And the Peter Cook Award for satire genius goes to?

The Peter Cook award for satire genius masquerading as a news item goes to… the Irish News and star reporter Rebecca Black!

The headline tells you that something special is about to happen…

'Rats, snakes and tigers hold top political jobs in north'

The piece is then so gloriously tee-ed up. It begins disarmingly as a Chinese culture piece, before moving on to Obama (yawn!) then… whhhaaaammy!!

• Adams is a rat! (Them’uns nod wisely.)
• Er… Robinson is a rat ‘an all! (Those’uns nod knowingly!)
• And both Jeffrey Donaldson and Gerry Kelly are total snakes!! (Those’uns and Them’uns fall to their knees in fits of rapturous applause!).

Even Private Eye would be unworthy of this. Yip, Staff at Bobballs are impressed. Someone in the Irish News (yes, Black, we mean you!) has hit the genius button and ascended into satire heaven. Well done to my super soar-away Irish News!!