The Limerick Leader

Today, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea attended a parade at McKee Barracks, Dublin which honoured Ireland’s 50-year membership of the UN and the honourable record of the Irish Army in UN peacekeeping missions in many trouble-spots.

Watching Mr O’Dea inspect a guard of honour, it struck me that it should surely be a requirement that any Minister for Defence would at least attain the army’s minimum height requirement.

Mr O’Dea took the opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding his recent faux pas, when he was photographed pointing a gun at the media pack. “When the photographer asked me to pose with a magnum, I thought I was getting a feckin’ ice-cream.”