urlar lake

“I’ll be leavin’ in the mornin’, soon as the dark clouds lift…”

Still in Ballyhaunis after the long weekend. Must say I’m always a bit surprised at how many people here seem to read this blog. The ones I spoke to over the weekend were unanimous on one point. “Fuck’s sake Butler,” an old school friend chided. “If I read that bloody International Bar story one more time, I’m going to slit my wrists.” Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry RTE… this is Ireland’s greatest person.

Next month RTE launches its search to find Ireland’s Greatest Person. As usual when the national broadcaster adapts a successful format from abroad, the resulting mess will likely serve only to remind us of what a small and, in the wider scheme of things, insignificant nation this actually is.

The BBC’s 100 Greatest Britons list in 2002 included personages as august as Churchill, Shakespeare and Darwin. Our list runs to only forty names. But it still finds room to indulge the preposterous candidatures of Mssrs. Daniel O’Donnell, Michael O’Leary and fully three (three!) members of the Boyzone camp: Ronan, Stephen and Louis Walsh. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I’ll be a son of a gun!

Spotted John Rocha on Exchequer Street, Saturday morning. He was wearing clogs and holding an enormous cigarette holder. Someone told me RTE are doing a countdown of the all-time greatest Irishmen. Well, I’m gutted J.R. didn’t make the cut. Because we are nation of chancers and bullshit artists. And this guy is beating us at our own game. Read the rest of this entry »