Ye Brat, Yeh..

... or, No Profanity, We're Irish.

The air was blue in Dublin recently and bloggers got plenty to blog about
due to a verbal kerfuffle in the Dail. I used take bets with myself about
how long I could watch any parliamentary debate on TV before turning off,
due to boredome mixed with awe. The thought of getting up every morning
to do a job that involved roaring invective at people seated on the other side
of a room continues to amaze me. But that is what politicians do.

For more than forty years I have listened to Radio 4 and for much of that time
"Today in Parliament" has lulled me to sleep at night. "Order! Order!" is a useful
phrase to add to one's repertoire when rearing small children.
That it must be persistently addressed at grown adults is...
well... entertaining...

Rules in Ireland are a bit different.
It seems that the strong Anglo-Saxon word used
by one deputy to another recently is not actually
banned by Dail protocol.

"Brat", however, is a very wicked word indeed...
It is used so often in Ireland that I had come to
think of it as a term of endearment.