6th June, 2002
Well, all the World Cup soccer excitement began
last Saturday morning at 7.30am. How I dragged myself out of bed
at 6.30 in the morning I don’t know. I had been out the
night before, and by the time I went to bed it must have been
after 2.00am. Link that with a few pints and middle age and the
alarm clock becomes your enemy - but I did get up, and when
Ireland got the equaliser I was glad I never slept on. By the
afternoon, nature and the night before had taken it’s toll,
so I had 40 winks (4 hours on the couch!) By the reaction around
Douglas one would think we had won the World Cup!! But I think we
were happy for the team, who showed great spirit, and I salute
them for that.
What do we make of Eamon Dunphy? His anger is like a festering
sore eating away at him. Angry at Jack Charlton, angry at Mick
McCarthy, angry at the FAI, has he a good word to say about
anyone? Well, I can think of one, but he’s writing a book
about him. Eamon was clinical about big Jack, asking questions
such as, “How many matches did we actually win under
Charlton?” Rubbish, do we all remember the sense of national
pride that Jack Charlton instilled into us. People who knew
nothing about soccer, men, women and children, brought the
country to standstill in 1990. Did it matter that Jack was from
England? Does it matter that Mick McCarthy is from Engalnd? Did
you ever hear a more Irish name than Mick McCarthy? Does it
matter if a member of the squad is from Timbucktu? When they put
on the green shirt, they are representing us, and all of us
should support them, as they do their best for Ireland.
Incidently, I maintain that the eventual winners of the World Cup
will be the Japanese. No, not their soccer team, but the
organisations and the people who gave everyone a warm welcome.
Well done Japan.
A reader and an advertiser who has just started a business in the
Douglas area told me that to let people know where they were
situated they put a few signs on the way to their premises.
Within a few days a County Council official called and told him
that he would be prosecuted if the signs were not removed
immediately. Here we have a person starting a business, prepared
to contribute tax to the state, and paying rates and service
charges to the council, and this is what they get. Does the word
priority spring to mind? This is June 4th, and there a large
election poster still up on a pole next to a pub in Roberts Cove.
Another true story I heard from a reader makes me wonder what we
are becoming. This woman told me that her brother-in-law
collapsed and was rushed to the South Infirmary. She got a phone
call, and as she did not drive, her friend offered to take her to
the hospital. This was at about 5.30pm. The driver parked in Old
Blackrock Road, not obstructing an entrance, nor parked on a
double yellow line, but in a disc area. They went into the
hospital ward to see her brother-in-law (he died the next day)
and when they returned to the car after about 20 minutes, it was
clamped! She rang the clamper’s telephone and approximately
half an hour later he turned up. I told her to take the ticket to
the City Hall. I don’t know what happened since, but when I
do I’ll let you know.
This great country needs a monarch!! No, I’m not advocating
a return to the days of Yore, but you must admit, the English
know how to throw a party. I watched the Jubilee concert (the pop
one) on Monday night and I must say that the setting and
organisation was unbelievable - and all the acts had to sing
live, which explains why there were no boy bands present!! Bryan
Adams and Dame Edna Everage stole the show, not forgetting Brian
Wilson with the Beach Boys tribute.
As I watched the queen light the fuse to start the fireworks her
face had a worried look as three tons of fireworks took off from
the roof of her home. Was she thinking, “Jesus, one stray
firework and it will be like Windsor Castle again, another bloody
firesale!” But everything went according to plan. We need a
King or a Queen, even a dead one. How about Brian Boru? He died
in 1014, in 12 years time he’ll be dead 1,000 years - too
far back, and too long gone. Hows about ‘Dev’ (Fine
Gael wouldn’t come), Michael Collins (Fianna Fail wouldn’t
come), Jack Charlton (Eamon Dunphy wouldn’t come), or
finally Eamon Dunphy (nobody would come). So folks, any
suggestions for a Jubilee in Ireland? After all, we Irish love to
party!!
We were delighted when local young lady Kathy O’Donnell,
from the South Douglas Road, agreed to represent us in the
forthcoming Miss Cork Beauty pageant. Kathy, a lovely girl in
everyway, is going to do a great job and I’ll let you know
how she progresses as time moves on. I’m off to London for a
Brian Wilson concert in the Royal Festival Hall this weekend,
with the help of God and Aer Lingus I’ll be back on Monday.
Have a good weekend. See you next week.
Bye for now,
Michael O’Hanlon.
