When people hear I work in media, the first thing they jokingly say is ‘boozy lunch’. I like my drink. I can drink for Ireland under the right circumstances. However there is a line I will not cross. I will not drink during my work day. Let me define what a work day is. It is a morning of work and it is an afternoon of work with a lunch break in between. During that break, I will not drink. If I was returning to the office to do ANY form of work, then I will not drink. It is a simple but effective way of working and it shows respect to my employers.

All of my colleagues are the same. We work hard and we play hard but we respect the workplace.

Oh that our TDs had similar standards. We were all amazed by the scenes during the final stages of the Dáil debate on abortion leglislation. It was an embarrassment to any definition of democracy. Instead we heard tales of skulling pints and grabbing unsuspecting female TDs on to laps. These images flew around social media sites as soon as they occurred. Forget the debate: look at how we all had a ‘lock in’ as we did the state some service.

We did not know how much was actually spent on booze until now. Thanks to a Freedom of Information request, we now know that €1,140 was spent in the member’s bar. That’s 179 pints of Guinness and Lager. And while we’re at it, let’s not forget the bar is a private bar so prices will be discounted to.

And that means that while the most socially progressive piece of legislation ever passed by the State was being debated, the employees who were involved had moderate-high levels of alcohol lubricating their brain cells.

I see.

And these folks want to be a single chamber parliament. Do you trust them?