Taoiseach shoots from the lip as City rivals beat his beloved Reds
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern with British counterpart Gordon Brown inside Old Trafford yesterday during Manchester United's derby clash with Manchester City. Behind them (wearing striped scarves) are members of the Glazer family, the American owners of the club.
Monday February 11 2008
Nobody would have blamed Bertie for singing the blues in Manchester yesterday
He saw his beloved United lose ignominiously at home to their deadliest rivals, on a day that was supposed to be a tribute to the players who died in the Munich Air Disaster 50 years ago last week.
But most unusually for a Taoiseach who is prone to speaking in riddles, Bertie was most forthright in his opinion of his team's performance.
Speaking shortly after the game, he decided to have a right go at Alex Ferguson's men. "It was a terrible performance ... .a spade is a spade," he declared.
"It's one of the worst Manchester United performances that I've seen in recent years. I hate to remind myself that the last time that we lost to City in Old Trafford was in 1974 when we were relegated out of the old Division One, and I think we played today like a side that was of that standard."
But Bertie wasn't bitter, either. Inside the red mist was a chink of sunshine.
"Thankfully there's always 5.15 next Saturday against Arsenal!" he laughed referring to the upcoming FA Cup clash.
But he must've taken a sudden shine to this plain-speaking lark, for minutes later, he was at it again.
When asked about the ongoing saga of trying to find a manager for the national football team, he promptly hopped off the fence."We've gone back to the difficult old days," he sighed, before throwing a bit of curve ball.
"If they could get that Italian fella," he said, doing a bit of a Jack Charlton on it by forgetting Giovanni Trapattoni's name.
"That's the best, in my view," he concluded.
Apart from watching United lose 2-1, the Taoiseach was having a good day. A full weekend had passed without any fresh palaver breaking out in the media over troublesome tax issues or pesky passport alarums, and he had also managed to squeeze in a quick summit with Gordon Brown before getting down to the real business of the day in Old Trafford.
The summit was a low-key affair, with the two leaders having a morning tete-a-tete in Manchester Airport, away from the glare of the cameras. The pair simply contented themselves with a polite joint communique which promised to keep the political wheels on the wagon in Northern Ireland.
The portents were all there for a good day to come: a power breakfast with the PM, followed by a spot of lunch with United hero and Munich survivor Bobby Charlton.
"We had lunch with the club's directors and Sir Bobby," he said, a little bit chuffed with himself. "They've done a great service in the last few months bringing the whole history and importance of what the Busby Babes were to Manchester United".
But Bertie's hope of seeing the Reds rampant was dashed.
True to form, the man never likes to waste a journey so he also made a post-match visit to the Irish World Heritage Centre on the outskirts of the city. The club has been given a valuable plot of 11 acres of land, and plans to build a 170-bedroom hotel, a full-sized GAA pitch and all sorts of amenities. So far, the Irish Government has promised £3m (€4m) for the project. There was a great turnout to meet Bertie -- scores of old Irish folks in their Sunday best, and plenty of babbies and young ones looking to get their photos taken.
Bertie rediscovered his good mood. "Sit down and rest your bones," he affably suggested to the crowd in the ballroom, before launching into a reminisce about the late nights and later pints he had enjoyed in the centre over the years.
Maybe it was because the other Manchester -- that of digouts and whiparounds -- only reared its head once, when he was asked if he had any qualms about travelling to Manchester yesterday, given all the publicity surrounding some of his past dealing with the city.
Bertie smiled beatifically. "No, no, I wasn't going to miss this," he said. "I've been here many times over the last few years and I'll keep on coming here as long as I can get here."
His mood was improving alright -- maybe he had heard the good news from Leopardstown, where the horse of one of his old digout buddies, Charlie Chawke had won. The horse, which is owned by the Goat syndicate wears the colours of Sunderland FC, and bears the all-too-familiar name of Forpadydeplasterer.
Let's face it - there's just no separating football and politics where this Taoiseach is concerned.
