A withering response leaves minister longing for the exit

It might have been the friendliest welcome of the week for Ruairi Quinn at the TUI conference but it may have been the hardest to endure.

After red cards, placards, and heckles in Wexford and Cork, the education minister may not have been prepared for what the TUI were to throw at him, namely a response to his speech which lasted almost an hour.

While delegates had been warned not to run over time when speaking at the podium, nobody was about to stop president Gerry Craughwell going well over the allotted time in delivering a withering and hugely popular response to Mr Quinn’s remarks.