Math Problem

This is a 5th grade math problem. This is not a trick question. This is a real math problem so do not say that a bus has no legs. P.S. There is no driver. There are 7 girls in a bus. Each girl has 7 backpacks. In each backpack, there are 7 big cats. For every big cat, there are 7 little cats. Question: How many legs are there in the bus? Solution Here

The Sunday Tribune - A New Look - 1992

The Sunday Tribune - 25 Years Later

Award Winning Design
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The Front Page and the entire content of the newspaper was re-designed by Steve Ryan in September 1992, just before I left. The idea was to use the new full colour facilities at our printers in Drogheda Web Offset. It was a very radical new look for the time and Steve won a very prestigeous International Newspaper design award for his work.

I was very friendly with Steve and it was through a combination of myself and Pat Brennan that we convinced him to come back. The real trick was to convince Vincent - that was Pat's job, I was the one who convinced Steve - it wasn't too hard as he was ready for a change.

The Sunday Tribune - Italia 90

The Sunday Tribune - 25 Years Later

Packie Saves! Uploaded by M+MD.

This cover has a lot of memories for me - anybody alive in Ireland in June 1990 will recognise. I remember that on the day of the quarter-final play-off against Romania we had arranged a meeting with a Abacus Venture Capital who were considering an investment in the Tribune at the time. We were considering a rights issues to fund the soon to be launched Dublin Tribune. We arranged a presentation to Abacus at 2pm on the day of the match - we didn't realise at the time that it would clash with the match - but as the funding was important we waited for them to cancel - they didn't. The presentation went well and we were finished about 5 minutes after kick-off. The presentation as in the old Goodbody's Stockbrockers offices in Dame Street and we rushed to the nearest TV set - Blooms Hotel. We watched the first half and decide to make a run for Baggot Street at half time. I will always remember walking up through Dublin at half-time - there was hardly a car or a bus on the road - the place was deserted in the middle of the afternoon, it was more like 9am Sunday than 3.45 pm Monday. We met the rest of the Tribune folks in Toners where we watched the rest of the match. It went to a penalty shoot-out and Packie Bonner famously saved the 4th penalty with Niall Quinn slotting the fifth we were through to the quarter-final -it was the stuff of fairy tales.

The Sunday Tribune - The Justin Keating Libel - 1984

The Sunday Tribune - 25 Years Later

A famous article that nearly brought us under, Uploaded by M+MD.

This was the article that nearly pulled us under. In the article Vincent berated former minister Justin Keating for the deal he did with mining companies - especially Bula during the coalition government of the 1970's. Old news perhaps. However Justin decided to sue and we decided to go to court. We were in the middle of raising new finance and had significant pledges when in December 1985 we lost the case and Keating (who cried in the witness box - the scoundrel!) was awarded a record amount of damages - £50,000 plus costs. We spent a very difficult few months trying to hold the investors, trying to settle every outstanding action and resisting creditor pressure. We survived and probably were the the stronger for it - but it nearly caused the second Sunday Tribune to go the way of the first.

The Sunday Tribune - First Colour Cover 1984

Tribune Cover
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The Sunday Tribune - 25 Years Later

Vincent was convinced that everyone would want to keep a souvenir of when President Ronald Reagan's visited Ireland and went to Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary. I suppose that he was thinking of the souvenir supplements he probably had as a teenager at the time of JFK's visit in 1963. He had a point and the issue went well for us. It was the first time that we put the colour supplement on the outside. It caused some confusion with our reading public. At the time tabloid was considered down-market and one of the mistakes the first Tribune made was that it launched as an up-market tabloid. It learned from its mistake - but it may have been too late. We got a lot of calls from readers and newsagents in the following week exhorting us not to go tabloid! All of this sowed a seed for the future look of the paper in the late eighties.

HEINEKEN CUP POOLS 2008/'09

POOL 1:
MUNSTER, Sale Sharks, Clermont Auvergne, Montauban

POOL 2:
London Wasps, LEINSTER, Castres Olympique, Edinburgh

POOL 3:
Leicester Tigers, Perpignan, Ospreys, Treviso

POOL 4:
Stade Francais, Llanelli Scarlets, ULSTER, Harlequins

POOL 5:
Toulouse, Bath, Dragons, Glasgow

POOL 6:
Biarritz, Gloucester, Cardiff Blues, Calvisano

Round One matchs are the weekend of the 10th of October.

Street Performance World Championship

Katinka - Swan Lake, Uploaded by M+MD.

This week-end the Busker World Championship is on in Merrion Square, Dublin. There are some great acts. We especially liked Mario - Queen of the Circus. and Katinka the Russian (?) former superstar of an obscure Soviet circus troupe! She is now alone in Dublin with only her wit, dentures and a pair of traffic cones to rely on. The photos tell the story. She arrives out first as a little old bag lady with dentures. She picks on Cormac from the audience and she christens him Vladimir. She then gets our attention with some serous acrobatics - the glass trick is pretty impresive. She then does Swan Lake - on traffic cones.

Bad Teeth Day
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Katinka
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Mario Crowd Surfs
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To Queen's "Bicycle"
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Mario and Assistants, Uploaded by M+MD.

Then we had Mario from the USA with a strong Portuguese accent which he says "is very hard - to do". He is a juggler who is also a Queen and Freddie Mercury fanatic. He juggles in time to Queen music. (Watch out for another one bits the dust in the YouTube clip below). Mario picked 2 assistants from the audience. The first was Martha from Portugal ("where my accent came from"). He plans to carry her on his shoulders while he rides a Unicycle. He reassures us that "in all the times of done this trick - I've only made a mess of it once. By the way, this is only my second time to attempt this" She was understandable nervous as he tried to get on the Unicycle. I think we were nervous too.

Mario, Uploaded by M+MD.

To put us at ease he did a virtuoso performance on the unicycle to Queen's "I want to ride my Bicycle". Not only does he use the pedals and one pedal, but he also propels the unicycle with his foot pushing the tyre rather than the pedals. He then juggles to Love of my life - where upon Martha's boyfriend challenges him to a duel. They fight it out with bananas. Then th eboyfriend has to sing Bohemion Rhapsody. Finally he crowd surks to "We are the Champions"

The YouTube clip gives some idea of a great performance.

Some more photos from Dublin.

Byron (Canada)
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Space Cowboy
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Pig
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Silver Elvis
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Mr Spin (Oz)
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Tumble Circus
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Waiting in Line
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Audience Participation
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A Munster Poem - Courtesy Seany Hayes

There's a factory near Limerick, that opponents view with dread;
It's where they make the forwards who will wear the Munster red.
They start with hunks of granite, that's reinforced with steel;
Add skill, determination and courage that's unreal.
There is a master craftsman, whom all regard with awe,
Who models front row forwards on Clifford, Wood and Claw.
Another makes the second rows, who leap and take the ball;
Like Gaillaimh, Keene and Lenihan and Donncha and Paul.
And then there are the flankers and the powerful number eights,
With Wally, Quinny, Leamy just the latest of the greats.
And when the finished product has been given heart and soul,
It undergoes inspection at quality control;
And if it isn't perfect, if it won't delight the Thomond stand
They send it up to Leinster......... and stamp it second hand.
And when their country needs them, they will answer Ireland's call.
Standing shoulder to shoulder, they will make the mighty fall.
And now, when in the future, they wear the Irish green,
They'll have an active Kidney to keep them squeaky clean.
The factory had a holiday to celebrate the Cardiff win
So I wandered up the driveway, hoping that I could look in.
And, as I gazed in through the window of that factory most holy,
I saw the statue standing in the hall was that of Anthony Foley.

Cemetary Sunday Dalgan Park Navan

Sheila & Mary; Chris & Deirdre
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Sunday last was Cemetery Sunday in the Columban Fathers headquarters in Dalgan Park just outside Navan. It is now just over a year since we buried Fr Martin. There was a good collection of Dobeys there - of course his 2 sisters - Auntie Sheila and Auntie Mary were there. Mary was with her eldest Louis. There was strong representation from Fr Martin's now long departed brothers (Sean and Brian) and sister Kay.

Greg & Co
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Sean's wife Peggy along with Joseph and his girlfriend; Kay's husband Denis along with Deirdre, Chris, Katie and Roisin and Kay's old friend Maureen. From our own crew we had Brian and Mairead along with Ronan, Roisin, Eoghan and Colin; Greg and Ger along with Christopher, Peter, Hanna and Rebecca. We had a lovely mass in the open air down at the cemetery. There are 192 priests buried there and there brothers sisters nephews nieces and friends were gathered together to pray and remember.

The Galway Crew
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The Columbans as ever had tea cake and sandwiches for everybody afterwards. It was a great chance to meet up and catch up. Denis gave me all the reasons why he is voting No to Lisbon. I had a counter argument for each one except his final deal-breaker: "I tell you what, boy, I just want to give all those politicians a good kick up the ass". There is no arguing with that - unfortunately Denis may have captured the mood of a nation. We will see to-morrow - polling day on the Lisbon treaty is today.

We almost got the full compliment for a group photo - we missed a few who had just left before we got organised.

Group Photo!, Uploaded by M+MD.

Back Row: Denis, Maureen, Sheila, Mary, Barney, Deirdre, Katie,Chris, Ronan, Mairead, Ger
Front Row: Greg, Rebecca, Eoghan, Hanna, Colin, Roisin, Peter, Roisin, Christopher.

Sunday 25 May 2008 A Very Sad Graph

Heaven will have to wait. Just like 2 years ago the day after Munster won the Heineken Cup spells disaster for Leeds. " years ago they lost 3-0 to Watford and thus missed a return to the Premiership. Watford went straight back down again the following year. This year its the League One play-offs (Division 3 in old money!) Doncaster won 2-1, they simply wanted to win more than Leeds on the day. Leeds played as if the weight of destiny was on their shoulders - they are a club destined to be back in the Premiership - the only question is which century right now. We can say that because they were deducted 15 points before they played a match that thy are a better team - they should have been promoted automatically. Its true that they don't belong there - they just need to win the league outright. Play-offs are mini cup finals in which anything can (and did) happen.

The graph shows Doncaster's progress from the Vauxhall Conference to Championship and Leeds corresponding fall from Champions League semi-final to league One. It all happened in the space of 5 years.

Patience is our middle name! Up Leeds.

Cardiff Saturday May 24 2008

Cardiff Castle Grounds
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It was going to be a long day, but we hoped it would be worth it. Senan and I had just got up before 5 am; the taxi was due at 5.15 and there should be time for breakfast at the airport. We were flying to Birmingham at 7.30. The occasion? - the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff where the 2 giants of the tournament Munster and Toulouse were playing. Toulouse are trying for their unprecedented 4th trophy while Munster have lost 2 finals before finally beating Birritz in 2006.

Waiting for the Match
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I bought the tickets for the final last November. It was a pretty good bet with both Munster and Leinster doing well at the time. In fact Munster had the much more difficult task to get out of their group with Wasps, Clermont and Llanelli. Leinster were facing the Leicester Tigers; Toulouse and Edinburgh - not an easy group either. In the end Leinster lost out by failing to beat the weakest team (Edinburgh) away from home.

I had also purchased tickets in advance the previous year and when Munster were out and it was a Wasps v Tigers final, I was able to log onto the Tigers fans website and had the pair sold (at face value) to genuine fans in 30 minutes! So buying the tickets in November is not a bad trick and pretty low risk. Unless there were 2 French teams in the final it should be easy to unload.

Munster Hoards storm Cardiff
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The plane was full of Munster supporters. Some were taking a train to Cardiff and more were driving. We arrived in Birmingham on time and managed to make it to the car hire desk pretty quickly and while we were not the first we did avoid most of the queue that formed quickly behind us. We managed to get our car and get on the road pretty smartly.

Some friendly Banter
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The route was all plotted out on google map and it was motorway all the way. We made one amendment after seeing on the big motorway message boards that there were long tailbacks at the M5 M4 junction- we then remembered that it was a Bank Holiday week-end in UK. The signs were in plenty time to make a detour via Ross On Wye which was motorway some of the way and then dual carraigeway - it was a slightly more direct route and we discovered afterwards that it was a very good choice - there were long delays at the M4! In any event as the kick-off was not until 5 pm we had lots of time! We were parked (park and ride) and in the city centre by about 12.30.

The place was already a sea of red. Of course Toulouse are Red and Black! But the Munster fans were by far the greater numbers though the French did make their presense felt!

In our Seats and waiting for action.
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We made our way through the crowds to Cardiff Castle - its a good way to put down an hour or so in Cardiff. Our tour had it's fair share of Munster supporters! After the Castle we found a nice Italian café and had lunch. Beside the café there was a second hand bookshop which had a pretty extensive Marvel Comics section - so Senan was in his element. He made a few good value purchases and before we knew it it was 3.30 and time to start making our way to the stadium. It's all very compact in Cardiff and it wasn't long before we were in position and waiting for the gates to open.

The Trophy
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We were amoung the first into our section. The anticipation was strong. The opening ceremony just took too long - or so it seemed. Soon the teams were lined up and ready to start. Munster in Blue and Toulouse in Red. The noise was fantastic.

Nigel Owens, the Welsh referee, was playing his usual strict game and Munster were the first to suffer under his tough regime. After just four minutes Munster conceeded a kickable penalty - however Jean Babtiste Ellisade managed to push it wide. What a let off! But Ellisade made no mistake with a drop goal 2 minutes later - Toulouse go 3-0 ahead. Toulouse continue to pile on the pressure and mount a sustained assault the Munster try line for the first quarter. However Toulouse didn't use those early chances and the Munster defence was superb.

Finally after 30 minutes Munster began to take the attack into Toulouse territory. Doug Howlett made a great run and Hurley was stopped just short of the line. Now the cheering and the singing started. Whenever there was a lull in our section of the stand there were four or five mad supporters who stood up and exorted everyone to start cheering and singing - it worked every time!

Munster pressure, uploaded by M+MD.

Five minutes later Munster are now piling the pressure on - its slow and patient ans sustained - Denis Leamy looks like he got a try but was deemed to have just lost control at the point of downing. But just a couple of minutes Leamy got another chance and this time there was no doubt - it was the drive that got us there. O'Gara slotted over the conversation - you can see how close to the post Denis Leamy was so no great marks to O'Gara! But 2 minutes later, the Nigel Owens factor kicked in again and he awarded a penalty against Toulouse. O'Gara only needs half a chance and we went into the second half 10-3 ahead. Just where you would want to be!

Just seconds before Leamy's try, uploaded by M+MD.

The second half started with Toulouse putting on pressure, but 10 minutes in Pelous threw a petulent kick against Alan Quinlan and the ref took no nonsense and put in the sin bin for 10 minutes. a minute later O'Gara kicked another penalty and we were not 13-6 ahead and feeling pretty confident. But you can never keep a team with this much class down for very long. Heymanns made a quick throw to himself, and gathered, kicked ahead collected it and then chipped ahead again and Donguy picked it up and went over for a try. What a wonderful piece of magic. Ellisade got the conversation and so we were back to 13 all. We were beginning to feel a little worried - Toulouse could come with a storming finish yet - especially when you see how easily they can score something from nothing.

Its all Munster, Uploaded by M+MD.

But Munster persist with the game plan and ten minutes later in the 65th minute they manage to get another penalty. O'Gara does the business - back in front. From there on the game became one big patient Munster scenario. It was controlled and relectless. They ignored kicking chances and kept the ball in hand. It was not pretty, but it was very tense and the only way to go against a team who had just demonstrated that they can manufacture a try out of thin air.

What a day - Munster ground out a 16-13 victory by adapting to all of the conditions in a much more composed way than Toulouse. Firstly there was the closed roof - Wales generally prefer to play with the roof closed - the crowd are louder; the calls for both teams are harder to hear so the away team are at an even greater disadvantage. With the size of the Munster support together with the fact that Munster won their first Heineken Cup in the same venue 2 years ago - there was no doubt that Munster were the home team at this venue.

Post match - Big screen
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Jubilation
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What was really impressive was the way that Munster shut down the game for the last 15 minutes. It wasn't pretty to watch - unless you were a Munster fan. I read later that Ellisade was particularly upset after the game. He called the tactics "anti-rugby; not rugby". While you can understand the frustration it is not fair to call it anti-rugby - its what Australia did to England in 1993; its what England always did; its what France did to New Zealand in the last world cup. You play to your strengths and neutralise the strengths of the opposition. That exact what Munster did and exactly what Toulouse failed to do. Saying "its not fair" after you lost is not much help!

Cup Winners, uploaded by M+MD.

Kidney leaves on a high
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So Declan Kidney has made up for his early heart-breaking loss of 2 Heineken Cup finals, to Northhamption in 2000 when, on a windy day in Twickenham, Ronan misses a penalty by centimetres and in 2002 when a wily Neil Back got the leicester Tigers over the line. Robbed twice he now has won twice. He now heads off back to the Irish natioanl team set-up where instead of playing second fiddle to an uncooperative Eddie O'Sullivan he will have the top job. We expect he will use his skills and his motivational head games to get the most out of the National team. If he can produce two Heineken Cups for Munster maybe he can get a world Cup for Ireland?

We don't ask for much now, do we?