Lighting up for liberty
Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 9:24 
We had a great night in Dublin on Tuesday.
The restaurant was first class.
Guests were an eclectic mix of journalists and the creme de la creme of the libertarian community in Ireland.
Everyone contributed to a roundtable dinner discussion that only occasionally teetered into anarchy.
Speaker Claire Fox treated us to her usual blend of passion, wit and thought-provoking commentary.
But the star of the evening was the smoking terrace where we began and ended the evening.
Starting at 6.30pm with drinks on the terrace, the event was scheduled to finish at 9.30.
Come midnight however not a single guest had left and most of them were camped on the terrace. When I finally left (around 12.45am) I wasn't even the last to go.
Now that's a good event!
Earlier in the day we'd arranged for Claire to do a couple of interviews on the theme of the dinner, 'Is health the new religion?'
Attacking the "joyless puritanism" of public health zealots she even managed to slip in the title of her current book.
"I find that offensive!" she told Newstalk presenter Sean Moncrieff.
Later she was a guest on The Last Word with Matt Cooper (Today FM).
Anyway it was good to try something a bit different and I think these Burning Issues dinners have a future, not just in Dublin but in other cities too.
So thanks again to everyone who took part. I won't mention names but you know who you are.
Above: Claire Fox with journalist Ian O'Doherty
Reader Comments (3)
I am glad to hear that the event was a success and that you were able to arrange some press interviews for the speaker. She is right; the catch phrase "I find that offensive" is often used to silence dissent--especially by lifestyle controllers.
I enjoyed Clair Fox on both radio shows, she did really well.
Disappointed I wasn't invited to the dinner, Simon. maybe next time ;-)
Tom, I'm confused. A few months ago on Twitter you called me an "arse" and a "shill for Big Tobacco". You then described Forest as "irrelevant, sidelined and regarded as relics of the past." And you're disappointed you weren't invited to dinner?!!!!