Listen up, lads. Right leg: in. Right leg: out. Right leg: in. And shake it all about.
There’s a distinctly hokey pokey look to this photograph from 1988. But you can relax: it’s not some weird or sinister military training exercise, and no young men in uniform were harmed in the taking of the photograph.
On the contrary, it’s just a bunch of young cadets from 1988 – 33 cadets, to be precise – letting off steam after receiving their commissions from the Minister for Defence of the day, Michael Noonan. Messing about, you might say.
At the centre of the fray, two anonymous hats have been raised in triumph. To either side, additional bodies hurry to join in the fray.
They’ll need to be careful not to trip over a misplaced sword, or step on a shiny shoe, for fear of giving or receiving a commission-related injury.
Speaking of tripping, look at the pair at the front of the scrum, towards the right. Either they're about to fall, or they've been going too hard at the Strictly Come Dancing routines. Did they actually tumble to the ground, after the shutter snapped shut?
Or did all that high-powered, hands-on military training enable them to recover their balance at the last moment?
The image certainly exudes a “band of brothers” vibe. When young men go for a group hug, they don’t hold back. It’s not the sort of scene outsiders would tend to associate with army life – but it’s clearly no big deal at the Curragh.
If you look carefully you can see, to the left of the image, a uniformed figure calmly walking across the room, ignoring the outburst altogether.
Is there, we wonder, a suitable name for a celebratory convocation of cadets such as this? A clowder, as of cats? A flamboyance, as of flamingoes – an exultation perhaps, as of larks?
Or how about an army of, um, no. That won’t work. Frogs.
