For such a supposedly agricultural country, we have a weird relationship with the idea of ordinary people growing food for their own table

'Ireland at a tournament is like family. You have to love them but that doesn’t mean you always enjoy their company'

This week Colm got his vaccine in Dublin: "Obviously I’ll get a Cork shot for my booster. A bit like having the church wedding after the registry office."

"I love small museums. Because you can finish them. There is no anxiety about all the bits you don’t have time to see."

They should have had a warning. RTE Gold was playing the music from the late 90s last week. THE LATE 90s? GOLD? I was a fully grown man during those years! Albeit with a terrible earring and clothes that didn’t fit.

Imagine being at the barricades and turning around seeing a thousand slightly bashful uncles ready to give you a tow

"What sets Irish pubs apart is not trad music or old High Nellies hanging from the ceiling. It’s comfortable seats and the right lighting. Or lack of it."

Will my watch rat me out to the life insurance people if the tilt of my arms suggests that I’m wall-to-wall bags-of-cans at the moment?

"There are the grunts of frustration as I realise I’ve made a bags of it and seek to blame my daughter somehow. And I didn’t check my phone once."

Sustainability’s a hard sell right now. Our impulse is just to be unsustainable for a while. We want run out into the streets shouting “WE’VE ENOUGH SUSTAINING. I WANT AN OUTDOOR HANGOVER. TAKE MY MONEY AND GIVE ME A SUBSTANDARD POLLUTING THING.