“We call her ‘Verona Hemingway’, given her grá for the tolling of the bell.”

The bell in question is the one wielded by the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, Verona Murphy. It is usually given a clatter or five as a penultimate measure to impose order on unruly TDs and ministers who insist on holding forth, often in stentorious tones, despite being well over their allotted speaking time or having no right to an intervention. The next move is a forced suspension of the House.

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