Gaybo at the Road Safety Authority

Martin Cullen has once again managed to amaze me with his disconnect from reality. As Minister for Transportation he has presided over an increasing death toll on our roads, currently around 400 a year, and has been widely condemned for his lack of action.

His record on road safety to date has been condemned by opposition politicians, the Irish Insurance Federation and the National Safety Council.

The former head of the NSC, Eddie Shaw, in his letter of resignation accused the Minister of lacking the political will to address road safety.

Now Martin has responded by appointing a man with years of experience, a wealth of knowledge, the respect of the whole nation and a proven track record of success. Unfortunately none of his previous experience is actually in the field of safety. Gay Byrne, the nations most successful and talented broadcaster, has at 72 come out of retirement from the worlds longest running chat show, The Late Late Show to now chair the Road Safety Authority.

I'm sure he'll do his best, but the only qualification I can see he has is that by reaching the age of 72 the government hasn't managed to kill Gay on the roads, on a trolley in A&E, with any number of possible hospital infections, or by just allowing him to be gunned down on the street. Gay is obviously a talented man at staying safe and so he may have a thing or two to teach the general population.

At worse Martin will get to hang out with a celebrity, which may distract him from his Ministerial duties and save us all.