Dad’s World with Jonathan deBurca Butler

I WAS dreading it. The noise, the costumes, the drunkenness, the parties. Halloween on a Saturday night and on the day of the Rugby World Cup Final; it was going to be messy and I was nervous about it.

We had a busy day ahead of us. Ciara’s brother had popped over from London with his wife and one-year-old daughter Leyla and the plan was to bring the cousins trick or treating late in the afternoon.

We had timed the arrivals around the World Cup Final but as it turned out nobody arrived when they said they would so getting to watch it while making coffees, opening beers and going to the door was really rather impossible. But you know what? I genuinely didn’t mind that much. Once I had got over the idea of making sure that everyone was settled in and had a drink in their hand I sat down and caught the last 20 minutes of the game with my Dad and my brother-in-law.