Well done, Leinster!

The Leinster 'Blues' have kept the coveted European Rugby Cup - also known (for its sponsors) as the Heineken Cup - in Ireland by beating the English club Leicester 'Tigers' at the Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh 19-16.
(People who believe in numerology might well see a special significance in this result, as the scores of both teams written in succession give us 1916, the year of the Easter Rising in Dublin, which is the capital of Leinster as well as the capital of Ireland.)

Leinster had reached the final of this prestigious annual European competition for the first time after they beat - for many rather surprisingly - their permanent national rivals Munster (which are usually seen as the stronger team and won the European Rugby Cup in 2006 and last year) in the semi-final at Croke Park in Dublin 25-6.

I am not a follower of Rugby, and certainly no expert on this sport. So, for an opinion I have to rely on the knowledge of a friend who played Union Rugby for many years. From what he tells me, Leinster "had generally the better of the game at Murrayfield, but were forced to stage a strong fightback after falling 16-9 behind early in the second half". Obviously they fought back successfully, scored 10 more points (while Leicester scored none) and won the match 19-16.

From an outside position as a complete Rugby layman - and even though I live in Munster - I like nevertheless to take this opportunity to say "Well done, Leinster!" and wish them good luck for the future.

Leinster's success is the fourth time an Irish team has won this Cup. The first to bring home the silver trophy were Ulster in 1999, followed by Munster in 2006 and 2008.
And if the recent form of Irish Rugby is anything to go by, we might well see more of the same in years to come.

The Emerald Islander

British-Irish Council Meeting in Edinburgh

Brian Cowen (photo right) has held talks with the North's First and Deputy First Ministers in Edinburgh today.
Arriving in the Scottish capital after an overnight flight from New York, where he attended the UN General Assembly yesterday, the Taoiseach said he is confident that scheduled meetings of the Northern Ireland Executive and of the North-South Ministerial Council will go ahead next week as planned.

The meetings had been in doubt due to the ongoing dispute between Sinn Féin and the DUP over the transfer of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont. (see my entry from September 21st) This dispute has seen Sinn Féin ministers refuse to attend meetings of the Northern Executive, which has not met for three months.

Attendance of Peter Robinson (left) and Martin McGuinness (below right) at today's meeting of the British-Irish Council had also been under a cloud of uncertainty for some time.
However, giving a positive signal of common sense, both Northern Irish politicians arrived in the same car for the Edinburgh meeting.

Deputy First Minister McGuinness (Sinn Féin) said his working relationship with Peter Robinson (DUP) remained good.
However, the First Minister said it would be difficult for Sinn Féin to explain why they can sit around the table in Edinburgh, but not in Northern Ireland.
Robinson emphasised that he is "ready to do business" and hopes the Stormont Executive will meet next Thursday.

The British-Irish Council was set up under the Good Friday Agreement to facilitate East-West ministerial links, and today's session was hosted by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP).