Hammer time as O’Leary prepares to exit stage left

Now that Barry O'Leary is on his lap of honour before departing as chief executive of IDA Ireland, I know just what to get him as a going-away present. A pair of MC Hammer parachute pants.

One of IDA’s US Twitter accounts put out a tweet during the week promoting Start Up Grind, the Silicon Valley technology convention where legendary rap star MC Hammer was among the speakers.

The IDA’s message was retweeted by the Hammer man himself, reaching his 3.3 million followers and sparking scenes of unrequited joy at the investment agency at the exposure.

Come to think of it, it was the IDA's "west coast" Twitter account that originally sent the message (Tupac?). The agency also apparently has an "east coast" account (Biggie Smalls?). They must really be taking this rap thing seriously at the agency. Google all of that if you're not aged in your 30s.

It is expected that the ads for O'Leary's successor will soon be placed in national newspapers, in a process overseen by new IDA chairman Frank Ryan.

It is likely to be deep into the summer before O’Leary finally heads for the hills, possibly while muttering to himself: “You can’t touch this . . .”

Stop. Break it down.