SMOKES & DAGGERS

A mischievous mix of (mostly) news

THE appearance of a most impressive series of sky-blue posters featuring Josepha Madigan threw the people of the Dublin-Rathdown constituency into a state of high alarm this week, over fears they were the first signal of an impending general election. Fortunately, those fears were allayed by the poster heading: ‘Brexit Breakfast featuring Paschal Donohoe.’ Mind you, we hope Josepha’s running mate Neale ‘Mr Brexit’ Redmond didn’t feel too left out by the omission of his name from the posters. A printing error, surely.

FURTHER evidence of an election on the horizon comes courtesy of the promise by Local Government Minister John Paul Phelan that a review into councillors’ ‘unacceptable’ pay ‘will be published ‘with a view to implementing it’.

AFTER a bruising encounter on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live, Fianna Fáil TD Thomas Byrne took to Twitter to take a swipe at Fine Gael TD and Oireachtas Housing Committee Chair Noel Rock for tweeting about everything but housing. Deputy Rock countered by asking: ‘Did you tweet that yourself or did someone else push the button for you?’ Touché.

THE investigative abilities of Irish postmen are vastly underrated. Actress and author Amy Huberman, left, told her Instagram followers she had managed to receive a package in the post this week which was addressed to: ‘Amy Huberman, possibly somewhere in Ranelagh?, Dublin 6.’ Celebrity chef Rachel Allen commented: ‘I love that about Ireland. Darina once got a letter addressed to “Delia Allen, Ireland”. Only in Ireland!