It has been brought to my attention that;
Boyle GAA Senior Team in County Championship Quarter Finals.
Consider flyin' the flag.
Following a creditable draw against a good Western Gaels side at
Frenchpark on Sunday Boyle have advanced to the quarter-finals of the senior
championship. They have been here and beyond a couple of years ago but I sense
the feeling is more optimistic this year.
Boyle were defeated in their first game against Padraig, gave a dazzling
display against Clann na nGael and came back from a 7 point deficit to draw
with Western Gaels. (in coaching I had a few mantras, one of which was; ‘If you
are 7 points ahead you haven’t won the game and if you are 7 points down you
haven’t lost the game. Another was ‘fisted points count hi’…Mickey Linden)
Western Gaels weren’t aware of that manta, replaced a couple of important
players, took the foot off the pedal and were thus consigned to a difficult
‘play-off’ against an improving St. Brigid’s. Boyle’s second half performance
was top class with a number of significant moments. These included three big
catches by Evan McGrath; a good tactical foul by Sean Purcell!, a strong
shoulder charge by Colin Goldrick and a magnificent period by Cian McKeon which
included a second goal and 3 mighty pointed free kicks from difficult positions
especially the one to tie the game at the death.
For a more extended report you can tune into Ronan Flanagan’s account in
this week’s The Roscommon Herald, Sport’s section.
In any event this is one of those years where the window of opportunity
beckons, I know it is the correct managerial policy that the focus is always
on the NEXT game. As the Jockey answered when asked; ‘Which fence in the
Grand National circuit do you fear the most?’ He responded; ‘Always the next
one!’
Still Boyle town could begin some polite encouragement and recognition
of what is going on with a bit of flag waving and display of same.
This year, incredibly, I have two sporting teams in the race they being
Boyle of course and my native parish of Fuerty. A few years ago Fuerty was a
humble junior team but they have climbed the ladder incrementally in the last
five years and are now in with the big boys. Great to see.
Boyle Celtic’s Michael Corrigan
I wish to heartily congratulate Michael Corrigan of Boyle Celtic who has
been called into the Irish National Junior soccer team. It is a recognition of
his consistent high quality performances for Boyle Celtic over recent years and
his goal-scoring prowess to boot. So well done Michael and I hope you enjoy the
experience. Fair play to you.
Eoin Kennedy’s 10th All-Ireland
In reading realboyle in the last week you will have been alerted to the
achievements of Eoin Kennedy son of Eugene and nephew of Pat and Joe of Elphin
Street. Eoin, at the age of 40 years captured his 10th All-Ireland
senior title in the final versus the favourite Robbie McGrath from Westmeath.
It was also special in that it was the last such final to be played in this
particular complex at Croke Park as it is being replaced. Maybe footballers
Donie and Enda smith might remember dabbling in the game against the national
School alley walls with Eoin close to 15 years ago when Eoin was involved in a
Setanta t.v. programme.
Brexit and Westminster House of Commons dis..ORDER
So Johnson has ‘prorogued’ (a quiz question there!) Parliament, a hugely
unusual tactic. It is the tactic of many historical dictators Hitler being the
most obvious. (There are considerable parallels between the period of the rise
of Hitler and the collapse of the Weimar Republic in Germany in the late 20s’
and early 30s’…Hindenburg/The Queen of England etc.). It was an unseemly event.
I occasionally used to attend college debates and raucous, disorderly events
many of them were. The most respected stars were those who heckled and for a
few people that was their vocation. Westminster was no better on Monday night.
One regular veteran back bench Tory contributor referred to the ‘RABBLE over
there’ i.e. on the Labour, Liberal and S.N.P. benches. He should have consulted
his wing mirror to reflect on his own ‘rabble’. It is truly amazing to me to
see people using their mobile phones, the smirking and shared jollity in the
House of Commons as they sail like the crew of the Titanic towards the iceberg.
The difference is that this crowd KNOW that there is a huge iceberg in their
path! Anyway Speaker Bercow had another difficult day in the chair and
understandably has decided to retire at the end of October. Johnson blusters
around with a cohort of believers while the majority wouldn’t believe the
Lord’s prayer from him. The Commons passed a law preventing a No Deal exit but
for Johnson & Co. that is for interpretation. He looked for a general
election which would be like spraying the country’s present divisions with a
generous covering of political propellant. A report has now emerged called
‘Operation Yellowhammer’ which lays out the stark consequences for a post No
Deal Britain.
I must commend the Irish Taoiseach (which would not be a regular
practise) for one enlightening analysis point during his press conference with
Johnson while the British Prime Minister was in Dublin. Mister Varadkar stated
that Deal or No Deal on October the 31st was only the BEGINNING of
the divorce process and that the negotiations on so many levels would continue
for years. BREXIT is just an early fence in the Grand National Aintree circuit.
In no way can a withdrawal by Britain be just a case of pulling up the
drawbridge at Dover and covering that country in a symbolic duvet. The mind
boggles at it all. Books on this period will fill libraries in the decades to
come.
Last Monday night I was impressed by two people. The leader of the
emerging clearly REMAIN Liberal Democrats, Scottish lady Joe Swinson and the
Commons leader of the S.N.P. i.e. Scottish Nationalist Party (who favour an
Independent Scotland in appropriate circumstances) Ian Blackford. You would
imagine that the Irish Sinn Féin party would learn something from the S.N.P. in
terms of being in the right place at the right time. But as they say themselves
their time will come! They are not readers of the Bard it seems…who wrote
‘There is a tide in the affairs of men etc…’ Scéal eile sé sin.
Television Watch
De Valera in the States 1919/1920
I probably watch too much television which is allied to having to sit
down! Anyway -which I should not use as much as I do- my favourite genre of
programmes are probably documentaries. (I used to be indecisive but now I’m not
so sure). I record some of them for future viewing but that does not always
happen. Last night I watched De Valera in America in 1919-1920. He was going
home in a reverse way. He got a huge reception from the millions of Irish or
Irish decent there. It was not all happiness though and there were opposing
views in certain media. The United States had been an ally of G.B. in WW1 which
had just ended and certain swathes of the country did not see the justification
for giving credibility to an upstart calling himself the ‘President’ of an as
yet unestablished state i.e. Ireland. The relations between the primary Irish
American leaders Devoy and Cohalan was not always sweetness and light either.
De Valera during the tour got the appendage ‘Chief’ after visiting an Indian
tribe which had, remarkably, supported Ireland during the Famine. $5 million
was collected for the emerging Irish Republic. It is disparagingly suggested
that some of this money was still in the control of the De Valera faction a
decade later when Dev established the ‘Irish Press’ as a supporting organ of
Fianna Fáil.
I learned a couple of things there which I may forget but that is how
things go. Every day a learning day.
“Facing Ali”
This was a very different theme. It was based on a book by Stephen Brunt
and the film was made in 2009. To be regarded highly by opponents and those you
confront is a rare tribute. (I mentioned that in relation to
Eugene McGee recently). In the film nine of the top fighters who fought
Ali were the primary sources with films of the fights they were involved with
Ali. I remember as a boy getting up in the middle of the night with my father
to listen to radio commentary of a Cassius Clay fight with Sonny Liston. It was
a short shift). While Ali seemed very hostile in the build up to his fights the
boxers interviewed talked of him with great respect and emotion. There were
incredible fights such as ‘The Thrilla in Manilla’ v Joe Frazier and ‘The
Rumble in the Jungle’ with George Foreman. Ali missed out on some four of his
best fighting years during a dispute where he refused to be enlisted into the
U.S. army to go to Vietnam. He was born in 1942 and died in 2016. In his latter
days he suffered from Parkinson’s disease. During that time he made a memorable
appearance lighting the flame at the U.S. Olympics at Atlanta in ’96. He was
also in Croke Park (for the second time) at The Special Olympics in Dublin in
2003. Frazier, Foreman, Cooper, Norton, Spinks and Holmes were all in this film
and for a number there were tears in their eyes as they reflected on their old
adversary ‘The Greatest’, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali.
There are two other very worthy documentaries running just now ‘Spotlight
on the Troubles’ in Northern Ireland Tuesdays on BBC 1. The other is a
forensic analysis of ‘The Rise of the Nazis’ and Saturday and Monday on
BBC 2 at 9.
Missing Dogs
Some of you might have seen a sign at Shilling Hill but not got the message
if you were in a car. They are elsewhere also I’m told. Well in walking by it
yesterday I got the full message as follows;
€,1000 (one thousand, true) Reward
While this is a distance from Ballintogher or Ballyfarnon even the
reward and sense of the sign demonstrate a real loss to the owners. Hopefully
there may be a positive ending.
Sin é
‘And so to bed’.
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