Ireland’s parliamentarians salvaged some rugby pride from the ruins of Sunday’s loss to England when they trounced their Westminster counterparts in their annual challenge on the morning of the big match.
The final score was a convincing 19-5, with Kildare South’s Martin Heydon and his FG colleague from Wexford, Senator Michael D’Arcy, scoring a try each.
Aengus Ó Snodaigh became the first Sinn Féin TD to tog out for the Dáil Seanad XV and he wasn’t daunted at being the odd man out among all the blueshirts. He was a very effective prop, we hear.
The going was mudbath-soft at Old Belvedere and the casualty rate was high.
Minister for Sport Dr Leo Varadkar played for the first half but had to cry off during the interval to bandage up a House of Commons aide who broke his ankle in the fray. Meanwhile, Steve Crabb, a minister from the Welsh office, finished up with his arm in a sling, while Anthony Lawlor of Kildare North limped off after the game.
What he didn’t know was that he had broken his leg. He only found out after a visit to his doctor the following day. Lawlor spent the week hobbling around Leinster House on crutches, wearing a very impressive-looking cast.
Sunday’s match was the 21st meeting and the Irish have recorded just one loss and one draw in the entire series.
Kilkenny’s John Paul Phelan captained the side, which also included Jimmy Deenihan, the nippy Eoghan Murphy and powerhouse Paul Connaughton. They attributed their win to the coaching expertise of the team’s long-time manager, the now retired Oireachtas official Eoin Faherty.
Meanwhile, it’s probably just as well Varadkar is keeping fit. He needs to be on his toes in Dublin West where Cllr David McGuinness of Fianna Fáil is fighting hard for a seat.
David is an avid reader of Varadkar’s glossy newsletter. The latest one showcases his announcement this week of €500,000 in funding for an upgraded path along the Royal Canal. But in June of last year, Varadkar’s newsletter announced he had allocated €600,000 for an upgrade of the Royal Canal path.
“Where is the missing €100,000?” asks McGuinness, helpfully supplying the offending pamphlets. We notice that the first announcement concerns a stretch between Ashtown and Castleknock while the second concerns a stretch between Ashtown and Blanchardstown, in case that makes a difference.
There’s a lot of mud in rugby, Leo, but it isn’t half as dirty as local politics.
