OPINION: The Hound's reckons something has seriously gone wrong with the 'luck of the Irish' with news that Trevor Mallard is retiring from Parliament and will become New Zealand's Ambassador in Ireland.
He reckons Jacinda Ardern's move to duck shove Mallard out of his current role as Speaker of the House and retire him off to the Emerald Isle is an insult to all - especially the Irish.
Meanwhile, your old mate wonders when Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor - who would have been a far better fit as Irish Ambassador - will be put out to pasture.
He's been an MP since 1993 and will have been in Parliament for 30 years by next election.
Surely the clock is ticking for his time in politics to be over?
Mind you, the voters of the West Coast may do the job themselves and save Ardern the bother of that 'awkward' conversation with O'Connor!