An Irish heatwave is like a Polar suntan. What is rare is wonderful as the Gaelic proverb says.

And it is occurring right now as I look at my window here at the Adare Manor hotel, a few miles from Limerick.

Adare's sweeping landscapes have never looked better. The flowers are in early summer bloom, a little stream dappled in the sunshine meanders through the property on its quiet way to the sea.

Today is perfection, It is 82 degrees, hot enough to trigger the rarely used air conditioning which the manager assures me is in fine fettle but hasn't been used for ages.

Last night we sat in a wonderful old country house and restaurant called the Mustard Seed, nestled in the Golden Vale, as this part of Ireland is known.

It was still bright at 10.p.m and the moon rose over an open sky and rolling hills. Not a cloud to be seen.

The talk over dinner is about the Icelandic volcano. The Irish tourism industry was making a nice comeback until the ash spewed into the air and flights from everywhere were canceled.

Now the mountain in Iceland is quiet and fingers are crossed that the gods will finally smile on this beleaguered country that has faced tough times this past two years.

Ireland like this is the most wonderful country in the world. My dinner companions tell me I brought the weather with me from America but truth be told this heat wave has gripped Ireland for the past three days or so.

It won't last of course.

The weatherman tonight is also predicting an early morning frost as the temperatures cool dramatically by the weekend.

But in the meantime it is nice to bask in this Shangri La and imagine what this little island would be like if weather like this prevailed year round.

A little bit of heaven I'd say