DAVID NORRIS will be gratified to know that he is even more popular than the large turnout at his recent book launch indicated. City Hall in Dublin provided a very grand setting for the event.

This was the place where Norris, thanks to a goodwill gesture from Michael D and the Labour party, finally got the green light to enter last year’s presidential race.

However, not everybody knew Senator Norris’s publishers were uncorking the vino and laying on the canapes for the ceremonial send-off of A Kick Against the Pricks. Many noses were out of joint when reports of the event appeared in the newspapers and they hadn’t received an invite.

Cue much talk of snubs. Word obviously got back to the publishers.

They sent around an explanation this week, carefully making no mention of the name of the book.

It was all the fault of the interweb bad language police.

“Due to an issue with spam regarding the title of the David Norris autobiography, we have been informed that some of you did not receive the invitation to the launch. Unfortunately some security systems did not allow the invitation to be delivered at all.

Please accept this apology on behalf of David Norris, Transworld Ireland and Gill Hess Ltd. We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience.” That’s an effin’ relief.