A Chara , - The term "tragedy" is used too often and too lightly in a sporting context - for an unfortunate own-goal perhaps, or a fleeting honour missed for another year.
However, the sad death of Ireland's supreme motorcycling star Martin Finnegan truly merits this term.
It is unquestionably a tragedy for his grieving family - but they also shared their Martin with an extended clan of admirers. We thank them for that and share their loss in our own way.
Motorcycle road-racing is a sport difficult to understand or perhaps justify through logical or dispassionate analysis. Its demands are extreme,the toll it exacts too great. But who is to deny it to those for whom it is the only challenge that tests their skill and bravery?
Thousands are drawn to venues all over Ireland to watch these heroes compete - both North and South, for it has ever been a shared creed that never needed any ecumenical "initiatives". Martin was our southern icon, the first in 20 years, and one of the few ever to rank with those from the northern heartland where such men grow from the very soil. It is apposite indeed that his last race and last win were in Co Armagh.
His achievements in Ireland, Ellin Vannen (Isle of Man)and the Far East went largely unheralded by the southern media, his sport ignored or perhaps dismissed as the pursuit of a wayward caste. Its followers have perhaps grown to prefer it that way. Their heroes are theirs alone - not shared with prying pundits, accessible in the pasture paddocks on race day, but not intruded upon by knowing fans.
We lined the hedgerows in the summer weekends to watch Martin for those fleeting seconds. The Flying Finn of Fingal thrilled us and made us proud. - Is mise,
TED NEVILLE, Carrigaline Road, Douglas, Co Cork.