The Menu, having saddled up the doughty Neidin and ensured his Party Hat was cocked at a particularly rakish angle, lit out for the Big Smoke earlier this week to the Irish Food Writer’s Guild Annual Food Awards, one of the highlights of the Irish culinary year when the cream of Irish food writers assemble to honour the world-class Irish food world.

A Protestant church leader met murdered Catholic schoolboy Michael McIlveen’s family today – and urged other youths not to risk their lives through pointless sectarian bravado.