A matter of life and death

Brian Kerr was treated like a home-coming hero on our trip to the Faroe Islands this week, the former manager of the country’s national team an instantly recognisable and transparently popular figure with the locals from the moment our plane touched down at the homely little international airport which, set amidst a wild and stunningly beautiful landscape, makes the visitor feel like he’s landed in the heart of Connemara.

But then it seems that quite a few of the Irish who’ve never made it this far north have always harboured a certain amount of confusion about its identity. Or perhaps even its very existence.

Chatting to Brian upon arrival in the world’s smallest capital city, Torshavn, he recalled how, when back in Ireland after his time as manager in the Faroes, he was accosted more than once by people who congratulated him on the great work he’s done in, variously, Iceland, the Falkland Islands and even – gulp! — Egypt.