AND THERE we were, thinking that the roads of South Kerry were as smooth as the putting greens of Augusta, thanks to the Trojan work of the former deputy Jackie Healy-Rae and his son and successor, Michael Healy-Rae.

Shane McEntee, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, was on an official visit to Healy-Rae country recently to inspect forestry lands and the habitat of the protected hen harrier.

He was joined by local FG representatives, Deputy Brendan Griffin and Senator Tom Sheahan.

They took off up a long boreen on the side of a mountain, making heavy weather of the drive as they climbed upwards.

Keen to impress his ministerial visitor, Michael Healy-Rae, with his intimate knowledge of the lands around Kilgarvan, arrived on the scene and offered to drive Shane back to the main road. On the way, they met a very rocky patch.

With the Minister shouting encouragement, a gung-ho Healy-Rae revved up the engine and drove across it.

“I heard a bit of a grinding noise,” Shane recalls, “but I thought no more about it until Mattie McGrath came up to me in the chamber last week and told me I’d cost poor Michael €900. Apparently, he ruptured his diesel tank.”

The joke around the Dáil was that Healy-Rae isn’t that annoyed about his tank. What’s really upset him is that when he saw all the little puddles, he thought he’d struck oil.