Author Archives: Mike Napier

The three sat on their stools at their end of the bar. JP, Mono and Rasher. It was as if they had a lease on those particular stools. It was as if time stood still or déjà vu perpetually cycled. On a few occasions they had arrived, and their stools were in use. This usuallyContinue reading “Hibernia for never.”

It was going to be a very different Thursday night in Donleavy’s bar. Some of the natural order of conversation would be turned on its head. “I’m tellin’ ya. I always said it. There was somethin’ creepy ‘bout that Jackson fella. I said it. I said it again. But did ya listen to me. AhContinue reading “DON’T EVER MEET YOUR HEROES”

Another quiet Thursday night in Donleavy’s. JP, Rasher and Mono were occupying their usual stools at the bar. The atmosphere was just the way they liked it – a little background hum that gave the place a nice ambiance but not enough noise to stifle conversation and engagement. That being said – the boys hadContinue reading “5 life regrets – Donleavy style”

It was another quiet midweek night in Donleavy’s. The yardstick always was if you could hear the conversation on the non-smoker side of the bar. When the smoking ban came in Donleavy had creatively extended his massive wooden bar counter and with a combination of civil architecture, air flow engineering and plastic see-through curtains hadContinue reading “Another view on Politics”

It was strangely quiet in Donleavy’s.  Maybe because it was in that weird time between Christmas and New Year.  People overspending coming up to the break and then trying to keep some dosh aside for ringing in the following year.  All this meant that there were a lot of empty bar-stools and chairs in Donleavy’s. Continue reading “Another view on Brexit”

It had got to that time of the evening.  JP was sucking on his pipe. It had gone out a long time since. Mono was staring into the remnants of his pint as if the secret of life was somehow contained within the last inch of his Guinness. Rasher drained the last drop of hisContinue reading “Consent in the old fashioned way…”

Weekend afternoons were always good in Donleavy’s. While every other pub in the country echoed to the shouts and roars of partisan sports fanatics exhorting Dublin footballers or Mourinho’s Muppets or Johnny Sexton on to even greater efforts – Donleavy’s would be an oasis of peace. ‘TV in a pub – never – wouldn’t thinkContinue reading “World War III now half price at Argos”