When Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment, his first words to his wife, Winnie, were said to be: âIs Martin Carney still playing for Mayo?â So the joke went - a testament both to Carneyâs longevity as a Gaelic footballer and the stubbornness of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Iâm not sure what the appropriate modern equivalency is in terms of unjust incarceration - Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian political leader jailed in 2002 by Israeli security forces under widely disputed charges, perhaps - but an update of the gag would surely read: âIs LeBron James still playing basketball?â
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