They were examining the proposition of whether Oscar Wilde was a writer in the Irish tradition or whether he should more properly be ranked among English writers. I did not stick around to hear the conclusion. One thing I was convinced of sight unseen is that the argument was resolved peacefully. Forget that canard about Irish pugnaciousness. The people know when to use it and when not.
Manners are as important as prose and poetry.
We all bore his bad behavior in silence, but as soon as he was off the phone, a man at a neighboring table stood up and approached the yuppie table. With his gray hair, military posture, and authoritative bearing, he could have been a Gaelic chieftain, and with a voice that was both thunder and gentleness, he admonished the young man that if he should get another call on his portable phone, he should be kind enough to answer it outside the dining room because the rest of the patrons wished to eat their dinner in peace and have conversations of their own. The man then had to endure a procession of fellow diners who stopped by his table to voice their hearty approval. Speaking of dining, forget the jokes about Irish cuisine being an oxymoron. The Irish can cook quite well, and they do it at reasonable prices.