Looking for good news.

For some reason we're invited to hear the former Irish Taoiseach and the Scottish First Minister give an evening talk on world affairs. This is held in the medical building which is located in the modern and utilitarian 'science campus' part of town. 

In our day lecture theatres were places you wouldn't want to linger. Today, they're bright and cheerful and the seats are both padded and comfortable. We spot a solitary, and slightly bored looking, security man. You don't see many of those here .

The Taoiseach finds it interesting that America has had 3 Presidents that claim Irish descent whereas Scotland has had at least 20 but has never developed a Scots lobby to match the powerful Irish one. He observes that both Ireland and Israel are small countries that manage to punch well above their weight in DC. In fact Dublin and Jerusalem are superpowers when it comes to their lobbying clout. He adds that all this lobbying clout will be needed to avoid damaging tax changes.

The Scottish First Minister spouts all sorts of starry eyed platitudes about how membership of the EU would solve all the countries problems. There's no one as pro-EU as Angus but I'd like to temper my enthusiasm until I've seen the outcome of the French and German elections. The questions are once again thoughtful. Two Scottish girls, two American girls, and an Indian medical student are in no mood to be fobbed off  with platitudes. Their questions are probing and the two speakers, despite their efforts to be diplomatic, can't hide their growing unease about the state of the world.

On our way home we stop off in the pub facing the Divinity School for a restorative dram. Behind the bar there's a small blackboard offering Soup of the Day: Whisky with H2O croutons. This is a textbook example of Scottish humour. By the time we've finished our drinks the take away from the local Indian is ready. The bar is full of laughing youngsters enjoying life which is the perfect palliative to a night of geo-politics.

Scotland are playing Ireland in Edinburgh this afternoon:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZiqM4Ko11f4.  I'm sure the presence here of all these political worthies ahead of the game is entirely coincidental. For the match the pubs in town ( or those with widescreen televisions ) are reserving tables for £25 a head - 2 pints included. They are all sold out.