Political football at league launch

WHEN Cork City take on Wexford Youths at Turner’s Cross on Friday evening, it won’t just be the opening salvo for both clubs in the Airtricity League First Division season – it will also be a battle of the newly elected TDs.

Batting for the home side will be Jonathan O’ Brien, the Cork City Board of Management representative who won a seat for Sinn Féin in Cork North Central, while an unmistakably familiar figure in the visiting entourage will be Wexford poll-topper Mick Wallace.

The man who appears to be the nation’s favourite property developer was the inevitable star turn in the Aviva Stadium yesterday at the launch of the new Airtricity League season. With his heavy metal hair and football shirt, he’d be hard to miss anyway but, yesterday, the difficulty was in keeping him in one place for more than one minute as he cheerfully complied with numerous demands for interviews and photographs.