IT IS difficult to imagine now the intensity of the controversy that was stirred by the Treaty oath, or the fact that history could have ignored for so long that it was Michael Collins who essentially proposed that oath.

RIGHT up there with ‘why would you do that?’, ‘what the hell did you say to her?’ and ‘where’s that tenner you owe me?’, ‘what’s it like being a reporter at big games?’, is the question I’m most asked.

Ireland’s team of Patricia Ryan, Niall Griffin, Geoffrey Curran, Louise Lyons and Austin O’Connor finished eighth with 276.10 points after the showjumping phase of the equestrian competition in Hong Kong today.