Who is Mike and Irene. from Last Exit to Brooklyn and what is their importance?

Mike is an employed bum, who when he is not sleeping, is drinking with his friends. It is his wife Irene that is the breadwinner, working six days a week and still coming home to cook and look after the children. Despite that Mike relies so much on his wife, he still likes to put up a show in front of his friends about who the boss is in his home.