Sir, – Reading Mary Hannigan’s piece on the boat race (“Air turns blue on Channel 4 as boat race coverage hits choppy waters,” April 6th) brought me back to one of my late father’s stories.
In his early years, he was a general factotum in a landed estate in Meath. One of his duties was, on occasion, to drive the elderly gentleman of the house.
The gentleman in question went to university in England; the occasion, this time, coincided with two sporting events.
On being picked up, the gentleman enquired of Daddy, “Who won the race?” “Pat Taaffe on Quare Times” was the chirpy response; Daddy having won a few bob. “No, the boat race,” the gentleman irritably retorted. – Yours, etc,
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GERRY CHRISTIE,
Tralee,
Co Kerry.
