Letter to the Taoiseach

I never thought that Edwin Poots would be important in my life.  But, as I write to you on Monday of this week, Taoiseach, I am scheduled to meet this DUP Minister twice in one week.  
Edwin is the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure in the North, as you know. Before the year is out, he will have met separately with your colleagues Seamus Brennan and Eamon Ó Cuiv to discuss North South co-operation in their respective areas of policy development.
Anyway, Edwin is under some pressure about the location of a Multi-Sports Stadium which is supposed to be built at the Long Kesh site.  Thankfully, through the good work of Paul Butler MLA and others, the Hospital and other significant parts of the Long Kesh site are being preserved because of their heritage value and because many of Ireland’s finest patriots were incarcerated there.  Indeed, some died there.
Taoiseach, that is my personal take on things, because I would not want to give you the impression that there is total consensus in the North on this matter.
Elements within unionism are making life difficult for Edwin, not least many within his own DUP party.  I intend to ask Edwin if he sees the GAA as being crucial anchor tenants or even anchor landlords in this new sports stadium, which should be fit to serve the top part of Ireland.  In fairness to Edwin, I think he has already placed on public record his support for this concept as part of an overall Shared Future.
Bertie, I will fill you in on this meeting in the near future and perhaps in the meantime you could appraise me of the fate that befell The Bertie Bowl.  Wasn’t there supposed to be a Multi-Sports stadium of this character in Abbotstown? I remember telling Michael McGimpsey, the then Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure in the North, that I had been at our National Stadium at the weekend – Croke Park.  Kildare had been playing Galway.  And Sonia O’Sullivan had run around the pitch at half-time to national acclaim.  
And then on Thursday of this week I will be meeting with Edwin a second time.  Gerry Adams has seized the initiative in this instance and has asked me and Francie Brolly to accompany him in meeting up with Edwin to discuss the need for a strong Irish Language Act in the North.
We are to meet at the Interpoint Building in the centre of Belfast, I think, on Thursday afternoon.  Again, Edwin might have to overcome some of his own instincts to concede fair play and to recognise the rights of other people.  In a way, that is Edwin’s challenge. I hope that he is up to it.
I hope that you got your hands on the most recent edition of Teamtalk Magazine.  I have written a piece for this internal Gaelic Games magazine for the County of Tyrone.  It used to be a well kept secret because we did not want to share our tactics and strategy with other counties but it is all out in the open now.  I’ll bet youse don’t have the equivalent in either Dublin or the whole of Leinster? MLA goes GAA GAA is the title of my piece, where I was given licence to blether a bit about my interest in Gaelic Games. I give you a good mention in this article.
If you would like to write exclusively for Teamtalk, Taoiseach, will you give me shout?  You can view this magazine online on www.teamtalkmag.com

I am serious, Taoiseach, I would like you to pen your thoughts and you could reach a Tyrone audience in the process.  I still don’t know if it is a Fianna Fáil priority to organise in the County of Tyrone.  I wonder would Edwin consider doing a piece for Teamtalk? He has a few Tyrone supporters as well, you know.
I never thought that he would become such an important player. Did you?

Is mise le meas
Barry McElduff



NB: Bertie Ahern can be contacted on (00 353) 1 619 4020 or e-mail [email protected].  Address: Office of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Dublin 2.