“Balcony Bingo? Sure It Writes Itself!” Cackles Roddy Doyle

“Jimmy Rabbitte”, Roddy Doyle muttered to himself, as he sat up straight, “that’s pure Jimmy Rabitte!”

Doyle turned the radio up and made notes, as Ringsend resident Michael Larkin told how during the lockdown, he’d organized outdoor bingo sessions for the residents of the flat complex he lived in.

“Indomitable spirit of the working class”, Doyle cackled, as he scribbled.

As Larkin mentioned giving prizes of Easter eggs to the children and toilet rolls to the grown ups, he wrote “rare oul times humour” on a pad.

Then, almost hugging himself with glee, he pulled his chair up to the table in his Clontarf attic and typed “Bored. Jimmy wasn’t just bored. He was bored out of his bollix.”