Emboldened by our shrinking numbers is my guess, I can’t figure it any other way, our mistake was assuming other people wouldn’t mind our archaic pastime, and that’s proving to be wrong. Me, I can understand, as I giggled at “glamper” jokes, belittled the “Vente Frappachino” and alienated all them swells at Aberchrombie and Fitch…

You guys was polite, well groomed, and conspicuously silent but none of that matters…

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has issued detailed proposals making it the first local authority in Ireland seeking to ban beach angling.

In its new “Draft Beach Bye Laws”, the council classifies fishing as a “nuisance” – a description which has infuriated anglers – and seeks to ban the sport from all the beaches in its jurisdiction.

So we’re a nuisance now, some vestige of a bygone era that no longer has a place in the out of doors. I can just see the science teacher explaining the lifecycle of fish to future generations…

…fish eggs are deposited into the grocery store’s freezer, they are fertilized by the male when it’s placed into the Styrofoam container, prior to being sealed in plastic. This styro-Plasticine yolk is gradually consumed by the fry until they mature as a Fillet O’ Fish sandwich…”

I think I’ll urge my kids to cut class.

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