The Irish-language community was horrified to learn that someone actually read a book in Irish of his own free will. The man – Póló Muddy – has been described by friends as “a bit of a sad bastard” who takes masochistic pleasure from reading contemporary Irish-language novels “for fun”. When confronted by this allegation by a journalist from Nuacht TG4, Muddy admitted the offence and said he was a serial reader of Irish-language novels: “I just can’t help myself. I love a good book. Novelists go to a lot of bother writing these things and I think the least we can do to support them is actually reading the stuff.” An Garda Síochána have been informed about Muddy’s vice and an arrest seems very likely.