They say that the difference between a politician and a statesman is only time. I disagree, its the measure of a politicians aspirants and achievements in public hindsight. I disagreed with an awful lot of Albert Reynolds deeds as taoiseach - particularly the X case, which was horrendously and offensively mismanaged, the failure of the Beef Tribunal to confront blatant corruption was only haggling by comparison - but he got one huge thing right. As a child of the seventies, I really did grow up with RTE news at six oclock daily adding to the incremental tally of stupid hatred and innocent lives lost in the political quagmire of Northern Ireland. Those who constantly proclaim the negativity of Ulster football, to cite one tiny example, should think about a very different negativity that was very real for every-one, on all the multi-faceted sides and divisions up there. Children of the nineties did not grow up with that constant dripfeed of abomination - thats not to say that awful things didnt happen there then or that its a bed of sunshine and roses now. But its so much better now than it was then and sometimes, out of the corner of your eye, you can almost see some sort of real hope that it will be even better for the children of their children when their time comes. A lot of people got that done, but you were the wheeler-dealer middleman with the shoulder to the wheel every time it looked like the wagon was stuck. You will, deservedly, be remembered as a Statesman. Thank you, and rest in peace.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 09:12:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015