Ever watched a football match between Ireland and anyone else?

Ever looked at the crowd?

You will notice many leprechaun hats, false beards, guinness artefacts etc and the people sportng them won't be particularly bothered about whether you think they are plastic or not ... even the ones who live outside Ireland.

It's a bit galling that the Guinness logo, formerly representing a British company and now a subsidiary of Diageo (a bigger British company) has somehow become an alternative to the Irish flag (I prefer Beamish myself) but still, if you go into any pub in Ireland you will see the pints lined up, half full, ready to be topped up for the waiting throng and it is the preferred tipple and embraced as a cultural Icon.

Who are the caricaturists? The plastic Paddies or those who sit in judgement of them?

I don't think the answer is straightforward, but then that's kind of my point.