Tanya Sweeney: My Irish Stand-off over paying a €30 coffee bill got physical — and blood was drawn

‘Nobody wants to be seen as a cheapskate. It’s one of the worst things you could think of an Irish person. A tight-wad. A round-shirker.’

Tanya Sweeney

Isn’t it great how comedy can hold a mirror up to our faces to reveal a truth about ourselves that we could barely articulate on our own? Father Ted was brilliant for a number of reasons, but one scene rightly stands out as being particularly on the money. Behold, the fight scene between Mrs Doyle (Pauline McLynn) and her friend, Mrs Dineen (Doreen Keogh). The two are having a cup of tea on a visit to the mainland — well, several cups of tea, as it goes — when it eventually comes time to part.

“I’ll get this,” Mrs Dineen says amiably, busying herself with her purse.