SMOKES& DAGGERS

Inside the corridors of power...

THE IRFU’s Twitter account, moving with the times, announced the team to play Italy by their Twitter handles rather than the traditional ‘CMH Gibson, AJF O’Reilly’, etc. It prompted Today FM’s Gavan Reilly to tweet: ‘With no Gordon D’Arcy, this might be the first Ireland Six Nations XV who are all Twitter users.’ Epic fail! Back came comedian Dara Ó Briain with Gordo’s Twitter account, @ gordonwdarcy, and the comment: ‘Now that IS funny’. Reilly then tweeted: ‘@gavreilly follows @ Gordonwdarcy sheepishly’. STILL on a rugger theme, Smokes noticed that Tom McGurk’s Wikipedia entry lists his claims to fame as ‘poet, journalist, radio pre- senter and sportscaster’. While it’s true that McGurk did have a poem anthologised in the Penguin Book Of Irish Verse, the average punter would likely list his accomplishments in reverse order, starting with ‘Miriam O’Callaghan’s ex’! WHEN Finian McGrath asked Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald whether Sikh gardaí would be allowed to wear a uniform turban as in England, left, her answer was a decisive erm… She said: ‘As Ireland becomes more multicultural… there will be changes to accommodate that. I would like to see greater diversity among An Garda. The expectation is that people will wear a set uniform.’ TEA isn’t Pauline McLynn’s only obsession, apparently. The actress, aka Mrs Doyle, arrived in Kilkenny last Sunday, ahead of a week of filming Jim Sheridan’s Secret Scripture in nearby Inistioge. On arrival, she immediately mounted the barricades at a doggie demo, delivering a rousing speech. The protest was against handing the Carlow-Kilkenny municipal dog pound to an animal

carcass disposal firm. YO, the homies at the Garda Traffic Bureau Twitter account were reprezentin’ this week. They posted a warning of ice on the roads on Wednesday. One would-be funny tweep asked: ‘What if Vanilla Ice and Ice T need a lift?’ The bruthas in the Garda massive answered: ‘You should stop, collaborate and listen.’