The Grumpy Old Blog

ON THE PASSING OF THE 46A To those of Irish descent (I was thrown out of an Aer Lingus Dublin to Milan flight in a shamrock-green parachute over Manchester myself), you may care to join me in a minute's silence for the passing of a well-loved Dublin institution. So well-loved, that a group called Bagatelle mentioned it in their 1980 worldwide hit "Summer in Dublin". This passing institution is no less a monument to Irish society than the 46A bus from Dublin City Centre to the port suburb of Dun Laoghaire, the one no one outside Ireland can either spell or pronounce. Actually, it's getting to the stage that not many people in Dublin can spell it either (according to a poll undertaken in Allahu's Snackbar, Glasnevin) Yes, the passing of this great institution. I remember standing at bus stops in the rain myself, putting my hand out and seeing this great 46A pass by. It was one of the first buses in the world to follow the "safety in numbers rule", where yo...

Ah. As they say in China. Ah so. The approaching General Erection. Ah so. Private Eye is a great (pardon the approaching, unintended pun) eye-opener as to how the 650 of them (minus the really good and great amongst them, for example Jim Murphy and Alan Johnson to name but two - please note MPs from other other parties are also available from the aforementioned 10%) just have an eye on their five-year, £67060-a-year plus expenses cushty job - unless they get a knee up into the Lords, where they are paid to wear extremely silly wigs, sleep or play Candy Crush. They really don't give a stuff about the rest of us, forever saying "I believe" or occasionally, the even more creative "we believe" at every available opportunity, compromising their Saville Row suits just for the mere few weeks of Purdah to kiss the proletariat's snotty babies or to don high-vis jackets and hard hats and pretend they actually know what is going on in a village bakery. After 7th ...