Ideas have been coming thick and fast since Minister Creed 's initial tweet this Saturday, with Seamus Heaney's appropriately farming-themed Digging a favourite among his followers.

When Irish ambassador the the US Daniel Mulhall suggested The Children of Lir by Greg Delanty, Minister Creed had to dismiss it on account of its wintry setting, saying that he "might be cursed for even mentioning snow".

Instead, initial ministerial favour appeared to be for The Lost Heifer by Austin Clarke.

While there were mentions of Patrick Kavanagh, his more farming-oriented poems have not yet been suggested and I feel obliged to recommend the obvious A Christmas Childhood. Or maybe The Seed and The Soil from Kavanagh's manuscript archives. Surely these beautiful lines could deliver a subtle Brexit message to London:

Nothing must hinder

The wooing of grain and clay.

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Ministers flying the flag on St Patrick’s Day