TWO SUB-COMMITTEES of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly met in London on Monday for discussions – the Irish contingent staying overnight before returning to Dublin in time for Tuesday’s Dáil business.
The assembly, established in 1990 “to promote understanding and co-operation between political representatives in
Britain and Ireland for the benefit of the people they represent” does all sorts of worthy work in the areas of economic co-operation, environmental and social protection and European and international affairs.
They meet twice a year in plenary session – alternating between Ireland and Britain – and hold sub-committee meetings on a regular basis.
These affairs are convivial events and there’s always a nice dinner laid on for the parliamentarians to cement the bonding process. Late night sing-songs around the piano are a regular feature of the plenary sessions.
However, it looks like Her Majesty’s civil service got rather tied up in issues of class when making the arrangements for dinner in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St James on Monday night. The hotel has a number of restaurants, one of which boasts a Michelin star.
The politicians from both sides of the Irish Sea beetled in for the nosebag, only to discover that separate arrangements had been made for the assembly’s co-chairmen, Fine Gael’s Joe McHugh and Tory MP Laurence Robertson, the co-chairs of the two sub-committees (including deputies Jack Wall and Frankie Feighan) and all their attendant Sir Humphreys.
The rest of the delegates were relegated to a less salubrious room and were handed a set menu.
“We got an aul bit of chicken. They got the works and an enormous wine list” is how one diner described the fare on offer.
At the beginning of the evening, we hear Senator John Crown saw his colleagues gathering for dinner and went to join then, only to be escorted from the room and sent to the lower orders.
A bemused Prof Crown, upon joining Deputies Ann Phelan and Mattie McGrath and Senators Paschal Mooney and Paul Coghlan, told them “I’ve been sent downstairs!”
Some of the younger deputies, including Patrick O’Donovan, Martin Heydon and John Paul Phelan, decided to give the meal a miss and sample the cultural delights of London instead.
The political toffs came downstairs after their repast, mortified. Some remarks were passed. Profuse apologies were offered.
“Obviously, I have a lot to learn,” pleaded the Right Hon Mr Robertson, who recently took over as co-chairman.
It would never happen here.
It’d be à la carte all the way for all.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/MOENYACS6VA77KV7ZXJ7HWR6UM.png)