Charlie is still the darling down Dingle way

PERHAPS Charlie Haughey’s best days are gone but why would he want them back when the public adulation is still there? Hundreds flocked around him yesterday when he carried out the annual task of starting the Dingle regatta in Co Kerry.

He doesn’t fire a starting gun anymore and these days Charlie just raises a red flag to set the Naomhoga boats in motion. Not even the celebrations that followed the Cork and Kerry match could stop a large crowd from spilling out of Dingle’s bars to meet the former Taoiseach.

While the days of gunfire are long gone the boats still move, and the public applaud, when Charlie raises his hand. Men, women and children pushed and shoved to have a word with him after he emerged from the Waterside Restaurant close to the pier in Dingle just after 5pm.