OECD general secretary Angel Gurria was in decidely upbeat mode as he presented a positive assessment of the Irish economy the other day.

At a press conference in Government Buildings with Michael Noonan, the urbane Mexican held court for the best part of an hour.

When the man from TG4 asked a rather long question of Noonan as Gaeilge, Gurria could not resist.

“The answer is yes,” he said, as if he spent all his summers in Connemara.