If you pass a motley crew puffing and panting as they push a rugby ball along the road from Dun Laoghaire to Lansdowne Rd this morning, look again and give them a few bob. They will be led by none other than the new First Secretary of Wales, Rhodri Morgan and the Irish Consul in Cardiff, Conor O'Riordan, and it's all for charity.
Morgan has been first secretary, equivalent of First Minister in the North, since Alun Michael got the heave nearly two months ago. The recent history of Labour in Wales, where it holds 28 of the 60 assembly seats, has been turbulent, to say the least. Ron Davies had to resign as leader after a shady incident on Clapham Common in October 1998 and Michael, Tony Blair's man, became first secretary amid accusations of a ready-up. Morgan, considered a bit of a loose cannon, and too far off-message for New Labour, was the people's choice, and now he has it. Morgan arrived in Dublin on Thursday evening with the Secretary of State for Wales, Paul Murphy, and O'Riordan. Yesterday he had a round of official engagements, including lunch in Iveagh House with Brian Cowen. This morning, after delivering the ball from the boat to Lansdowne Road, he will attend the match. Normally a good friend to Irish rugby, although hardly on this day, it was Morgan who suggested, in vain, that when the millennium stadium was being built in Cardiff, the Wales home-game against England be played in Celtic Dublin. Four years ago, he presented a Welsh flag to publican, Dessie Hynes and if he ventures into Baggot Street, he will see it hanging today from another hostelry.