Patience of a saint not required for Thomond pilgrimage

WITH apologies to Deputy Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West), may I say, quite simply, this.

The sports editor asked me to immerse myself totally in the ultimate sports sacrifice: driving from Cork to Limerick for a Friday night Heineken Cup game, and no sooner had I mentioned this assignment than I was beset with tales of horror and loathing.

Expect the worst, I was told. It’ll be bumper to bumper from Charleville to Buttevant. Nose to tip from Mallow onwards. You’ll face the terrifying dilemma of whether or not to turn off at Dooradoyle, I was told, and finally, at the end, when you seem safe... the Dock Road. Such was the shuddering and quivering at the mention of the Dock Road on a Friday night Heineken Cup game that I was wondering if it was a part of Mordor that JRR Tolkien left out of The Lord of the Rings.