The whiter than white brigade have had their pound of flesh and in the process have robbed Ireland of one of the truly great leaders of modern times. By any criteria Bertie Ahern was a giant in public life and we owe him an immense debt of gratitude, without him at the helm it is doubtful if the peace process in the North East of Ireland would ever have come to fruition. His managing of the economy has all other European governments looking Ireland's way. In the midst of it all he never lost his common touch, a man who never dyed his hair nor lost his accent. Bertie has been true to his roots and grateful to the people who made him and Ireland prosper. His acknowledging of the work done by Religious Orders in the fields of health and education was fair and courageous, the 'shoneens' who control the media work from a different agenda. Bertie is the common person's common man, he will be sadly missed. Go Raibh mile maith agat Bertie you suffered the slings and arrows that all our great men from Parnell down have suffered as a great friend of mine was wont to say 'Ireland you are rearing them still'.

New Taoiseach


We are down to the wire in the soccer season, it looks as if Manchester United will have to summon up their last reserves of skill and experience to hold on to the Premiership. I think they will do it in spite of injuries to key players. What a talent 'that boy Ronaldo' possesses, it was a pleasure to watch him, in the football arena that is. It is good to see Cardiff and Portsmouth in the FA cup final, I would have like Barnsley to make it, it shows that soccer is not totally dependant on mega bucks.
At home it looks like Galway will make it to the National Football League Final, although next weekends games are the deciders, four are in with a chance Galway, Derry, Kerry and Donegal in that order. My alma mater St. Brendan's, Killarney failed in its bid to win the Hogan Cup. St. Patrick's Academy, Dungannon were worthy winners in a spell binding final spoiled somewhat by a strong wind. The goal that mattered scored by Patrick O'Doherty was as good as I have seen. Both sides had fine players and I'm sure we will hear and see again players like O'Doherty, McKenna, Thornton and O'Hagan of Dungannon and O'Donoghue, O'Sullivan, Tobin and Fitzgerald of Killarney. One real negative development has emerged at some National League games recently. The abuse and thuggery we associate with soccer crowds seeped in at some venues My informants tell me that a small section of the crowd at the Mayo v Kerry game in Castlebar behaved in a manner we don't associate with Gaelic games. They hurled objects, foul language and abuse at players. Alcohol was blamed but whatever the cause hopefully it is something we won't have to get used to. John Maughan cited abusive language by supporters, he called them 'customers', as his main reason for walking away from Roscommon. Let's hope that the issue is addressed at congress in Sligo next weekend.
Two greats of our games have died recently, the immortal Pat Stakelum of Tipperary (I am old enough to remember his halcyon days with the great Tipperary teams of the 1950s, he with Seamus Bannon, Tony Reddan and the Kenny brothers lit up those bygone days for the Premier County).