A High Ahern-er - Bertie’s even bigger bulging brown envelope

Would you buy a used car off any of these men?





As I’ve remarked before, coverage of Irish (Republic of at least) politics is virtually non-existent in the UK press unless some major scandal or other momentous event has occurred. Yesterday’s Guardian in its pull-out tabloid section has a short article by the distinguished journalist Henry McDonald on “An Taoiseach” Bertie Ahern and his recent pay rise.
Apparently Bertie’s salary increase of 14.6% to £217,000 has made him the “highest paid leader of the world’s richest nations”. As if he hadn’t already accumulated enough in backhanders…allegedly that is.

Crap joke alert: As speculation continues on the possibility of a merger between Fianna Fáil and the SDLP, one important question remains. If FF do merge with the SDLP and set up their northern HQ in Derry will they call themselves Fianna Foyle?
Yes, you’ve guessed it – cue deathly, eerie silence punctuated by the swooshing of tumbleweeds in the wind and the distant clanging of a funeral bell…the day job is still intact.

The Trans-Iberian Express stops yet again in London/Quote of the day
“English football has been struggling to fill the wiry southern European pin-up shaped-hole where football meets the celebrity mainstream, since the departure of Jose Mourinho.
Where Mourinho turned up resembling a recently retired menswear model turned Mafioso power-broker, Ramos looks more like a really tough chip-shop owner. Or, on a bad day, Pat Butcher after an experiment with Grecian 2000.”

Barney Ronay in The Guardian on Tottenham’s new manager Juande Ramos.