Don't forget to vote, now.

I'll leave the questioning of Bertie about that 30 grand Sterling to VB et al. Needless to say, I too would like to know WTF the story was with the money [and also whether Mr. Wall currently requires a tenant in any up-and-coming properties] but this is rapidly becoming a bit of a meedja issue, I think. RTÉ News screened the entire exchange yesterday evening on the 9 o'clock news, with rehashes of some segments later on Prime Time.

With a General Election on the horizon and those Rock The Vote ads out in full force, what I'd actually be interested in knowing about at the moment are details of FF's manifesto, thanks. Any plans to improve - or even have a stab at integrating - public transport, lads? What about infrastructure? Education? Health? Climate change? The uisce in Galway? ["Maria has to walk up to ten miles a day just to bring water to her family. For as little as five Euro a month, you could give a family like Maria's the gift of clean water. Please, give what you can. Maria lives in Galway."]

I don't know the answers to any of these questions. I only know that someone should give VB the gift of a nose hair trimmer [it'd be good for the 2007 Kris Kringle but can we really wait that long? He'll be able to plait it by then] and that FF are engaging in "gimmick politics" having pulled "a massive [complete joke of a] U-turn" with their promise yesterday to immediately abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers.

Frankly, m'dear, I don't give a flying f*ck about FTBs who get stuck for stamp duty. Able to afford a house that costs more than €300k? Well then f*ck right off with yourself, you should have no bother coming up with another measly ten grand for stamp duty. If you were listening to Eddie Hobbs about saving and not pissing your money away against a lifestyle you can't afford, you should now have about that stockpiled for just such an expense. Or when does your SSIA mature? Failing that, sure get your ma to lend it to you. Aren't you taking a load of laundry and ironing and cooking and general hardship out of her life by vacating the homeplace, it's the least she could do.

Assuming, of course, you haven't already overstretched yourself and lied to the bank about things like how you're funding the deposit which you're sneakily borrowing from the Credit Union or have stolen out of your grandad's sock drawer. I'm sure you're far too clever for that.

I'm a lot more interested in proposals for stamp duty amendments for people purchasing their second and subsequent homes. Just out of curiousity, natch...