SMOKES & DAGGERS
A mischievous mix of political asides with JOHN DRENNAN
WE’VE heard of led by donkeys, but quite the intriguing answer was provided by Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue when Michael Healy-Rae asked: ‘If donkeys are worth anything when it comes to stocking densities and fulfilling requirements.’
Mr McConalogue assured the TD that: ‘Donkeys are eligible for inclusion in stocking requirement calculations and are valued at 0.80 livestock unit.’
‘They must be owned by the applicant and hold a valid passport with the donkey registered in the name of the applicant.
‘They must be maintained on the applicant’s holding [and] it is important to note that no more than 50% of the stocking density requirement can be fulfilled using donkeys.’
Well they do say the law is an ass.
DURING housing questions, the normally pleasant Cian O’Callaghan indignantly declared that he wanted an answer from a proper ‘senior minister’ rather than the mere juniors scattered around the sun king that is Darragh O’Brien.
Observers tell us the grin on O’Brien’s face was broad as instead the mere Junior Minister, FG TD Kieran O Donnell, above, stood up miserably to respond. An unflappable Darragh observed: ‘We allocate the questions.’
SHADES of the Holy Stone of Clonrichert surrounded the agitated declaration by the FG Senator Michael Carrigy that in the Seanad Order of Business that something needed to be done about: ‘The stones of Inis Cloithreann in Lough Ree which were stolen from the island and brought to America before being retrieved’.
Mr Carrigy added: ‘They have been in storage ever since. If I am not mistaken, they have been in a facility in Roscommon for the past 30 to 40 years and have not been seen by anyone in that time.’
An astonished Regina Doherty said: ‘It seems bizarre that we would have a national treasure, one that is particularly important to the Senator’s part of the woods, in storage somewhere. I thought we only stored e-voting machines.’