Back in 1994, £50,000 would buy you a house. 
Not a swish house in a fancy area, it’s true, but a good house nonetheless, in a solid, decent neighbourhood.
The kind of house and neighbourhood that decent people have to save for and work hard to pay for over twenty or twenty-five years.  The sort of house [...]

Forget Northern Rock.  That’s all smoke and mirrors.  All about consumer confidence and talking the economy up or down or sideways
Remember instead Aer Lingus and Shannon.  Remember these people who keep telling us that government has no business interfering in the free market.
Who remembers Allied Irish Banks?  Who remembers that the Richest Bank in the [...]

This is a real clip. Colm Meaney got it past the American censors.

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The phone rang.  It was Limehouse Dick, and he was worried.  I could hear him sweating.
Northern Rock, he said.  They’re in trouble.
Yes, I said. I know.  In fact the entire world knows, you cretin!
No, he interrupted, You don’t understand.  I was burgling Alan Greenspan’s house last night while he was out launchin’ his book, wotsit, [...]

I see Alan Greenspan reckons the Iraq war is all about oil.
I see.  Would that be Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and not some other Alan Greenspan?  Maybe it’s Alan Greenspan, a raving overthrower of all that is decent and good and American and freedom-loving in this world?
No.  It would be the [...]

Much was made during the week about Kate and Gerry McCann being named as arguidos, or official suspects.
Before that, you might recall, the Portuguese police declared a totally innocent man, Robert Murat to be an arguido, on the clever policing insight that he’s separated and has a daughter of his own back in England, and [...]

Macdara has raised an interesting point, and one that I know people are divided on.
He wants to know what flag the Irish rugby team carry.  By extension, I think he’s asking what flag they should carry.
My personal view is the the tricolour is not the appropriate flag because the Irish rugby team represents more of [...]

Knock! Knock!
Who’s there?
Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang!
Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang who?
Police!
Story here

Did anyone watch that tonight? 
Hmm?
Did you see it?  Did you see that?  Did you watch that piece of shit?
Well, punk?  Did ya?
Was that, or was it not, the final proof that we should give up following a ridiculous game we’re no good at?
Oh wait.  Shit.  I forgot we’re no good at rugby either.  I forgot [...]

They’ve arrested the Pope, muttered Gonad the Ballbearian.
What’s that?  I looked up from my escritoire and removed my meerschaum.  The devil you say!
The Pope, he said.  You know.  Busy chap in Rome.  Tall hat, curly slippers.  Former head of the Inquisition.  German chap, if memory serves.
Good God, man, I know who the Pope is.  Who [...]