It took a week but finally some of the Volvo Ocean Race sailors found an Irish star they wanted their picture taken with.

For a nation known — fairly, or not — the world around for its drinking habits as well as its riches-to-rags economy, it’s disappointing that no Irish hostelries feature in a compilation of the planet’s 50 best bars.

ALONG with spices such as vanilla, coffee is catnip for humans, a sort of mildly psychoactive cup that cheers.