All change behind closed doors at Downing Street

The British media may insist that 10 Downing Street is the world’s most famous door, but they’re conveniently overlooking the green one that Shakin’ Stevens used to drone on about – that said, David Cameron has never shown the slightest interest in any door other than the one that Gordon Brown used to lock at night.

Now it’s Sam and Dave’s, and the world watched as the only fortysomething year old man with skin so smooth he still doesn’t have to shave it, accompanied by a wife who is either heavily pregnant or suffering from chronic wind, made their way through the black door and into another life.

The British General Elections dominated the screens here last week every bit as much as they did across the water, as we wondered if Gordon could get it together with Nick or if Dave would finally take his seat on the Downing Street throne.

In fairness, his unscripted speech outside Number Ten was magnificent, hitting all the right spots in terms of gratitude, humility, energy and determination – but then if you’d been practicing this speech into your hairbrush from the age of seven, you’d probably deliver it flawlessly too.

Even those with no interest in politics – British or Irish – would have enjoyed the change of Government for at least two reasons; firstly it’s human life, winners and losers, unfolding before your eyes, and secondly there were some spectacular and rarely seen shots of both Buckingham Palace and Downing Street from the air.

And perhaps most of all, if you’ve ever moved house, you wonder where they found a removal firm that could have one family out and another in, in the time it took to take a drive to shake hands with the Queen.

The Brits don’t really know a lot about Coalition and their political experts seemed to have a problem in coming to terms with it. Sky’s Adam Boulton looked like he was about to have a hernia and that satellite news station’s outside broadcasts seemed to have drawn more than one political analyst who had spent the previous few hours in the Westminster bar.

Every OB was usurped by some clot carrying a sign, demanding Brits out of Afghanistan or Tories out of power of Brown out of Labour ... when clearly the only ones out of anything was these men who were out of their heads.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.