FREE BRENDAN TUOHY PUBLIUS would like to welcome the Oireachtas to the list of candidates for our 2006 Preventing the Future Award, for its ban on staff members engaging in the highly subversive practice of blogging, as reported in last week's Sunday Tribune.

Thankfully, those who will be prevented from leaving comments on Slugger O'Toole . . . perhaps even reading it and other blogs . . . will not include TDs and Senators, merely the proles who actually keep the government functioning, such as it is.

Thank God we're restricting their access to information.

Sources tell Publius that this change in policy has not gone down well with civil servants, who already had to watch as Senators and TDs were offered free broadband connections to their homes . . . although 30 of the 152 legislators who applied could not, as of June, get broadband because their local exchanges had not been upgraded by Eircom.

One source pointed out that the blog ban would, if applied to civil servants generally, mean that Brendan Tuohy, one of Ireland's most venerable public men, would be subject to disciplinary action if he were to type a word on his blog, Sliabh Luachra, that was not entirely related to his official duties.

CONDUIT OF CASH THINK of a number between 118 and directory enquiries. Chances are it's related to those guys with droopy moustaches, the UK's 118118 twins, dreamed up by London creative agency WCRS in 2002.

Starting with the two runners with the Frank Zappa tasche, they're back on screen as psychologists.

A recent study estimated that the original advertising campaign . . . which cost just over 15m . . . resulted in a revenue of nearly 70m for the owners of 118118.

A directory-enquiries service is almost pure brand, an attempt to give a handful of integers some sort of memorable personality.

Conduit, the company behind Irish directoryenquiries number 11850, are in the final selection process, Publius understands, between Irish International, The Hive, Cawley Nea/TBWA and Index to produce the next round of creative work.

It's a creative's dream . . .

dust off the craziest concepts you've had in years and put them to good use. And it should pay well.

A decision is expected this week.

No number was forthcoming from Conduit, but earlier this year, it spent 500,000 giving out Lotto numbers with every phone number, making the point with spots featuring Dublin-born reality TV lizard Fran Cosgrave (pictured ). So expect to get to know 11850 again. Quite well. Quite soon.

SPRITE 3G LICENSE NO, the soft drink isn't bidding to grab the licence that ComReg took away from poor Smart Telecom . . .

the meanies . . . it's CocaCola's clear energy drink featuring glucose, guarana and green coffee-bean derived caffeine. Its logo was filed a few weeks back with the Patent Office, we discovered recently, which presumably means we'll be seeing it soon in shops.

3V IN /3M UK CAMPAIGN IRELAND'S online payment voucher company 3V announced its intent to take over the world this week using the 20m it raised from Atlas Venture and Benchmark Capital Europe (backer of Setanta, eBay and Bebo). For a 3m press, online and radio campaign in the UK to launch 3V, the company has hired VCCP for creative, Unique for online media and MediaCom for press and radio and Experience for planning.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST FIRSTMark Brennock of The Irish Times, now Ed Micheau of The Sunday Business Post has also gone to venerable spin machine Murray Consultants.

Sources tell Publius he'll be jetting off to New Zealand before beginning his life as one of the men behind the curtain.

AN AD WE'D LIKE TO SEE MORE OFf SERIOUSLY. The Hunter/Red Cell-created advert for the Taxi Regulator, featuring the Brown Bag media-crafted taxi called T.C. Someone please give Ger Deering some more cash to run it more often.

TWO FINGERS TO THE ASAIf THE two extended fingers of some bloke about to receive digital fellatio in the Hunky Dorys ads (below) by Chemistry, that is, might evoke a different appendage in the minds of some . . . and apparently the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) agrees with them, those filthy-minded observers.

Next they'll want to ban that 'pleasure of sucking' tagline from the Chupa Chups outdoor ads featuring two lollipop Lolitas. Maybe that one is pretty close to the line, actually. Eww.

TIPS, BRIBES & ABUSE all welcome at rdelevan@tribune. ie