Have they no homes to be going to?

Let’s take it as a given that from now until May, any time a politician opens his or her gob, they’re canvassing for votes.

If that’s the case, how does all this talk about drink-link buses make you feel?

I’m sick of media headlines about the so-called “death of rural Ireland”. Am I the only one who thinks this is a teeny tiny exaggeration???

When you hear rural publicans describe the situation, you get visions of frail elderly men cowering in their homes of an evening, trembling with fear in case those mean, nasty gardaí DARE to stop them for swerving on the windy country roads after “a few jars” (translate – five or six pints with whisky chasers).

And as though describing the plight of these legions of persecuted pensioners wasn’t enough, there’s an even more daunting prospect to consider.

Are you sitting down?

Seemingly there’s a likelihood that some of these rural pubs may actually have to…wait for it…GO OUT OF BUSINESS ALTOGETHER!!!! HOLY GOD!!!! SAY IT ISN’T SO!!!

When demand for a product is no longer there, a business closes down. Fact. And it’s seldom a good thing.

Just ask all the workers in Cork who have been devasted in the past few months. All they have as excuses for their redundancies are things like globalisation and outsourcing.

How does that compare to a pub calling time because of our pioneering smoking ban and road safety?

I can’t believe we’re expected to be debating this nonsense. Is that the platform on which the election is going to be fought outside the Pale? Whether or not a bunch of aul fellas can play dominoes?

Can we PLEASE get this non-issue off the national stage and get back to things like health, childcare and house prices?