The editor of one of the UK's weekly Irish community newspapers stunned readers this week by telling a correspondent, essentially, to belt up.
A reader of the Irish Post, Anne Leacy, took exception to an article in the February 4 edition which referred to the late Queen Mother as "that old trout."
The paper published the three-paragraph letter with the editor's half-column reply in this week's issue, under the headline 'No Insult Intended'.
In the reply, the unnamed editor listed the deceased royal's perceived faults, including her support for minority rule in Rhodesia, and mentioned that her daughter, Princess Margaret, reportedly thought all Irish were 'pigs'.
EIF News & Features showed the letter and reply to top sub-editor, Halliwell Splice, who told us: "Oh dear - showing our own prejudices there, aren't we?
"I could sub that reply down to 15 words, 'Ah feck off ye interfering, royalist knob, ye don't know what yer feckin' talkin' about!'"
"Lot less than half column, eh?"
*EIF News & Features finds once again that we have to apologise for a cheap, inaccurate and unnecessary characterisation of our Celtic friends, and letting ourselves down in the process. "Ah, buggrit, I can't be arsed," said a spokesman.
