The Tour de France in Ireland. The concept is not so remarkable. There are precedents. When Stephen Roche won the great event in 1987 the Tour began in Berlin. Its early stages have regularly taken place in Belgium and on one notorious occasion, cycling's greatest race rolled through Britain where it was overwhelmed by the pettiness of customs officials at the channel ports and vowed never to return.
The initiative to bring the Tour to Ireland is to be welcomed. Irishmen have been to the forefront of the Anglophone participation in an event which has become a central point of French culture. Seamus Elliott became the first Anglophone to win a stage in the tour. Sean Kelly made the Green Jersey of points winner his own for many years and, of course, Stephen Roche's victory, combined with his successes in the Giro d'Italia and the World Championship in the same year, wrote a specifically Irish page in the history of world cycling.
In France or in Italy or Spain or Portugal, Irish tourists who mention their nationality are far more likely to be greeted with the response "Ah, Stephen Roche" or "Ah, Sean Kelly" than they are to evinced the reply "Ah, John Bruton" or "Oh, Bertie Ahern". The Tour, needless to say, has a far greater impact in Europe than has the contents of the Dail debates.
Over a long period in which Ireland's image on the continent has been portrayed negatively, our sportsmen have made rare positive contributions. One result of the staging of part of the Tour de France here would be to recognise these contributions, another and more financially rewarding, would be the boost to tourism which the event would provide.
From this western outpost, it is difficult to understand how intense the interest and media coverage of the Tour can be in Europe's heartlands. In the Paris metro and RER rails system, TV terminals gather knots of people anxious to catch up on the latest details as they wait for their trains. In provincial cafes and bars particularly in France and Italy the Tour becomes the dominant issue of conversation for three weeks of the year.
The initiative of Tourism minister, Mr Enda Kenny, is to be welcomed with very few reservations. One stipulation should be that some of our more spectacularly scenic locations be included in the route of the Irish stage, if it indeed comes to pass.
Another is that Ireland should make proper preparations for the event. General improvements along the route would benefit the cyclists in the short term and the local inhabitants over a longer period.
The French have a strong natural aversion to the importation of English words into their language. Mr Kenny and his colleagues should be aware of this. None of us, French or Irish, would like to see the Tour de France become responsible for the emergence of a new phrase of "franglais" in the sporting sphere of the French language. The term le pothole irlandais is the one which springs readily to mind.