Our columnist Frank on Galway’s loss in Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Armagh, a reader’s suggestions for improving road safety following several fatal incidents over the weekend… and the relentless dedication of Olympic athletes when it comes to chasing success in Paris
It’s Sunday evening as I write, and after sitting through an awful All-Ireland football final that Galway managed to kick away, I am now thanking my lucky stars that no one came up trumps with tickets for us. I cannot imagine the pain of the walk out of Croke Park, listening to the triumphant whooping and hollering of the delighted Armagh supporters.
Now the last thing I want to do is criticise the Galway lads, but I find it hard to understand why we didn’t press up on the Armagh kick-out until it was too late. The truth is that modern Gaelic football is about as exciting as rounders or cricket; I don’t know the rules of either of those sports, and in fact my comment may be unfair to them, but there is something wrong with Gaelic football when there is so little room for attacking players that their influence is, at most, minimal.
However, that is not to take away from Armagh’s win. They made the most of the chances that came their way, while we had way too many missed opportunities – especially in the last, critical few minutes.
Anyway, that’s it for another year. The long wait for Sam Maguire to cross the Shannon goes on. Maybe next year it will come west, but I think this is one that got away.
Urgent need to pave way towards safer roads
It’s Monday afternoon as I write, and I am now back in the real world; something a reader said has reminded me that Galway losing a match is really only a sporting loss, and that it matters very little in the overall context of what actually affects all our lives.
This reader rang me to draw attention to the number of fatal accidents there have been recently which have involved quad bikes. The reader was getting in touch after another weekend of carnage on our roads – in which, so far, five people have lost their lives, with several more seriously injured.
In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the number of ‘quad bike accidents’ resulting in serious injuries, and studies show that more than half of those who suffered bad head injuries were not wearing helmets. From November of last year, anyone riding a quad is required by law to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including a quad helmet. However, as my reader pointed out, equipment alone won’t solve the problem.
He advised me of driving courses that are presently being held by the Farm Relief Services all around the area. The FRS website gives a comprehensive list of all the aspects of the course: there are eight different learning objectives outlined, and at the end of it successful applicants will receive a QQI level 5 award in ATV operations.
The course costs €295 per person, but while it appears to be a little expensive, there is no doubt that it is certainly worthwhile. Quads, while very useful and important vehicles for a lot of farmers, can be extremely dangerous in the hands of people (young and old) who don’t know how to drive them, and my reader asked me to encourage everyone who intends to drive one to do the course.
(He also thinks that Teagasc are supposed to be running a similar course, but I couldn’t find out anything about it).
Overall however, the message is this: learn how to drive these machines and less lives will be lost, less people injured.
As it happens, he rang me on a day when I was thinking about e-scooters, following the death of a 14-year-old boy in Kilkenny on Saturday evening, which followed the deaths of two young lads in Waterford at the end of June.
Since the 20th of May this year, anyone aged over 16 can ride an e-scooter on our roads, without requiring tax, licence, or insurance, and it seems to me that those rules are a little bit lax.
Anyway, there are too many accidents involving e-scooters and quads, and something must be done to sort out this very major problem. Our legislators should soon be back to the Dáil after their summer holidays, so let’s see if they think there is any need to tighten up the law regarding, especially, the e-scooters.
And finally…
We all know how important the Olympics are, and how much participation in them means to athletes.
For example, the world’s greatest rugby player (maybe the best ever) Antoine Dupont, switched from the 15s to the 7s game late in the season so he could represent France in the Olympics! That switch resulted in his winning a gold medal when the French defeated Fiji 28 to 7 in the final.
In Australia, hockey player Matt Dawson broke a digit in his right hand two weeks ago, when he got a belt of a stick during training.
Doctors told him it would take four to six months to recover, which meant he would miss the Paris Games.
However, he was told he could also have part of the finger amputated and make it to Paris. So, after some thought, he rang his wife, who warned him against “making a rash decision”… and yet he still decided to take about an inch off the top of his finger and is now in Paris, where he took his place on the team that beat Argentina 1-0 in their first game.
Since then, they have beaten Ireland 2-1 and Dawson also played a part in that win, this time as a sub. It shows how far he was prepared to go to get to Paris, and he said himself he can still have a pretty good functioning life with just a little less finger to worry about.
All I can say is fair play to him. I am told he had a hand (although not a full one) in one of the goals against the Irish!
