Sir, – It was a dark winter’s evening in the early 1990s, and a group of us had finished a céilí in a local well-known pub. We adjourned to the bar and shortly after John Bruton, who had held a clinic upstairs, joined our group. He was affable and friendly and on spying a squeezebox beside Ray, our man of music, he suggested a few tunes, and before long we were all in full voice. They decided to sing and play a song relevant to every county in Ireland, all 32 of them. These were frequently interspersed with a story of an experience he had there.
It was remarkable to see this senior politician blend in so well and demonstrate his folk knowledge of our country. May he rest in peace. – Yours, etc,
BOB BARRY,
Ashbourne,
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Co Meath.
