Céad míle fáilte
Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 13:05 Greetings from Dublin.
Weather: wet and overcast.
Arrived via train from Cork where I had a meeting yesterday with our man in Ireland, John Mallon.
John has been all over the airwaves these past two weeks. Even the newspapers are beginning to wake up to Forest's presence.
More to follow after I have checked into my hotel and ordered a (very) strong coffee ...
Update: I had barely sat down in the lobby with my newspapers, my iPad and a cup of coffee when a man sat down on the sofa opposite me and introduced himself as 'Frank' (not his real name for reasons that will become clear).
Within minutes we were chatting like old friends. Frank - a retired civil servant - asked me what I do for a living. "I run a lobby group for smokers," I said. "I'm here because we've set up a group in Ireland."
Frank looked at me. "For smokers?" he asked, suspiciously.
"Yes," I said.
He stood up, leaned over and ... shook my hand.
Frank, it transpired, is a self-confessed nicotine addict. He smokes cigars. He's also an alcoholic (although he no longer drinks) and has bipolar disorder for which he takes medication (13 tablets) every day. Apart from that, he's fine.
"Why am I telling you this?" he said. I don't know but we talked and talked - about smoking and drinking, politics and the economy - for well over an hour.
He told me he once smoked a cigar while wearing a nicotine patch and fell over, running for a bus, cutting his head. Too much nicotine, said Frank.
Eventually I said I had to go and do some work. I gave him my card and Frank gave me his address. ("I don't have email," he said.) We shook hands (again) and bid each other goodbye.
"I hope I haven't talked too much," he said.
"No," I replied. "It was good to meet you." And I meant it.
Reader Comments (2)
Frank is one of the many that Governments ignore.
It's so beneath their dignity to talk with one who is so ----- er ----- 'common'. and ------ er ------ unimportant ------- after all he isn't of 'our class'.
...and the tobacco taliban consider it just fine and dandy to deliberately make this man's life even more difficult than it already is.