More about Swift.

More about Swift.

Reading through The Meath Chronicle I see The Swift Festival got rave reviews, though I'm not sure Alastair would appreciate the comparison. On being asked by a Dublin radio station if he'd seen any stags while he was in Meath he replied that he hadn't been to that county yet and on being further pressed declared that he saw 17, including one in his bedroom. Not a man to be underestimated by any means. Considering the satirical leanings and the nature of the hinterland something more appropriate might have been "In the Loop". Terrible joke, I know! The above was a spin off from the BBC Television series "The Thick of It", and satire at it's best, and why it didn't get an Oscar I don't know. Malcolm Tucker was not a man to cross. But back to the stags, where was the passion on the Hospitals or the Banks? We are a strange people. On the Battle of the Books it was nice to get a review of Michael Farry's piece on his Blog, and satirising a certain type of poem and one that needed satirising was a good way to go and probably didn't get rewarded enough. Tommy Murray's piece was awarded third place in The Swift Satire Contest and if I remember right satirised everything, while Mark Doyle and James Linnane went to the heart of the matter and probably didn't get the votes they deserved. Jimmy Peppard did a marvelous piece, and from memory! while the ladies? I only heard them on the day and maybe they'd read them again at the Knightsbridge or somewhere further down the line. Which wasn't a bad song.

Photo: Launch at the OPW July 1st 2010.