WHEN Ken Doherty arrives back home in Ranelagh this afternoon one of the first chores on his "things to do" list will be to mend the puncture on his mother's bicycle.

The new champion of the snooker world has been joking all week about his mother, Rose's, travels to various churches in Dublin on her sturdy bike lighting candles on his behalf as he took on the rest of the world in the game which has made him a millionaire.

The cheque for £210,000 for winning the world title at The Crucible on Monday night is now a mere line in a balance sheet which could very well make Rose's bicycle redundant. The young Ranelagh man became only the third Irishman to win the title after Alex Higgins and Denis Taylor and the first from the Republic on a score of 18 frames to 12 in a drama-charged night.

In the course of the final day's play, Doherty caused severe attacks on the nerves of his supporters when Hendry took five frames on the trot to close the gap to 15-12.

Hendry seemed certain to close it even further when he was racing towards a sixth frame victory only to miss a comparatively easy red and in doing so allowed Doherty back to the table for a victory which was to put the Dubliner two frames away from triumph, which he completed by taking the 30th by 71 to 49 to record his success.

Doherty was in a typically bouncy mood when he entertained (literally) the media at his hotel yesterday morning. Apart from jokes about his mother's bicycle and some scathing comments about the rotundity of some of his listeners (this one included) he admitted some of his own failings. "The first thing Ian Doyle (his mentor and manager) did with the cheque this morning was to buy me an alarm clock. He's a very generous man, you know," he said with a wicked gleam in his eye.

He was more serious when he admitted that his discipline and attitude needed some adjustment in recent times and that his more conservative life-style had reaped the required rewards. "Getting out of bed was my most difficult challenge," he admitted.

Yet he insisted that his new status as world champion would not alter either his basic life-style or his attitude to life in general. "I am not the sort to get a big head. Back in Ranelagh the lads wouldn't stand for that," he added.

Throughout a morning when he had become a celebrity taking directions from budding television directors he retained a witty, dignified and yet relaxed demeanour. He returned frequently to the effect of his victory on his widowed mother and the extended family, which would appear to be the entire population of Ranelagh.

He also took time to pay tribute to his opponent in Monday night's dramatic final, Stephen Hendry. Steve has done something which no other player has ever done five world titles in a row. I have no doubt that he will be back to win again. I believe be can win to world titles, but I just hope that when he's doing that that I will not be the man to stop him.

"To beat him in a final is an added bonus for me - a dream come true. When he took five frames on the trot I really felt the pressure, but I am absolutely delighted that I was able to keep cool and take my chance when it came in that crucial 28th frame," he said.

Getting back to the person he calls "me mam", he told journalists that he had failed to contact her on the phone. "She's too busy doing interviews with you lot but I still think that she would prefer if I had what she would call a real job" he said with a grin.

He announced that his immediate agenda was the return to Dublin (1.50 this afternoon) and a visit with the trophy to Old Trafford for the Manchester United versus West Ham premier league match on Sunday. Once again the mischief in his ordinary make-up surfaced when asked if he had been a life-long supporter of Manchester United. He replied: "Oh yes. I became a life-long supporter when they won the league."

On a more serious note, he was careful not to forget his roots. "This is a great boost to Irish sport and I am proud of that and proud of what it means to Ireland. Back home everyone is dedicated to sport and I am thrilled that I am now part of that dedication," he said.

His manager, Ian Doyle, a Scottish Irishman reflected that same view. "The Irish treat their sporting heroes well. The Taoiseach sent a message of goodwill before the final and Dublin's Lord Mayor has also been in touch. Ken has done Ireland proud and I am sure that Ireland will respond in kind. He is a very good ambassador for Ireland and for sport in general and snooker in particular. We are lucky to have young men like him representing our sport and Ireland is lucky to have young men like Ken," he said.

It would be churlish to be less than enthusiastic about that type of hyperbole. Doherty has the charisma to go with the job; the same charisma which fitted so snugly around the shoulders of people like Christy O'Connor, Pat Taaffe, Barry McGuigan, Stephen Roche, Michelle Smith, Michael Carruth, Ronnie Delany and so many many more. Ken Doherty fits easily into his now established part of a proud Irish sporting pantheon.