It was a “been there, done that” moment for former Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason McAteer this week when the trailer for an upcoming film circulated online.
Saipan, due for release later this year, looks back on the spat between Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy on the Pacific island before the 2002 World Cup, which prompted the team captain’s absence from the tournament and devastated a chunk of the nation.
A line from Keane’s criticism of the FAI’s planning for the competition – “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” – became famous and will surely be delivered by Éanna Hardwicke, who plays the former Manchester United captain, in the film.
“What makes him a great player on the pitch makes him a pain in the arse off it,” says Steve Coogan, who plays McCarthy, of the Corkman in the trailer.
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McAteer, whose goals against the Netherlands in the qualifying phase helped Ireland to reach that World Cup, responded to a post on social media website X featuring the trailer, simply stating: “Seen it.”
He is played by Oliver Coopersmith in the film. McAteer was critical of Keane’s departure from Saipan, and the pair memorably clashed months afterwards when Manchester United visited Sunderland. In an on-field confrontation during the game, McAteer gestured as Keane was being restrained, advising him to “put it all in the next book”.
Keane was later sent off for delivering an elbow to the side of McAteer’s head.
A tidy salary on offer in Agriculture House
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is searching for a secretary general, with an annual salary starting at a very tidy €259,170.
Brendan Gleeson (no, not that one) is retiring from the role in October with Minister of State at the department Noel Grealish recently wishing him well after a “long and distinguished career in the Civil Service”.
Speaking in the Seanad, Grealish recalled meeting Gleeson when he took up his own post earlier this year and how “the first thing he said ... was that farming is a good news story.
“It is a good news story, and it is important we get that story out there,” the Galway West TD added.
The job advert seeks a person with a proven track record as a leader “in a large and complex organisation”, excellent communication and negotiating skills, and a proven track record in “managing for results”.
With big cuts to agriculture-related carbon emissions needed by 2030, uncertainty over whether tariffs will hit the multibillion euro agri-food sector and ongoing unhappiness among farmers about the level of “red tape” they face, Gleeson’s successor in Agriculture House will have plenty of complex issues to grapple with.
Pope Leo’s expanding wardrobe
An image of Pope Francis sporting a white designer puffer jacket went viral a couple of years back, but many were left disappointed when it turned out to have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Some assumed a photograph that appeared earlier this month of Pope Leo XIV decked out in a cassock and a Chicago White Sox baseball cap for an outing in St Peter’s Square might also have been doctored. Oh ye of little faith.
The pope wore the White Sox hat soon after being honoured with a mural near where he sat when he attended his hometown club’s opening 2005 World Series game.
Should we see an image of him in a red GAA jersey in the near future, there’s every chance it too could be legitimate, as he was recently gifted one during the Vatican’s Jubilee of Sport. The weekend event brought athletes together to reflect on the role of sport as a source of resilience and fraternity.
Among those who attended were members of the Rome Hibernia GAA club – Co Tipperary woman Catherine Hallinan, Niamh Ryan from Co Limerick and New Yorker Katie Molloy. They caught the pope’s attention during an audience in St Peter’s Basilica and passed on the top, featuring an image of St Michael the Archangel on top of Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, to his handlers.
“We got the jubilee logo printed on the sleeve, written as Gaeilge,” Molloy told Vatican News. Hallinan later joked that they now considered Leo an honorary GAA member.
Having a fan in the Vatican hasn’t turned around the fortunes of the White Sox, who sit bottom of their division having lost 28 games in the seven weeks since Leo’s election.
Balls to the boundary wall in Milltown
Those travelling on Lower Churchtown Road in Dublin these days can snatch a clearer glimpse inside the exclusive Milltown Golf Club and see its golfers in action following the resolution of a planning dispute over a boundary fence.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council previously decided the club, which in most cases commands a five-figure joining fee from new members, had carried out unexempt development when it removed 56m of old fencing sitting above a stone boundary wall and erected a timber replacement close to the 14th green and 15th tee.
Milltown’s trustees appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála, arguing the fence was necessary to stop “fly-tipping”, deter “unwanted trespassers” and to keep “golf balls within the confines of the site”. The board agreed with the council.
The club went back to the drawing board and returned with a solution: what went up, must not come down. Instead, the fence would be modified to allow for a 300mm high evergreen gap above the stone wall to permit landscaping – involving clematis, hydrangea, passion flowers and other climbing plants – to grow.
One observation on the application argued that it created “a hostile boundary with the neighbourhood” and the use of decorative flowering climbers was “totally not in keeping” with the vegetation along the other 1.6km of the boundary.
However, the council recently granted temporary permission for the fence, but said the structure would have to be removed if further approval for its retention has not been granted by it or An Bord Pleanála within three years.
The club will be hoping the fence has more than its fair share of climbers by 2028, but not of the unwanted trespasser kind.
Lord Mayor throws Mansion House party as term nears end
Fine Gael councillor Emma Blain held a bash in the Mansion House this week as her term as Lord Mayor of Dublin neared its end.
It wasn’t one to rival the events she would have attended in her days as a member of the Sunday Independent’s culture-curious “03 team”. Nor would it compare to those thrown by councillor Nial Ring, whose hospitable ways during his stint as the city’s first citizen more than exhausted the free beer allowance provided by Diageo to the Mansion House.
Blain issued an invite to “anyone living in Dublin who is 100 years old or over” to join her for The Centenarians of Dublin Afternoon Tea on Thursday. She has been keen to resume the Dublin City Centenarians Project, which started in the 1990s but stalled for reasons not clear to the outgoing mayor.
“People who have reached the age of 100 have seen so much and have a wealth of life experience to teach the rest of us,” she said.
Blain intended to present each party guest with “a beautiful framed scroll”, “a small gift” and to invite them to sign a roll of honour.
“Hopefully we can make this an annual event again going forward. It’s so important that we take care of and honour our older citizens.”
