He might look a bit older and he's definitely wiser but it's good to have Ivan back. How good? Just listen to his interview with Chris on Tuesday's Breakfast.
What I love about that is its honesty. Ivan has been through the fire and has survived. You know that when you listen to him. Yes, he might drive Chris a bit mad, but you know that Ivan's life experiences will shine through and he will ask the hard questions. A bit like Newstalk itself. You can trust us. Move that dial. Try something new.
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Trying something new. That's something I did yesterday. I attended my first one day cricket international. The sun decided to shine on Malahide for the whole seven hours of play. The crease was a bit slow but there was steady scoring. Ooops I've fell into cricket speech. The green grass of Malahide Cricket Club was immaculate. Ten thousand people sat enthralled .
Ten thousand people. You read that right. Ten thousand people. And they drank. But there was no trouble. What surprised me was it was not an all-male, all-white crowd. There were two ladies sitting beside my friend and I. there were cricket fans from every ethnic background. There was no trouble. The enterprise stopped at malahide station to allow fans from Northern Ireland access to the game. It was an Ireland v England international. There was no trouble. It was a great day out.
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A cricket match in Dublin. In the week that is in it, what a wonderful way of remembering Seamus Heaney. A cricket match in Dublin. In the week that is in it, what a wonderful way of remembering Seamus Heaney. Here was an Irish man who took English language and poetry and helped us see simple aspects of Irish life as things to treasure.
May he rest in peace. We won't be afraid because of him.
