A wistful, wish list for the coming year

Country Living with Francis Farragher

It’s that time of year again for resolutions and good intentions, so with that in mind, what better than an alphabetical miscellany as we look forward to 2016. Like all the old American TV dramas, any resemblance to real life people, is purely coincidental.

A is for Arsenal and for Arsene and the wish that they win the Premiership in 2016. I’m not a Gunners’ fan and Wenger does whinge a bit, but they play beautiful football.

B is for all the bullshit that comes out of various reports, surveys and studies, that on any given day of the week give us the key advice on clean living. Face up to it: we’re finite creatures.

C is for that cigarette that I’m always longing to have since I gave up a drag from a Major back about 40 years ago. The longing is still there, but for the moment, no thanks.

D is for those beautiful donkeys that I see advertised from the Donkey Sanctuary down in Cork and sometimes wish that I could adopt. Maybe, just maybe, in 2016.

E is for Eric Cantona and that famous Kung Fu kick that he launched on a Crystal Palace fan back in January, 1995. I always remember it because it happened just before a loved one passed away.

F is for Frank who hopes to be the best of boys throughout the coming year with no sweets, less booze, more exercise and earlier nights in 2016. Purely aspirational!

G is for Galway, and especially our hurlers, whom we hope will settle down from their autumnal expulsion of all toys from the pram and make a serious bid to end the 28 year wait for an All-Ireland title.

H is for all the hurlers on the ditch who have the solution to every problem from ISIS to bad football teams . . . without ever leaving their bar stools.

I is for our battered IFA, who have been broken and smashed, essentially by the old Irish failing of greed and getting rich quickly. Not by everyone – just a few in the golden circle. Back to the grassroots guys.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.