THE 150-strong members of Blazing Saddles, who this week finished their cycle from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town in aid of the Irish Council for the Blind, yesterday met President Nelson Mandela at his home, Tuynhuys. It is a privilege not granted to many and was arranged by the Irish, South African-based journalist Nicola Byrne who, it will be remembered, received a light-hearted proposal of marriage from President Mandela during the visit last March of President Mary Robinson.
Because no room in the house is big enough to entertain 150, the Irish cyclists, led by barrister Fergus O'Hagan, simply trooped through from back to front.