The only 'rowdy Irish night' I have seen was at a gig earlier this year, when my wife had to sing to a crowd of Irish tinkers who had been drinking since 11 am.

(There is a council-run gypsy site in the area)

Apparently, the police don't like to get involved with them because they are big blokes and fond of a fight, so it is difficult to get rid of them from the pub. Naturally, that won't appear on anyone's statistics (luckily, I suppose, for our case)

Likewise, when they poured into two Transit vans to go home at about midnight, there was no-one hovering with a breath test.

It is so much easier to terrorise the law-abiding citizens!

There have been several thefts in the area lately, and vehicles from the travellers' site were seen to be involved, but I don't hold out much hope of my friend getting his horse-box back, even though the police have the numberplate of the car involved.