Our columnist Frank Brandon talks about the dangers of slow driving, the homecoming for the victorious Roscommon ladies, the success of the Belfast Fleadh, and more!
A driving force for frustration
It’s Thursday evening of last week, and while driving on a rural road a bit away from Creggs, I come up behind two big tractors pulling two of those long trailers that seem made specially for round bales.
The first lad, who is obviously driving the second tractor, pulls in and lets me out, and I assume the other lad will do the same. Sadly, even though we turn onto a bigger road, he makes no attempt to let me pass, and carries on at between thirty and forty kilometres an hour.
There is no safe place for me (or, eventually, the six more vehicles behind me) to pass him out, and despite there being several places where he could have pulled in and let the build-up go, he carries on. It’s six miles later before he turns off the main road.
Now I can’t deny that I was thick enough, but in the end I decided that since it’s the time of year that’s in it – when farmers and contractors are literally having
to make hay while the sun shines – it might be churlish and small minded to mention it in my piece.
And so I had more or less forgotten about it… until I came across not one, but two, feature articles in our national papers during the week.
Both the Daily Mail and the Irish Independent devoted full articles to the dangers of slow driving. They both pointed out that speeding is punishable by fines and points on your licence, and that slow driving can result in accidents, as people take risks to pass when it’s not safe to do so, in addition to it causing road rage and confrontations. In truth, there is nothing to force anyone to be considerate for the queues that form behind the offending driver.
Of course it’s not only tractors that cause problems, as slow moving trucks can do the same. One of the articles told of a journey recently from Strokestown to Westport that the piece said was “conducted at a snail’s pace”. Funnily enough, that evening I again travelled behind a slow moving vehicle, and I estimated that the driver had twenty places where they could have let the traffic by, but didn’t!
I suppose the only answer is for drivers to have a bit more consideration for those behind them. If they can make the effort to let the tail back pas them by, it would mean a lot.
Roscommon’s winning welcome
Back to Tuesday evening of last week, when the message comes to my phone that the victorious Roscommon ladies All-Ireland winners are coming to Mulhern Park, Fuerty, at around 6pm for a meet and greet session with their fans and supporters.
As I told you last week, we were delighted out here in Creggs to have our own hero, Laura Mannion, on the team, but St Ciaran’s, which is our local ladies football club, also had Fuerty girl Rachel Fitzmaurice involved with them. And so my son Paul and myself decided that we would go on the short journey over road to show our solidarity with the girls and be there to greet them when they arrived.
Sadly, the only Roscommon jersey that I had in the house, which used to fit me a few years ago, must have shrunk quite a bit in the wash, as it barely made it over my head. And so we were in our civvies as we arrived at Mulhern Park.
To be fair to the Fuerty club, everything was very well-organised. The stewards ensured there was no problem with parking and we were well positioned when the bus arrived.
The trophy was carried in by the two Ciaran’s girls to a wonderful reception, and there was a great local attendance. It was heartening to see so many children there to meet their heroes, and unlike me, they were nearly all adorned in their primrose and blue jerseys and togs!
After a welcoming few words by our near-neighbour Niall Connolly, the players all took to the pitch where they were available for chats and selfies and autographs and family photos, and mingled very comfortably with the large crowd.
Fuerty native and Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council Dominic Connolly, complete with his resplendent chain of office, arrived to add an official feel to the whole event, and I have to say that it was a really enjoyable celebration – even for a Galway man!
There is no doubt that the success on the football pitch has lifted the whole county, and indeed the
province, with Mayo and Galway winning the mens’ and womens’ senior All-Irelands.
As we made our way home, Paul pointed out that as a Galwayman, it was ironic that he went to welcome home both the Mayo and Roscommon teams and not the Galway girls!
Afterwards, the team made their way back on to the bus and headed off to South Roscommon to do the same again. The thought crossed my mind that as hard and tiring their training had to be, the celebrations must be even harder, and I’m sure they will all be glad to get back out on the pitch again!
A reel success!
A year ago, I remember writing about the All-Ireland fleadh which was held in Wexford, and how each night, from the Thursday through to Sunday, there was a programme on TG4 featuring all the goings on; it was just such an enjoyable, uplifting, and inspiring show, as it highlighted all that is good about our Irish music.
This year, it has just been held in Belfast, and if anything, this year’s one seems to have been even better than last year!
I suspect that the mere fact that it took place in Belfast, the scene of so much devastation down through the years and of such sectarian divides, gave it a very special meaning. You could literally feel the pride that the people of Belfast had in making the whole thing such an enormous success.
There is no doubt that we have some wonderful musical talent – from the very young to those not-so-young – and the quality of the ceilidh bands on show was just superb.
After the brilliant night we recently had in Creggs with Sharon Shannon, I wonder could we get one of these top ceilidh bands to visit us! Watch this space…
Anyway, there was every class of musician in action, and for me, one of the highlights was the amazing performance of Sexy Tadhg. Apparently this Carlow-based drag entertainer, along with his band, are among the hottest musical acts in the country just now, and have played at massive festivals like Electric Picnic and All Together Now. They are also going on a nationwide tour in October/November, where they will play in venues like Vicar Street in Dublin and the Marquee in Cork.
Now they are not solely a traditional music band, as they play everything from jazz to rock to soul, and Tadhg has a particularly powerful voice, but they certainly proved a huge hit with the Belfast audience. We mightn’t be ready for them yet in Creggs, but never say never!
The good news is it is all happening again in Belfast next year, so time to book your accommodation now!
A friend of mine who made it up there this year had such a good time that he couldn’t find his hotel, and only made it back in time for the breakfast! Nevertheless he can’t wait to go back for next year, but this time he’s going to save the details in his phone… hopefully he doesn’t lose that!
And finally…
Sometimes we can forget what a great country it is that we live in.
Last weekend, while the fleadh was going on in Belfast and a sold-out big boxing night being held in the 3Arena saw Monaghan man Aaron McKenna become our newest world middleweight champion,
we also had the big Dublin horse show taking place in the RDS.
The Rolex-sponsored horse show is one of the biggest and best in the world, and for us as a family, we had the great thrill of watching my daughter Tara take part in the All-Ireland amateur showjumping finals. Thanks to Horse and Country TV, we saw her jump on Friday night, and again on Saturday morning, where her clear round qualified her for that evening’s grand final!
Twelve of Ireland’s best make it to the grand final, and as she reached the last fence, it looked as if she was going to be in the jump-off with the only other three riders who were clear. Sadly she knocked the very last fence, but as her horse BEC Phoenix is only a novice in terms of competing, Tara was delighted at how well she performed.
It’s tough going up in Dublin, and as I write this on Monday morning, I have no doubt she is glad to be home after spending almost a full week up there. However it was well worth it!
‘Til next week, bye for now!
