Even though it is illegal for dioxins to be present in foodstuffs, any possible risk to consumer health is extremely low and consumers should not be concerned.

But then a few km further on, at the beginning of the Loughrea bypass, another sign advises that Galway is in fact 41km away.

These guys again, obviously:

It’s bad enough having the country in a recession. But what’s worse is that we have a government which appears to want to stop us spending money within our economy altogether.

Ask Irish retailers what business is like and nearly every one will say that they are well down on last year. Those that are within an hour’s drive to the border will tell you that trade this year is a disaster. Go to Newry and look at the car park at Sainsbury’s - it will be full of southern reg cars.

Now you can easily point the finger at the retailers themselves and say “Good enough for them. They have been ripping us off for years.” While this may be true to an extent, it is by no means the full story. The cost of doing business in the Republic is much higher than in Northern Ireland. Staff costs, logistics, utilities, local authority charges, etc. are a much bigger share of a southern retail business’s cost base compared to a northern one.

Now that the downturn is upon us, the focus for shoppers is to spend less. With bargains to be had in Northern Ireland (and a Euro that is 27% stronger against Sterling than it was eighteen months ago) it’s no wonder shoppers are flocking over the border in their thousands. Any sensible government would by now have put in place measures to keep these shoppers’ euros on our side of the border, but what has happened is that they have done the opposite.

In October’s Budget, Brian Lenihan raised VAT to 21.5%, applicable from 1 December. So rather than encouraging shoppers to spend in this economy, he is actually enticing them to look elsewhere - i.e. in the North. And then today, Alistair Darling, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer has brought UK VAT down to 15%, making Northern Ireland even more attractive for southern shoppers.

The other factor that is slowly strangling retail in the Republic is the banking crisis. Banks have stopped lending to small businesses, which has completely messed up the cash flow of thousands of retailers. At this time of year, cash flow management is crucial, and if the banks turn off the tap and cancel the overdrafts, then there will be a huge number of retailers in big trouble in the coming weeks. There is potential for a vast number of perfectly viable businesses going to the wall, with thousands of jobs lost. Meanwhile, the government dithers about what to do to stabilise the banks. Answer: look at what others have done, and do something similar.

Brians Cowen and Lenihan have made an almighty hames of this recession so far. They can’t seem to make any timely decisions, and when they do, invariably make the wrong one. But we’re stuck with them for another four years, unless the Greens decide enough is enough and walk out.

Complete, utter, epic FAIL.

Munster led for almost the entire game. We were 16-13 up with four minutes to go, when the heart inside every red-clad chest was broken by a Joe Rokococko try that the All Blacks two points ahead.

Every Munster supporter should be proud of their team tonight. They put in a heroic performance and left nothing on the field. And this team was lacking almost all its internationals.

I had the video camera with me as well as the still camera, and got some good footage. I was on the West Terrace, just at the 10 metre line, which was perfect for capturing the event. I’ll trawl through the tape to see what’s useable and horse it up onto YouTube over the next few days or so.

Imagine what would have happened if they had sent out the senior squad…

What’s the Irish for “schadenfreude”?