RICH irony hung in the air, at Enniscrone on Saturday evening. Suzanne Fanagan, the new champion, stood on the 15th green and struggled to soak in the enormity of her achievement in the Irish Women's Close Championship, sponsored by Lancome, in which she'd just defeated Curtis Cup player Eileen Rose Power by a 4 and 3 margin in the final.

Fanagan, coached by her victim's brother, Brendan McDaid, the current Irish Region PGA captain, had, in the process, also eclipsed her own brother Jody, winner of the West of Ireland over the same links at Easter. It raised the suspicion that some hole on the Sligo course, perhaps one of the new ones to be developed in the towering dunes, will commemorate the notable Fanagan family double.

This latest triumph was eked out of a psychological approach to play each match as it came. "I didn't think much of my chances coming up here," confessed Fanagan. "So, I decided to adopt the attitude of `It's only a match'. Even as I went around the course in the final, I was saying to myself, `No, no, no, it's not the final, just a match'."

Indeed, when Fanagan chipped into the hole for a birdie at the sixth (from a bare lie on top of a mound guarding a greenside trap) to go three up, her reaction was almost apologetic, raising her hand to her face in an obvious betrayal of emotions. "That chip in was important. I thought I was going to lose that particular hole: instead I won. It was effectively a two hole swing," she said.

Fanagan will now lead the six player Irish team to the European Championships in Nordcenter, Finland, on July 9th-13th. The other members of the team, which will be captained by Claire Dowling, are: Power, Hazel Kavanagh, Alison Coffey, Michelle McGreevy and Ada O'Sullivan. Fanagan will be competing in her first European championships at any level, while Coffey and McGreevy will be participating in their first seniors.

Fanagan's return to Finland, however, provides yet another touch of irony, for it was there in the Finnish Open two years ago - that the first hint of her international capabilities surfaced. Fanagan followed up that win with a success in the Leinster Championship last year, a win that helped her in the final stages of her national success. "At least I knew I had what it takes to win a championship," she said.

"I have improved big time since that win in Finland in 1995 especially my short game. I have worked a lot with Brendan (McDaid) and the only concern I had coming here was about my iron play," said Fanagan.

There were no visible chinks evident, however, when the pressure was applied. Power, who had not needed to go any further than the 14th hole in her matches prior to beating Ada O'Sullivan, by 2 and 1 in Saturday morning's semi final, let the initiative slip early on and appeared out of sorts, lacking the "killer instinct" which had been her hallmark throughout the championship.

Indeed, from an early stage Power's quest to claim a fourth national title was in trouble. Some poor approach play to the second enabled Fanagan, who had missed the green, to pitch and putt for a winning par to go one up. Then, Power's tee shot to the 165 yards Par 3 fifth found a cavernous bunker from which she needed two shots to escape; Fanagan, meanwhile, had another winning par.

And, at the sixth, Fanagan benefitted from that chipin from 15 yards to establish a mighty, three hole lead. Power did win a hole back at the seventh when Fanagan's approach to the green was pushed into another of, the monstrous bunkers and, this time, she took two shots to escape. However, Fanagan reestablished her three hole lead at the 10th where Power paid the price for driving into rough on the left.

The expected fireworks from Curtis Cup player Power never surfaced, although the Kilkenny player did reduce the deficit at the short 13th when Fanagan's tee shot went over the back of the green and she failed to get up and down. After that, the omens favoured Fanagan.

Power untypically missed a short putt - little more than two feet at the 14th; and Fanagan's 5 footer for par at the 15th was enough to secure a much cherished national crown over a links that will be indelibly linked with the Fanagan name.