What a great Olympics. For all the carping that went on beforehand, it all worked out wonderfully – even the weather co-operated. Congratulations to team GB for their record medal haul, and well done to the Irish team for their performances. The Irish media got their knickers in a twist when the British Daily Telegraph newspaper mistakenly described Irish boxer Katie Taylor as British. If everyone had just kept quiet, imagine the surprise of your average Telegraph reader when the crowd belted out Amhrain na bhFiann when Katie won the gold medal. Spoilsports !
And while Minister for Sport Michael Ring managed to get over to London in near-Olympic time to bask in the glory of the Irish team celebrations (and gave a radio interview from London to RTE that was pure d’Unbelievables), maybe he can explain why Katie Taylor was forced to train in an old gym without showers or toilets, while his own Mayo constituency benefited hugely from National Lottery funding, despite its relatively small size. If Mayo win the Football All-Ireland next month, the rest of the country won’t see a penny for years to come.
And now that the ceremonies are over, we just need Galway to win the All-Ireland Hurling final and all will be good in the world.