Author Archives: Mike Napier

The atmosphere in Doneavy’s was relaxed. The days were getting longer and warmer. The daylight was still streaming through any windows that Donleavy hadn’t curtained off. Everyone’s spirits were lifted a little with the advent of Summer. The daffodils had announced their arrival and then been dead-headed weeks ago. Early crops of potatoes were givingContinue reading “TIME TO ACT”

JP, Mono and Rasher sat in their time-honoured positions at the bar counter. It was midweek. The bar was quiet. The three amigos were quiet. Each looked down into the creamy surface of their pint. Each in his own way waiting for that catalyst to materialise out of the pint glass and infuse the conversation.Continue reading “TECHNICALLY SPEAKING”

JP, Rasher and Mono settled themselves on their bar stools. The drinks had already been signalled to Donleavy who was midway through that magical exercise of filling pint glasses with the black stuff. Any anxiety of a delay in the receipt of incoming was therefore dispelled and the three lads could content themselves with buttockContinue reading “IN ANOTHER LIFE.”

Middle of December in Donleavy’s. The place was jointed with people. The purse strings were obviously beginning to loosen. The pub was rocking. You could hardly hear yourself think. Donleavy was up and down behind the bar like a man on roller skates. You would have expected the man – even with his bulk –Continue reading “HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TOO”

It was a Wednesday night in Donleavy’s at the start of December. The pub was quiet. People were clearly hoarding their money for a pre-Christmas splurge. Pennies were being piled up to commit to excessive drinking, shouting, contrived good humor and general innocent misbehavior blamed on the speedy journey of ethanol to the brain. OneContinue reading “FRIENDSHIP ARMAGEDDON AVOIDED”

It was a Saturday night in Donleavy’s. The crowd was beginning to thicken. JP, Mono and Rasher always had a virtual corridor of space around them at the bar. The majority of Donleavy’s clientele were regulars and – as such they knew that a fate worse than death awaited anyone who might sit on oneContinue reading “SOMETIMES THE FROGS NEED TO TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM.”

The three lads – JP, Mono and Rasher – were seated comfortably at the bar counter in Donleavy’s. The weather had equilibrated back to normal after the searing heat of the previous week. Our three amigos had also settled back to a rhythm that suited them. Certainly, their buttocks had relaxed on the bar stoolsContinue reading “MAN SUES FOR GENDER EQUALITY”

The three lads were lined up at the bar counter in the usual fashion. JP in the middle flanked by Rasher and Mono. They were weathered looking and their shoulders were more hunched than was normal. Each of them looked intently at Donleavy with a serious stare. It was as if the ritual art ofContinue reading “RECESSION WILL BE THE MAKINGS OF THEM.”

Tuesday nights were the quietest nights of the week in Donleavy’s. Mondays competed for the title but there were always a few hardy people with some money left over from the weekend – or a few Sunday hangovers that somehow believed that the hair of the dog was the appropriate answer. Anyway – by TuesdayContinue reading “Disruptive Technologies on a Tuesday Night.”

JP was flanked at the bar counter in the usual arrangement by Mono and Rasher. Three bar stools that had the curvature of specific buttocks worn into them over decades of occupation. Three bar stools that no one else in Donleavy’s pub would ever have the temerity to borrow or take up. Donleavy’s was absolutelyContinue reading “HOMES IN A CRISIS”