Roll on 2010
At least we can look forward to a new decade. The tail end of the noughties is a period in history we'd rather forget, but we can put it behind us with the start of the 'tens'. (I do hope I'm the first to have publicly coined that phras
e to describe the next decade.) Let's simply forget about the past couple of years and imagine that it never happened. Who knows? Extreme denial might just see us through the next twelve months.
The World Cup
You never know, we might still find ourselves at South Africa next June. Perhaps if the team just showed up on the day and insisted to the referee that we have indeed qualified and we're due to play a match, we could get our way after all. It sounds crazy, but surely only as crazy as pleading with Sepp Blatter to allow us to go to South Africa on the grounds that we're great craic and a decent bunch of lads.
The End of the Debate About Shopping Up North
If I hear another pointless debate about people driving to Newry to do their shopping I'll fling my radio out the window. It's pointless because the simple fact of the matter is that people will do whatever the hell they want, regardless of some Louth businessman bellyaching to Joe Duffy or some indignant mother-of-five moaning to Matt Cooper. At least we can put all this guff behind us come January. For another twelve months at least, until we start the whole rigmarole again.
A General Election
Come on, the current government will hardly be in power this time next year? We'll surely have an exciting general election to look forward to some time soon. Then we can cheer ourselves with the knowledge that we can use our democratic entitlement to get rid of those people we deem responsible for the mess, or reward those we feel are making an attempt to get us out of it. Alternatively, we'll be overcome with apathy and return the same bunch of chancers for another hundred years.
Irish People Are Great
Let's be very cheerful indeed about the human story that emerged from the flooding crises: we're a fairly decent race. The stories and accounts of help and generosity would bring a tear to a glass eye. From Ballinasloe to Athlone to Cork, there seems to be no end of tales of very, very decent people who have given up their time and resources to help those in need. Who said the Celtic Tiger made us selfish and mean?
Kildare for Sam
May I be the first to make an utter fool of myself and predict an All-Ireland final berth for Kildare in 2010? The team had an outstanding year (apart from the Leinster final which was just a blip) and I've no doubt we'll build on this and take the championship by storm next year. Hey, I said this is a list of reasons to be cheerful, not reasons to be realistic!
