Roddy Doyle pens brilliant short story about marriage equality
In the story, Doyle - who shared the story on his Facebook page - imagines a conversation between two men about how they're going to vote, referencing one of the men's gay nephew, Ronaldo and James Rodriguez.
As always with Doyle's writing, it is a witty, dry look at Irish life.
The story in full:
-The marriage equality referendum?
-Yeah.
-Yes.
-You're votin' Yes?
-Yeah.
-Why?
-Me sister's son - me nephew.
-He's gay, is he?
-Yeah.
-So you're supportin' him.
-Have you become Joe fuckin' Duffy or somethin'?
-I'm just curious.
-Then, no, I'm not supportin' him.
-But you're votin' Yes?
-Look it, he's a grand kid but he's an irritatin' little prick as well.
-So - . I don't get yeh.
-I'm watchin' the football, righ'. He always comes to the house when I'm watchin' the football. An' he sits beside me - grand. But then - say it's Real Madrid. He'll go, 'Oh, I love Ronaldo', or 'Pass it to Ronaldo.' So - like, last night, I lost it a bit and I said, 'What's so special about Ronaldo?' An' he says, 'His pace, his accuracy, his leap, his ability with the dead ball, the way he can turn, his engine - the stats speak for themselves.' Never mentioned his fuckin' hair or his six-pack or whatever they're callin' muscles these days.
-An' that annoyed yeh?
-Well, he fooled me. No - he made me think like a fool. An' he's always doin' it - catchin' me ou'. So, I thought to meself, 'A few years o' marriage will fix tha' little fucker's cough for him.'
-That's why you're votin' Yes? It can't be - .
-No. I'm just messin'. Look - fuck it, I love him. He's a great kid an' if he ever wants to get married, he should be able to. An' me sister can have her big day as well.
-An' he obviously knows his football.
-Oh, he does, yeah.
-What's he think of James Rodriguez?
-Same as meself. Gorgeous an' over-rated.
The post has over 28,000 likes and has been shared over 9,000 times.

