Every Kerry player who struck another player should be barred from the All-Ireland final.
On Sunday night I returned from a protracted holiday and took the N1 from Dublin Airport as far as the M50, then veered off to the R803 (or was it R805?) and continued on to junctions 21, 38, 39, 40, 2, 3, 4, 6,9, 10.
Then I took the R118, past junction 2 and 1 and was on the wrong road. Back to junction 1 and took the R111 to junction 30, then turned right on to R802. I knew I had to get off the R802 somewhere but since the map doesn't cover beyond that I went past Slattery's, Paddy Cullen's, the Horseshow House, the Merrion Inn, the Punchbowl, on out to Goggin's, then to the Queen's, up to what used to be the Arches, past the Club and home.
It didn't feel right. I think I live on the U748 or is it Z413? RTÉ is between R815 and R118 and The Irish Times is somewhere close to junctions 2 and 3, which is very handy, but shouldn't it be on the R something or the M something or at least on the N something? And talking of junctions, don't be fooled by them. Remember Limerick Junction is in Co Tipperary.
But did anything else happen in the last several weeks here? All those hours that would have been spent on reading newspapers, listening to radio, watching television would have been for what? Roy Keane? Oh come on.
While still in Spain on Sunday I watched the All-Ireland semi-final between Cork and Kerry. There were several incidents in that match in which players from both sides openly struck opposing players. On one occasion a Kerry player struck several times at a Cork player who had been wrestled to the ground. The referee remained passive during most of these incidents.
Violence was part of that game throughout. Did you notice how substitutes coming on to the pitch immediately either ran towards the opposing payer they were to mark and either shoulder them straight away or be shouldered by their opponent straight away? I suppose this was to convey some juvenile "top-dog" message but it set the tone of aggression that marked much of the match.
Every Kerry player who struck another player on Sunday should be barred from playing in the All-Ireland final. Anything short of that amounts to the GAA authorities colluding in thuggery. Too bad if another potentially great Kerry team is disrupted as a consequence.
There was more thuggery evident, apparently, during the last several weeks. It was on the part of publicans who wanted to introduce a ban on Travellers being served in public houses. Did a single national politician speak out against that?
The Nice campaign debate, I read, took on a nasty turn with the playing of the racist card by some of the No campaigners. It won't do for them to claim they are not racist (I accept that at least in the case of the most prominent campaigner, but it still won't do). They have used the language and arguments of the racists, of those who want to keep foreigners out of Ireland. It is ugly and embarrassing for others who have also argued for a No vote.
Had they simply said that the manner in which Ireland dissented from the European consensus on immediately opening the Irish economy to nationals of the new member states was typical of how Euro business is done - secretively and without accountability - they would be on to something. For that is how Euro business is done and the Euro elite want it to continue to be done that way. And, of course, the Nice Treaty facilitates them doing it even more.
AND there is also the matter of the planned war on the people of Iraq. Yes, I know it is supposedly against the "regime" but who will be the primary victims? Has no politician spoken out against that? Yes, I know the official position is that any action should be based on a UN Security Council resolution but that evades the point. The US claims it already has all the UN mandates it needs.
Are we now so beholden to the US that we cannot even murmur dissent in the face of illegal, premeditated war?
Two people I knew died during these past weeks. Father Paddy O'Donoghue, a Vincentian priest, was dean of Castleknock College during must of the time I was there as a student. He had his oddities but he was a fair man and, as a teacher, it was he who introduced me to history, for which I remain grateful. He later became president of the college and became very involved in controversies within the Vincentian order on whether Castleknock should be opened up to day students (it will shortly be only a day college) and on whether Vincentians should be the educators of rich children or pastors to the poor, which was the original ambition of the order. He seemed to have had an unhappy time for several years.
The other person was Michael Littleton, formerly of RTÉ. He had been one of the pillars of RTÉ Radio for many years. He was calm, helpful, generous, good-humoured and wise. He retired a few months ago and never got to enjoy his retirement.
Father Paddy O'Donoghue and Michael Littleton deserved more from life.