Slippery Judge

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman were appointed Judges at The World Ice-skating Championships. The final competitor had a bit of a mishap. He slipped just as he was entering The rink, slid across The floor on his rear end, and demolished The Judges' table with his feet.
'Could I have your marks gentlemen please, just for The record?' said The chief official.
'I award 0.0,' said The Englishman.
'I award 0.0,' said The Scotsman.
'I award 9.9,' said The Irishman.
'Hold on a moment,' said The chief official to The Irishman, 'how can you award such a high score for such a terrible performance?'
'Well,' said The Irishman, 'you've got to make allowances - it's as slippery as hell out there.'