We’ve really taken a battering weather wise for the past couple of months with exceptionally wet weather leading to severe flooding and the recent arctic conditions which have brought mayhem to the everyday life of the nation. No doubt the phenomenon of Global Warming is now starting to declare itself and is a valuable lesson for us as a nation to wake up to what we can do to slow down this phenomenon but also a lesson for councils to manage better and be prepared for these exceptional weather conditions. I must commend both Cork City and County Councils for their response to the icy conditions and their efforts to keep roads open and footpaths safe but while main roads received priority in terms of gritting, I would suggest looking at and taking into consideration black spots in relation to snow and ice, such as hills that cut off communities and some estates where because of the geographical layout of some streets, residents become weather bound or unable to drive in or out of their streets.

Whatever your opinion on the conduct of TV3 and the highlighting of the illness of the Minister for Finance, over the holidays, the managers of the Fianna Fáil PR machine were handed the opportunity to put into practice one of the principles of PR – to turn apathy to sympathy! I’m not taking away from the fact that the man has a serious illness, but in a time when the government is coming in for a lot of anger and resentment and in particular the Department of Finance, what better opportunity to turn apathy to sympathy.

While the weather has and is affecting many sports fixtures, one that will be going ahead this weekend is one of the highlights of the Irish Basketball calendar – National Cup Semi Final weekend. This weekend’s Cup action is at Neptune where the mens pairing will see one of the best derby games the country has seen for the past almost thirty years as Neptune take on Demons for a place in the final. Tip off is at 4.30pm next Sunday and tickets are like gold dust for this highly charged game both on and off the court. To witness the best in Irish basketball and experience the true atmosphere, I would urge you to try get there on Sunday, Tickets available from Neptune Stadium. I would like to wish my brother Malcolm a speedy recovery from his shoulder injury which will keep him out of the Neptune side for Sunday’s semi final.

Slán

George Thompson

Editor