How those complaints look in English:

1) Phone up a government dept or agency. They’re not able to speak Irish to you

The Connaught Telegraph.

A local paper for local people.

Connuaght Telegraph

Via Acerbic Lemon via Hero of Switzerland

Of which these are the most, eh, bizarre:

4. Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair are headquartered in Ireland.  The national flag-carrier, Aer Lingus, is a phonetic rendering of the Irish phrase Aer-Loingeas, which means “air fleet.”  As far as I know, Ryanair doesn’t officially stand for anything, but the name has basically become synonymous with “crap.”

6. The longest one-word name in Ireland is Sruffaunoughterluggatoora, which is a stream in Galway County.  The longest one-word town name is Newtownmountkennedy, which is a village in Wicklow County.

8. Guinness beer is NOT vegetarian.  Everyone knows the home of Guinness beer is in Dublin.  Less people know that the brewery has a 9,000-year lease at a perpetual rate of 45 Irish pounds per year.  But practically nobody knows that Guinness beer is arguably NOT vegetarian.  It’s because the production process involves the use of isinglass made from fish as a method of settling out suspended matter in each batch.  The isinglass stays on the floor of the vat but it’s possible that tiny amounts might seep into the beer.

11. The shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world takes place in Dripsey, Cork.  The parade route is between the village’s two pub, and lasts about 100 yards.

12. St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in exactly three places in the world: Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Caribbean island of Montserrat.

13. Girl Power.  You thought England and the Spice Girls were responsible for the feminist girl power movement of the 1990s, but it was actually Ireland.  You see, the current president of Ireland is Mary McAleese, who’s serving her second term after having succeeded President Mary Robinson in 1997.  And that was the first time EVER,  in the history of the world, that a woman followed another woman as an elected head of state.

17. An Irish birthday tradition is to hold the birthday child upside down and bump the head slightly on the floor. The bumps represent the age of the child and are supposed to bring them good luck.

God bless ye, Mister Reuters, sorr. Faith, an’ ye certainly have the measure of us.

17 Bizarre But True Facts About Ireland (Reuters)

But we know what we like.

And it’s neither of these people.

Fun fact: The portrait cost the OPW 10k.

Nat would have done it for half that

Berte To Hang Out With De Valera (Irish Independent, Monday)

Surprise, surprise.

It’s slash and burn.

Group Of 17 Leaders Submits Blueprint For Recovery (Irish Times)

(Photocall Ireland)

Japan Declines Irish Offer Of Aid (Irish Times)