Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy has said ongoing Luas strike action is a “good thing”.

OTELIER Francis Brennan is a natural storyteller.

Actor Timothy West says he has spoken openly about his wife’s Alzheimer’s because “not to do it would be dishonest”.

THE report into the banking inquiry and the salary of the former general secretary of the IFA do not seem to be inextricably linked, writes Alison O’Connor.

Focus ***

WORKING from home means a lot of time to stare distractedly out the window, wondering why you are here, what your purpose is, and whether your team will get out of the relegation zone before it’s too late.

DOES the camp, cult classic film, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? hold a chilling echo of the gothic drama unfolding in the dear-old Labour Party?

DO you feel stimulated? It has been an electric week in politics.

Actor David Kelly got one final standing ovation as his coffin was carried out of his local parish church at the end of his funeral Mass in Dublin yesterday.

IT was political speed dating, but Enda was the man they were all hating.

WITH a maniacal manager, language-challenged waiter, hamster on the loose and racist Major in residence, it’s not the first place that springs to mind for a romantic weekend getaway.

THE wife of a former mid- western health board chairman was left on a trolley for 24 hours after being admitted with a stroke.

IN response to Micheal Job’s letter on non-poisonous ways of dealing with rats and mice (May 24), I was reminded of the famous scene in Fawlty Towers where Manuel has a “Siberian hamster” for a pet and Basil is trying to tell him it is a rat: “Ever hear of the Black Death, Manuel?

Russell Brand said he would have done nothing differently over the prank calls he and Jonathan Ross made to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs – saying the scandal “worked out really well”.

Andrew Sachs has thanked Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand for helping his career with the obscene messages affair.

Jonathan Ross has publicly apologised for the lewd phone messages he and Russell Brand left for Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.

Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand have been suspended in the wake of the controversy over their lewd calls to Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs, the BBC said today.

The Opposition was in full cry yesterday, attacking Transport Minister Noel Dempsey in relation to what he knew and when he first learnt about the Aer Lingus decision to move its Heathrow operations from Shannon to Belfast.

ERUDITE jester John Cleese, of Fawlty Towers and Monty Python fame, entertained key players in the Irish business and media worlds at the Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCH) annual dinner in the company’s flagship headquarters on Cork’s South Mall last night.

A POORLY run family business was responsible for one of the most successful television shows of all time, comedian and actor John Cleese revealed last night.

HOLLYWOOD celebrities Penelope Cruz and Kate Winslet head the nominations for the glitzy Irish Film and Television Awards.

I’M not sure which is the greater indignity: that Shannon is used for so-called rendition flights, or that we have a Government prepared to tell the world it believes the Bush administration when it says they don’t happen.

BERTIE AHERN’S misfortune stemmed from a comatose loan that was awakened anonymously and revealed to the Irish Times.

The hotel that inspired the classic comedy series Fawlty Towers will welcome four of the cast at its million-pound relaunch tomorrow.

PETER KAY’S line in Phoenix Nights — “Garlic bread — it’s the future, I’ve tasted it” — has been named the greatest one-liner in television comedy history.

Phoenix Nights: Brian Potter: “Garlic bread – it’s the future, I’ve tasted it.”

John Cleese said today he is retiring to write the history of comedy for the younger generation.

THE pattern is familiar by this stage. Munster qualify for the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup and are handed an away draw.

A COLLEAGUE watched Pat Rabbitte in the Dáil this week unleash his formidable verbal armoury in the direction of the Government benches.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday refused to rule out an increase in income tax to cover the State’s potential €2 billion exposure on nursing home charges.

The hotel which inspired the TV series Fawlty Towers has gone on sale for more than £1.5m (€2.1m), it emerged today.

I’VE never gotten into the whole prostitution thing, it just doesn’t pay enough. But seriously folks, my wife is so fat.....

In a Faulty Towers-like scenario, wedding guests are recovering from shock this morning following the collapse of a ceiling in a hotel in Kildare.