Cavan ladies do county proud
Golfer Leona Maguire must be understandably disappointed this week to come home from Rio without a medal, particularly after shooting a stunning 65 on Friday.
And on Saturday, playing alongside Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson, ranked first and fourth in the world respectively, Leona found herself five under and just three shots off the medals.
But the Ballyconnell lass should be as proud of herself as Cavan is of her. She flew the flag for Cavan and Ireland in Rio in the women’s golf - which returned after a 116-year absence at the games.
That Leona finished 21st out of a 60-strong field, given that she was one of only three amateurs on the course, is fantastic. There is no doubt that this talented young woman has a brilliant professional career ahead of her in golf and is one to watch for Tokyo in 2020. There is more too to come from her twin sister Lisa, who was by Leona’s side in Brazil as her caddy. The way the Maguire girls carried themselves in Rio was in stark contrast to the incidents involving others. News coverage was dominated by alleged ticketing touting in the Olympic Council of Ireland and boxing “cheats” in the AIBI after Irish boxer Michael Conlan controversially lost in the Olympic bantamweight quarter-final at Riocentro.
Former OCI president Pat Hickey is still being detained in a Brazilian prison. He’s facing allegations of illicit marketing, driving a cartel and ticket touting. Mr Hickey is entitled to the presumption of innocence but it will be interesting to see the result of the case and the conclusions of an independent inquiry into the matter here. Regardless, the whole saga played out by the media internationally over the course of the games, has done little for Ireland’s reputation.
All’s rosey for Lisa
On the theme of ambassadors for our Breffni county, congratulations to Lisa Reilly from Ballinagh on her performance in the Rose of Tralee international finals in Kerry.
The 26-year-old school teacher from Gortahurk had her live televised interview with Daithí Ó Sé interrupted by a protester posing as a priest.
Matt O’Connor (49), the founder of Fathers4Justice, barged onto the stage shortly after Lisa began. He held up a picture of his son and shouted:
“To all the fathers in this country who are denied access to their children, please join me and the broken families of Ireland.”
TV producers cut to an advertisement but eye witnesses at the dome say that O’Connor was thrown to the ground by four security men and ushered away.
To appear on live TV for somebody who does not do so every day is daunting enough but, to recover as well as Lisa did from the incident, showed remarkable composure and character on the part of our Cavan Rose.
It should not have happened, however. On-stage security for a live televised event should have been much better.
Lisa was pipped for the 2016 Rose of Tralee crown by Chicago Rose Maggie McEldowney. The bookies had put Lisa among their favourites after the way in which she handled herself following Monday night's frightening disruption.
Regardless of the outcome, we are so proud of our Cavan Rose who is a great ambassador for our county regardless of whether she carries the Tralee sash or crown.
* There is to be a rousing reception for Leona Maguire when she returns with Team Ireland from Rio this evening. She's expected at the Slieve Russell Golf Club some time after 8pm. The Anglo-Celt will be live from the scene on Facebook.