The BOD of Irish rugby
QUESTION
Who is considered to be the most successful Irish rugby player of all time? MANY rugby aficionados consider Ireland’s most successful rugby player to be Brian O’Driscoll, who is now 39 and who made his final appearance for Ireland in 2014.
O’Driscoll was born in Dublin, where both his parents were medical professionals. Rugby interests ran deep in his family. He studied at Blackrock College, where he soon proved his exceptional rugby skills. He made his debut with Leinster in 1999, going on to make a total of 133 appearances for Ireland between 1999 and 2014.
He also made eight appearances for the British and Irish Lions between 2001 and 2013 and he made three appearances for the Barbarians between 2000 and 2004. He stayed at the top of his game for well over a decade and many people consider him the greatest rugby player ever as he was constantly developing his skillset.
O’Driscoll was described as a centre who tackled like a flanker and kicked like a fly half. He mastered every facet of the game and set the standards for everyone else. As he aged he adapted accordingly, adopting new skills to keep him at the top of his game.
Brian O’Driscoll led from the front and was never daunted by any challenge. He was also the first man into battle and the last man standing. He also had an uncanny ability to read a game and react accordingly, so much so that his admirers often said he could see into the future.
In his earlier days, he was in a long-term relationship with Glenda Gilson, the Irish model and Virgin Media TV presenter, but they broke up in 2005.
In 2010, he married writer and actor Amy Huberman, and they have two children.
While O’Driscoll is generally considered the top Irish rugby player of all time, three other players also come close to that definition.
Paul O’Connell, 39, from Limerick, was an Ireland grand slam winner in 2009. Among his many achievements he made 218 appearances for Munster between 2001 and 2015, playing in the lock position. He was capped 108 times for Ireland between 2002 and 2015. Last year, he joined the BBC as a sports commentator and this year, became forwards coach for the French club, Top 14.
Ronan O’Gara, 41, a fly half, played 16 seasons for Munster, between 1997 and 2013, a total of 240 appearances. He also won 128 caps for Ireland and played on three British and Irish Lions tours. He retired from rugby in 2013 and this year was made assistant coach with Crusaders.
Another all-time great is Willie John McBride, from Toomebridge, Co. Antrim, who is now 78. He also played in the lock position, making 63 appearances for Ireland between 1962 and 1975, including 11 as captain. He also made 17 appearances for the British and Irish Lions during that same period. His last international game was in March 1975, when Ireland played Wales.
Brion Dunne, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
QUESTION
Is it true that every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head? If so, why? BEETHOVEN was known to go through a number of rituals and acts of both carelessness and carefulness when composing.
The famous Beethoven biographer, Alexander Wheelock Thayer, recorded how, during the heat of composition, he would empty a jug of cold water over his head ‘to keep his mind cool’.
Others contend that he did this to refocus his mind on the task in hand.
He was also known to continuously pour water over his hands, sometimes so that the floor was completely drenched.
Beethoven was known to drop into long reveries; he would walk for hours with a companion without uttering a word.
Cold water, cleanliness and vigour were all important features of Beethoven’s life.
Nobel Prize-winning author Romain Rolland wrote: ‘He sustains this strength of his by means of vigorous ablutions with cold water, a scrupulous regard for personal cleanliness, and daily walks immediately after the midday meal, walks that lasted the entire afternoon and often extended into the night; then a sleep so sound and long that he thanklessly complained against it!’
James Marsden, Monmouth.
QUESTION
Why is the Corwin Amendment so contentious in the US? IN FEBRUARY 1861, Thomas Corwin of Ohio in the House of Representatives and William H. Seward of New York in the Senate introduced an amendment to the US Constitution that would protect ‘domestic institutions’ from the constitutional amendment process.
In effect, this amendment would protect the US ‘slave states’ from the abolition of slavery by Congress.
The Corwin Amendment was one of several proposals put to Congress in the hope of preventing border states from seceding and joining the Confederacy.
However, it was badly timed. Seven states in the South had already voted to secede, so the amendment could not gain the required number of votes in both houses required for approval.
Though Congress approved the amendment in 1861, to become law it needed to be ratified by three-quarters of state legislatures. It was ratified in five – Rhode Island, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland – but has since been rescinded in Ohio and Maryland.
Illinois, at that time, was not sitting as a legislature so its ratification is registered as ‘questionable’.
There was an attempt to withdraw the amendment in 1864 and stop the ratification process, but this was never adopted.
The Corwin Amendment is still technically open for ratification, but no state has done so since 1864, though this was considered by Texas in 1963.
The contention arises from the expected effect of ratification.
If the amendment had been ratified before 1865, it would have made abolishing slavery by the federal government difficult or even impossible.
There is also a fear that if it ever becomes ratified, slavery in the US could be re-established.
But, as it was never explicitly referred to in the Corwin Amendment, this is unlikely.
If ratified today, it would prevent federal government from legislating in local state matters.
IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.