THURSDAY
Campaign fatigue strikes
I think ‘campaign fatigue’ has hit the experts; and yours truly.
On Today FM, an Electoral Commission expert-type is discussing the ins and outs of the voting process with Matt Cooper.
A listener texts in to enquire why they haven’t received their polling card.
A touch wearily, the expert said he has some sympathy with An Post, as they have to try and deliver about three and a half million cards in ten days. It’s inevitable (he reckoned) that some get lost. “It’s like when one of your socks goes missing in the dryer and you never find it”.
All very well I suppose, as long as one doesn’t get a sock in the post and find their polling card in the dryer.
FRIDAY
Marron and the Doc
On Liveline, Joe Duffy is chatting about one of my heroes, the late Sunday World editor Kevin Marron, 40 years on from his tragic death.
A very original columnist, Marron was a great wit. As with the late Con Houlihan, certain Marron classics have remained with me.
I remember the story about the wall that was built around the house in Cootehall of the late Roscommon politician Sean Doherty. This was back in the 1980s. During Doherty’s term as Minister for Justice, there was lots of controversy.
A newspaper reported that the wall had been built at taxpayers’ expense. Initially, Doherty said it was a security wall. The fact that the wall was only four foot high seemed to undermine that explanation.
As controversy about the wall continued, Doherty referenced a Fianna Fáil colleague (and critic) who wasn’t particularly tall, quipping: “I built it to keep Seamus Brennan out”.
As for Kevin Marron… he addressed the controversy in the Sunday World. When it came to the small wall in Cootehall, Kevin wasn’t sure if this was money well spent either… “as Sean Doherty can still get out”.
FRIDAY
Voting the whole way!
Voted at 9.20 pm tonight. Not really cutting it fine… just had a busy day running and racing.
That included collecting two of our daughters who made it their business to travel back to Roscommon from college (one in Galway, one in Dublin) because they were anxious to vote. Which is good.
The ladies in Ballymurray NS (our polling station) reported a busy evening’s activity.
Grasping the power briefly transferred to me, I surfed the democracy wave and disappeared behind the booth wielding the 11-name ballot paper.
Eleven strokes later (why not all eleven?) I forfeited my power and returned to the outside world to indulge in a little small talk with the remaining late arrivals.
As for those eleven strokes on the ballot paper… it’s probably a daft habit that I’ve got into. After all, by giving every single candidate a stroke, you end up voting for people you don’t really want to support. Maybe I just feel respect for everyone who has put their name forward. Plus, I feel the power!
SATURDAY
At the count
It’s shortly before 10 pm in the Hyde Centre, and Michael Fitzmaurice has stormed back into the Dáil.
There were 12,002 reasons to smile for ‘Fitz’ when the first count result was announced just before 9 pm. He had topped the poll in style, elected on the first count.
There was a flurry of activity from around 7 pm onwards. Given the scale of their votes in earlier tallies, poll-topper Michael Fitzmaurice and Claire Kerrane and Dr Martin Daly all knew that they were destined to cross the winning line. A round of media interviews began.
All three are delighted, humbled and gracious. It’s a massive milestone for Dr Daly, who has just admitted that being elected a TD has been a lifetime ambition, one he says he kept to himself for a long time.
Speaking glowingly of Fitzmaurice and Kerrane, the Ballygar man thanked his canvassing teams and supporters for the great campaign which has led to this success. He also paid tribute to Eugene Murphy, wishing him well in his future endeavours.
Revealing, with a smile, that Dr Daly is his GP, Michael Fitzmaurice hailed his canvassing teams, who had done so much great groundwork in recent weeks. He was thrilled and humbled with the size of his vote, particularly as he was down a few thousand votes due to constituency boundary changes.
Claire Kerrane is speaking to the media as I write. She and Martin Daly have just exchanged words of congratulations. Now all three will set about serving the people who have placed their faith in them.
SUNDAY
The late Terry Griffiths
Terry Griffiths will always have a place in the sporting Hall of Fame. Rightly so.
An unknown at the time, he took part in the 1979 World Snooker Championship as an amateur… and won the title. It was a sensational feat. He was never an unknown again.
The public, realising that this superb cueist was also the most modest and decent of men, took him to their hearts. Griffiths became one of the most loved players on the circuit (even if his style of play was less than exciting). Later, he became one of the sport’s most sought after coaches, Stephen Hendry amongst the players he assisted.
Griffiths, who died today at the age of 77, won that world title in 1979, and was also Masters champion in 1981, and UK Championship winner in 1982. For a period, he was one of the best players in the world, competing for titles with the great Steve Davis, his recently deceased fellow Welsh man Ray Reardon, and Alex Higgins.
Griffiths qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Championships for nine years in a row, and reached number three in the world rankings. He was a very accomplished cueist – and a gentleman.
MONDAY
Joe’s pardon
I see where that elderly ‘Mr President’ in America has been up to his tricks again, pulling a stroke, showing some favouritism, and dare I say it… arguably abusing his power!
But it’s not president-elect, Mr Donald Trump… it’s the incumbent, Joe Biden! He is facing a big backlash over the rather brazen decision to issue an official pardon to his son Hunter, who had been facing criminal charges.
Ah sure maybe he was right to do it when he could!
