon arrival in Toronto 50 years ago: "I saw a notice which said, 'Drink Canada Dry' and I've just started." But before anyone beats up on the Irish, remember this: In 1787, two days before their work was done, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention "adjourned to a tavern for some rest, and according to the bill they drank 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 of whiskey, 22 of port, 8 of hard cider and 7 bowls of punch so large that, it was said, ducks could swim around in them. Then they went back to work and finished founding the new Republic." The Joy of Drinking by Barbara Holland.
