On arrival at Glasgow Airport the first person I meet happens to be an Irishman - Joe Higgins, the Independent Socialist T.D., is waiting to board the plane for Dublin after attending a week-end conference on "Socialism, Nationalism and Internationalism" which was also addressed by John McAllion MSP and Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party.
The conference, which celebrated Scotland's radical traditions, is a timely reminder of how deeply the "Red Clydeside" tradition runs in Scotland despite Tony Blair's minting of New Labour.
One of the lectures was on John MacLean, the Glasgow Marxist who was Lenin's first Honorary Consul in Glasgow but who also fearlessly championed the cause of Irish freedom.
It is not generally known that one of MacLean's chief disciples was Meath-born Andrew Fagan, who was also the Quartermaster of the old Scottish Brigade of the IRA . Fagan, my great-granduncle, was one of the principal conspirators in the famous Smashing of the Van incident in 1921 in Glasgow when a policeman was murdered in an abortive attempt to free the Sligo Republican, Frank Carty.
THE news is that Rangers have trounced Celtic. I am met at Glasgow Airport by my brother Paul, the managing director of Westsound, the Ayr-based independent radio station, who did the match commentary for Scottish Television. As we drive to my father's home in Blantyre, south east of Glasgow, Paul confirms my fears that the Kenny Dalglish - John Barnes partnership is not working. The Celtic squad sorely misses the injured Swede, Henrik Larsson. Oh for the golden days when the late Jock Stein made Celtic a world force.
THE Irish Consul General, Daniel Mulhall, and his deputy, Michael Lonergan, are making a considerable impression on Scottish affairs, as the new political elite in Holyrood limbers up to take its place on the international stage. Dan hosts a lunch in the Edinburgh Arts Club for The Irish Times Scotland Correspondent, Alex Bell, and myself, where we are joined by my old friend from our Brussels days, Michael Fry, now a colourful figure in the Scottish Conservative Party.
Michael invites me to attend the "Tuesday Club Dinner" in Stac Polly restaurant where I enjoy excellent Scottish food washed down with fine wines and earnest political debate about how the Tories might restore their political fortunes in Scotland. Far from this was I reared in "Red" Blantyre. The meeting animatedly responds to an address by Welshman, Nigel Evans, the MP for the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. Alas, Chatham House rules prevent me divulging what was said.
Later that week, coincidentally, the newspapers report that a new row has split the Scottish Tories after a selection panel rejected Fry as a candidate in the next general election. This row breaks out as the Conservative leader, William Hague, arrives in Scotland. A quiet word in William's ear by Nigel may see the decision reversed in the formidable Fry's favour.
In Edinburgh I meet Noel Dolan, the London-Irish Policy Adviser to the leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond. Though born in London, Noel was brought to Ireland when he was only six months old and grew up in Kilkee, Co. Clare until his family's return to the English capital when he was aged six.
A former producer with BBC Scotland, Noel is a frequent visitor to Ireland. "Anyone who remembers Ireland in the 1950s and has seen the dramatic changes which have occurred since Ireland joined the EEC in 1973 cannot fail to notice the spread of prosperity," he remarks.
Like Salmond, Dolan regards Ireland as a model of how an independent Scotland would do well in the European Union. "We think that we are up to boxing as cleverly as the Irish."
Media House, the public relations firm formed eight years ago by Jack Irvine, the former editor of The Sun is regarded as the port of call for those in crisis with the media. David Whitton, now Press secretary to Donald Dewar, was on its staff. Tom Cassidy, former Night Editor of the Daily Record and The Express, is prominent in the firm as a co-founder of the Scottish-Irish Business Forum with the Principal of Strathclyde University, Sir John Arbuth nott, formerly of Dublin's Trinity College.
Bill Heaney, the editor of the Dumbarton-based Lennox Herald, is to address the spin-doctors of the new Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament on what makes news in a regional newspaper. This assignment arose after Scottish and Universal Newspapers' editorial and management team, led by managing director Alex Cargill, visited Edinburgh for discussions about weekly newspaper coverage of the Parliament.
There it was agreed with Roger Williams and David Whitton, the two senior PR executives, that award-winning Heaney would give his talk early in the new Year. They are doing this with one eye on Dail Eireann where most regional newspapers in Ireland already have columns from writers within the capital city encompassing reportage and comment on how the Government's affairs impact on the regions.
The sea-change in Irish-Scottish relations was palpable at the annual dinner of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce in the Glasgow Thistle Hotel when addresses by Tanaiste Mary Harney and BP Amoco's co-chairman Peter Sutherland were thunderously applauded.
Not since the Countess Markievicz and Daniel O'Connell had Glasgow been entertained to such a high level of oratory. Delighted with the reception accorded by the hard-headed Scots businessmen was my host, Stephen Hughes of Enterprise Ireland.
Also attending the dinner were former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds' daughter Miriam, who works in Edinburgh with Fyffe Ireland, Margaret Mellor, Bord Failte's manager for Scotland and the North of England, Frank Sullivan of Allied Irish Banks, London, and the affable head of Aer Lingus in Glasgow, Maurice Rochford.
While in Glasgow, I had a glimpse of the luxury which President McAleese will enjoy during her overnight stay at the Hilton Hotel, where she will be welcomed by its manager, Mr Klaus Zsilla.
