Leo Vardakar, a member of Parliament with the opposition Fine Gael party, said on a national TV show that Palin "reminds me of Mary Coughlan, which is why I'm terrified Brian Cowen may become incapable for some reason."

In a later interview with the Sunday Independent newspaper Vardakar didn't back down from his remark, claiming that Coughlan "has become more prone to mistakes, and my comments on the show merely reflected the similarities between the tanaiste and Sarah Palin."

Coughlan, who's having a rough time at the moment thanks to the ever-worsening state of the Irish economy, wasn't very impressed with Vardakar's remarks, though she didn't offer a rebuttal.

Meanwhile, the race for the White House is over and done, at least according to Irish bookies Paddy Power. Last week Paddy Power, with branches all over Ireland, decided to pay out on bets placed by punters on Obama. They've coughed out over *1 million, and more than 10,000 winning Irish Obama bets were made.

The odds, though, were crummy. To make a single euro you'd have to bet nine, though one smart gambler plunked down ?100,000 in June, when Obama was listed at odds of 1-2. That person scooped up a nice ?50,000 profit.