I have just realised that I am sitting outside the Driving Test Centre in Dundalk. I didn’t mean to. I am here because of other reasons entirely. I can drive. In fact I drove here today. But, upon finding that they have free wifi in the hotel (yes I am in a hotel) I sat down in the corridor on this lovely leather sofa and have spent the last couple of hours polishing that article that I can’t get quotes for, checking my new techhie ‘thing’, Tweetdeck, (if you haven’t got it get it – it is fabulous!) every ten minutes or so, surfing the net, sending emails, and thinking about the articles I have in my head and which are bursting out to get themselves on paper.

Then I realised that I had seen that lady going along the corridor with the burly grey haired man about half an hour or more ago, and there she is coming back again. They disappear into an office. Then she comes back out of the office with a slowly developing smile on her face. The same thing with the dark-haired young man who could not really keep his joy to himself. He had obviously passed. I felt the same way when I passed my test (upon sitting it for the second time admittedly)

I knew they had pubs at the back of grocers’ shops here in Ireland. I have seen the shops which rather curiously sell fish on one side and beef on the other. But now, I have been in a hotel which masquerades as a driving test centre. Only in Ireland……