Massive boost for our World Cup bid as UK scrums down behind us
As Bod, Bono and Bob get behind our bid to host the Rugby World Cup, here are a few more reasons why Ireland is…
IRELAND’S bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup was given a huge boost yesterday when British prime minister Theresa May rowed in as one of our chief supporters.
Mrs May sent a letter to World Rugby, the organising body, which effectively guarantees that the UK’s three home rugby unions – England, Scotland and Wales – will back Ireland’s bid.
With Ireland’s own backing, it gives us 13 votes out of the 20 needed to win. The four unions in these islands have a voting strength of 12, and Ireland also has the one pledged vote of Canada, with other countries believed to be leaning our way.
In her letter, Mrs May offered ‘strong support for Ireland’s World Cup bid and the benefits this would bring to the sport and to Ireland and Northern Ireland’, a No. 10 spokeswoman said.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was ‘very grateful’ for the fact that Mrs May had written her letter of support. He also emphasised that he was the only serving head of Government fronting a national bid as the rival claims of this country, France and South Africa were pitched to the governing body at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London.
While French president Emmanuel Macron was ‘too busy’ to attend, the Taoiseach said: ‘I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.
‘This bid represents the hopes and aspirations of the entire island of Ireland,’ he added, reinforcing how North and South play as a combined team.
Brian O’Driscoll, who is a bid ambassador, promised ‘the party of a lifetime’ if Ireland win.
‘This is as big as it will ever get for us,’ he said.
Musicians Bono and Bob Geldof also provided messages of support for the Irish bid in a stirring video presentation.
The preferred bidder will be announced by the council of World Rugby at Halloween, with rugby member states voting on November 15 next. The French delegation was downbeat after making the first presentation, drawing fire on social media for bringing the sons of widely-mourned All Black Jonah Lomu to their presentation.
The Taoiseach said afterwards: ‘The presentation went real well, I think there was a very good vibe. The Government is 100% behind this. We have the financial support, we have the infrastructure, we have the fans, we have the North-South element.’
While he blamed a clash in schedules, President Macron is understood not to have attended because of a corruption row involving the head of the French federation and former team manager, Bernard Laporte.
South African president Jacob Zuma also didn’t attend, although deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa was on hand.
While the Irish bid team faced some tough questions, the Taoiseach said he was happy they were answered. One of them was about Brexit – will people still be able to travel freely between North and South in 2023.
‘I was able to reassure people that, while there are a lot of uncertainties about Brexit, one thing we are certain about is retaining the common travel area,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Sports Minister, Shane Ross, said Ireland’s financial projections for the tournament had been ‘scrupulously examined’. Asked whether the ticketing controversy which engulfed our Olympic Council could have any effect, he said the ticketing proposals for a Rugby World Cup here were ‘as bulletproof as the financial package’. The Home of Ruck and Roll – Page 13 senan.molony@dailymail.ie
IT would be the biggest thing to arrive in Ireland since the Pope. The 2023 Rugby World Cup, that is. If we win our bid to host it, we can expect 12 stadia around the country, north and south, to resound to the chorus of 650,000 fans arriving from 20 competing nations.
World-renowned as the Land of a Hundred Thousand Welcomes, surely this is the perfect chance to get up on the international stage and shout about all that’s brilliant about our little island.
The jury is out until November 15, but in the hope of swinging more votes our way, here’s a few reasons why we deserve it.
WE’RE THE HOME OF ROCK ’N’ ROLL ROYALTY
BONO’S haloed head was zoomed in by satellite to give his ten cents’ worth to the Irish delegation, but also keen to chuck himself into the fray was Sir Bob.
The last time he was out preaching, he was all hot and bothered over Brexit, although that didn’t seem to help much.
Most recently he was in Australia spouting off to a bunch of property moguls and accountants. We doubt he got away with throwing a few WB Yeats lines into that gig.
This time around, however, there he is in a room of brawny rugby types, summoning the poetic spirit of Yeats by reciting The Lake Isle Of Innisfree, and lamenting how, for every Irish person at home, there are 12 or more abroad, 70million exiles who, like him, like Yeats, never really left.
THE GARDAÍ HAVE HAD A TOUGH TIME OF IT LATELY
GARDA Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy is beside himself in the promo push for Ireland 2023, singing about this being an ‘amazing opportunity’ for ‘State resources to come together and deliver a one-off experience for the world’.
Sure the lads in blue must be frothing at the mouth – can you imagine the scope for boosting breath test targets with an extra 650,000 boozy rugby revellers in town?
Ker-ching!
TO PROVE WE’RE NOT ALL AS FLAKY AS MICHAEL O’ LEARY
MAD Mickey’s latest stunt cancelling thousands of Ryanair flights at the last minute has the world thinking we’re all a shower of eejits who can’t be relied upon. If we manage to get the rugby masses here on time – and with two pieces of luggage – we can take back control of our overseas’ PR. We’ll just have to hope and pray that once we get them here, the bus and train drivers don’t take a leaf out of the pilots’ book and decide it’s high time for a hollier.
CHANCE TO MAKE A FEW QUID ON AIRBNB TO MAKE THE RENT
IN a video promo, bid chairman Dick Spring waxes lyrical about our stadia, infrastructure and hospitality – perhaps the latter is a clue about where in God’s name everyone is going to put their heads down for the night once they get here?
The drone footage captures the misty romance of our green isle, but make sure not to zoom in too closely lest the camera picks up those tents in the Phoenix Park or sleeping bags under doorways near the Dáil.
Maybe the plan is to hand out value-added match tickets – to include tents and sleeping bags. Dublin has a major hotel room shortage and struggles just to keep up with the current crop of Americans traipsing through. And all those Brexiteer city slickers haven’t even landed yet. At least we’ve freed up some of the B&Bs in time.
But we’ve spotted an opportunity: maybe it’s time for the rest of us to get in on the lucrative B&B action.
What about tax breaks and annual leave for everyone with rooves over their heads to Airbnb the hell out of their digs, take a few weeks off work, and head to Leitrim for the tournament’s duration?
KEEPING THE PEACE PROCESS ALIVE
IT’S not been the best party up North for a while now and we’re a long way from the craic of the Chuckle Brothers, so we think any chance to get Arlene Foster and Gerry Adams into a room together to talk about happy things has to be a good thing.
It’s not often you get that pair singing from the same hymn sheet but Arlene is going to have to row in behind Gerry, and sing the praises of a 32-county Ireland if we’re to win the bid.
This can only be good for the peace process – and we’ve no doubt once she embraces the bid she’ll get as caught up in the festivities as the rest of us.
Who knows? She may even discover the craic down here ain’t all that bad.
WE HAVE DE BEST HANGOVER CURES
JAMES Joyce’s Buck Mulligan dipped there to blow off the cobwebs, and every Irish person worth their salt knows a dip in the frightfully frazin’ Forty Foot is the cure to remedy all ails, not least postmatch revelry hangovers.
In a year that saw the New York Times name the The Forty Foot among the best spots to take a dip in the world, no less, we think it’s about time the world’s eyes were opened to the medical wonders on our doorstep.
Shellfish are also considered the Holy Grail of hangover cures and we’ve plenty of cockles and mussels to go around too.
THE BOD
WE like to go on about the rugby genius of our Brian, and no better man to lead the delegation to tip the scales in our favour.
There are few who can deny our little island has spawned the best rugby player of all time in Brian O’Driscoll (Jonny Sexton is getting there!). If it was down to the rugby fans, we’re sure they’d row in behind our very own living legend. We, of course, can bask in Bod’s reflected glory – fierce, unbeatable, and more than capable of pulling off a mighty grand slam of a tournament.
THE CRAIC
IT’S the Irish term for fun but has foreigners wondering if we’re all into hard drugs. It’s about time we educated them once and for all and got them hooked on this hard-to-define pleasure too.
The French can vouch for it surely – they couldn’t get enough of it when our soccer fans hit the streets during the Euros.
Now it’s time to show the world the levels of craic we’re capable of here on the Auld Sod. Ireland 2023 promises to be the best session of all time.
Bring it on!