Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Irish officials say pork off

Irish hospitality has outdone itself this week. Consider that they have four Americans from Iowa casting about in County Cork. Sure, the Iowans love the scenery and the good people they’ve met in Rosscarbery.

But being Iowans, who all happen to work in the media, they are accustomed at least one jigger per day of pig news. So, to assure that the Iowans would not be incapacitated by nostalgic longing for pig news, someone in Ireland arranged for the headlines here to be dominated by pig news.

It seems some pigs somewhere ate some bad feed. For safety sake, Irish officials pulled all pork products off the shelves. That means no rashers, no sausage, no pork chops, no bangers. It was “Pork Off,’’ as one headline writer for a tabloid newspaper put it.

The Iowans heard the news Sunday in O’Mahoney’s, a small pub in Ardfield. At first, they thought it was a joke concocted for the benefit of four Iowans who might be going through pig-news withdrawal. But soon enough, the Iowans realized the news was both sad and true. OK, so Iowans are accustomed to pig news, but hearing this makes us feel bad for everyone touched by the episode.

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