The Beardies.

You must watch a few minutes of this. It's hilarious. Are we to believe that those beards are all real, or did some of them come from the Joke Beard Shop at the north end of O'Connell Street? Nobody grows beards like that any more. Nobody makes videos like this any more. And keep your eyes on the little guitarist on the left. They don't even make Irishmen like him any more.

And on the subject of modern Irishmen, I once knew a woman who liked Michael Flatley. She was the deputy front of house manager at the theatre. I remarked to her on one occasion that we shouldn't let old people in, since they smell funny and get in the way. She became quite angry with me, which wasn't really surprising. You'd have to be completely devoid of any sense of humour to take Michael Flatley seriously, wouldn't you? Nylon beards are just about manageable, but Michael Flatley...