Cheers Dave. Nice to see you there. The better photos are used with kind permission of official photographer Bernie O'Brien.

Yeah, i was a bit nervous about this one but ended up really enjoying it. Mcr Irish Festival is one of the biggest in the world. It meant a lot to me (would have loved my mum and dad to be able to be there) and there were at least 500 people rammed into the magnificent Great Hall of Manchester Town Hall - couple of hundred stood at the back. Despite pacing round nervously for a couple of hours beforehand, muttering my 2 poems to myself, I managed to leave the longest 5 seconds of my life between two lines but managed to recover - not sure if anyone noticed besides my wife!!

Can I just point out that I took no part in the later debauchery to which Mr Morgan refers. I neither singed nor signed any part of Dave's anatomy! I adjourned to the Contact Theatre to mingle following the Apples and Snakes event with Polarbear et al.

Slainte

Tony

I have to say I was asked to move aside so that one of those photos could be taken, how's that for a brush with fame. TW was excellent as ever, and as far as I remember so was the Guinness and the Janesons. The evening only marred by some nouveau riche notions of topping it with flaming sambuccas in the Tiger Lounge which almost led to conflagration, immolation and singed testicles.