Ferroro rocher

Just in case some of you were thinking, "Begods and begorrah, but that's a glorious blue sunny St. Patrick's Day they enjoyed there in Baile an Mhuroran", we woke up to this on the following morning.

That same blizzard bound evening, risking life and limb for the love of my country, I headed up to Sapporo to attend a reception held by the Irish Consulate in Hokkaido to mark the 17th. Yes, you read that correctly, there is now an Irish consulate in Hokkaido. Who isn't actually Irish, he's Japanese, but he's in charge of Glen Dimplex's Japanese operations, and Glen Dimplex sponsored our somewhat sporadic foray into Gaelic Football last summer. So there is a fair bit of grá for the man (and his wallet).
The Irish Ambassador and his wife also attended. I had a very nice chat with the latter but was too busy eating an intriguing oriental interpretation of Dublin Coddle to make the photo call with the former.
Also present was Frances Fitzgerald, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. According to her exceedingly modest website, she said that "I believe that my visit has helped to strengthen further the links between our two countries". She also acknowledged "the work the Irish community are doing to promote business and cultural links between Ireland and Japan". (As an aside, the report of her trip to Japan - which you can read here - has as one of its labels 'Newcastle Saggart Rathcoole'. An oblique shout out to your's truly?)
What she didn't acknowledge was a member of said Irish community pouring a glass of orange juice over her in a defiant political gesture at the prolonged suffering the country has had to endure.
Though to be honest, I didn't pour it so much as spill it, and it wasn't so much a defiant political gesture as me clumsily dropping my glass as I tried to get my mobile phone out to take a photograph.
But you know, yeah, chalk one up for the downtrodden. And those Garda whistle-blowers too.

One of these people smells of orange juice.

There aren't that many Irish resident actually in Hokkaido and the vast majority seem to live and work at the Paca Paca stud farm down in Hidaka (from whence came the 2012 Japanese Derby winner, Deep Brillante, but I haven't told Sanae. Nor am I going to.) It would seem that I am the longest Irish resident in Hokkaido to the power of four but I tried to keep that fact to myself. The vast majority of attendees were late middle-aged besuited Japanese businessmen who seemed to be having some serious trouble pronouncing the Minister's name. That 'tzg' combination in the middle of her surname just killed them.
It was an enjoyable albeit all too brief evening. The last train back to Muroran left at 8:30 so I had to make my apologies and leave early with vague political promises about dry cleaning and sending me the bill.

"Intriguing"