There Will Always Be An Ireland

FOTP Monday

Continuing our alphabetic tour of the great nations of Europe, we head this week to Ireland, where the price of mocktails can lead you to actually drink.

But first, a joke:

An Irishman is driving around Fenway Park in Boston, looking for a parking space. Not finding one, circling, circling, circling the stadium, he is getting angrier and angrier, cursing in Irish, pounding the steering wheel. Finally, he says, “All right, God, you got me! You win. I will start praying, going to church. Please find me a spot. I’m begging you. I want to see this game. You make one available, I’ll be a better Catholic, I swear, a better husband, father, person. . . . All right, I’ll even stop drinking. Anything. But, please, please, I need a place to park.” Just then, a spot opens up. The man screams, “Never mind, I found one!”

From The Irish Times:

Ireland is the second-most-expensive country in Europe, with only Danes expected to pay more for a range of goods and services, the latest figures from Eurostat have confirmed.

And those goods and services pretty much include everything, include the second-highest restaurant and hotel costs in the continent, more than 40 percent above EU’s average in communication costs, 17 percent in energy, and 15 percent in food and non-alcoholic beverages.

(Nonalcoholic . . . in Ireland. Your joke here.)