Brits out? No thanks

We left Cavan behind last week for the British Labour Party conference, in Brighton. We travelled down after a few days in Manchester. The drive was straightforward: motorway all the way. Tony coped with the tedium by buying a vast number of newspapers, only lifting his head out of them to grumble when I pointed out that the broadsheets were blocking my mirrors, writes Steph Booth

On our first night in Brighton we bumped into Elinor Goodman, political editor of Channel 4 News. She told Tony that the first time she remembered meeting him was in Liverpool, at a meeting addressed by Michael Foot, the former Labour leader, and the late Eric Heffer, who had a reputation as a firebrand left-wing MP. Tony had been there with his late wife, Pat Phoenix, famous for her role as Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street. Elinor and Tony reminisced about Labour's grand old warhorses. Not too many of them are left.

Gordon Brown's speech the next morning was excellent. I was pleased to hear him become particularly impassioned about the Third World. I was slightly unnerved, however, to spot my Tony on the big screens either side of the stage, when the cameras cut to the audience. Tony, tired after the travelling, just stifled a yawn in time. The papers would have loved for Tony Blair's father-in-law to have yawned through the chancellor's speech. The thought made me shudder.

On Tuesday, before Tony Blair's speech, my Tony and I went for lunch with family and friends. Cherie popped in before dashing off to get ready for the speech. She is delighted that The Goldfish Bowl, her book about being married to the prime minister, is doing so well. Appearing on Richard And Judy was clearly a good idea. Tony and Cherie's sons Euan and Nick were also in Brighton to listen to their dad's speech. Watching the antics of the pro-hunting protesters from the window, they were particularly interested when a group of them plunged naked into the English Channel.

Their younger brother, Leo, was much more interested in getting as many crisps as possible from the sandwich plates. The boys' sister, Kathryn, was the only absent sibling. She was quite miffed about having to be at school.

On our way into the hall for Tony Blair's speech I spotted Hilary Benn, the secretary of state for international development, who I hadn't met. I wanted to tell him I was a big fan of his father. Tony and I had met Tony Benn the day before, after Gordon Brown's speech: when we asked if he was enjoying retirement, Tony had laughed and replied that he was busier than ever. He said the word should be used in the same way as when a jury retires. He had spent five decades in parliament and now needed to retire to make his judgment.

In the hall we sat near Neil and Glenys Kinnock. Neil mentioned a conversation he had with some protesters. He was amazed to hear they thought they had been treated badly by the police. Neil and my Tony, as veterans of many demonstrations, were amused by their surprise that when they got out of hand the police would use force to control them.

Later, back at the hotel for tea, you would never have guessed that Tony Blair had just made an important speech: he was his usual warm self. He thought my Tony was looking very well and was pleased Ireland was proving so good for him. Tony told his son-in-law, probably hoping for sympathy, that under my regime of benign brutality he was being made to go for walks. One of our favourite places to go with the dogs is the beach at Rossnowlagh, in Co Donegal. Far from being sympathetic, Tony Blair started to laugh and said it was a good place for exercise. That was where he learned to swim, when he was eight. I suppose this means Tony Blair is tougher than the hunt supporters in the sea off Brighton. He swam in the Atlantic - much colder.

Having had a good time in England, it was unfortunate, when we arrived back in Cavan on Wednesday evening, to discover that somebody had vandalised Tony's car. They damaged the front tyres and sprayed "Brits out" down each side of the car. Could we not have expected a little more imagination from the people who cost us our no-claims bonus?

The lovely people of the area, who could not have made us more welcome, are upset this should have happened to us. They do not deserve this kind of intrusion. It's a shame, but it's true: there are idiots wherever you go.