Happy New Year to You!

Isn't it hard to believe that the year of our Lord 2022 is on the way out, but it is! It is a time of reflection and remembrance as we look back on the year that is passing, and at the same time look forward to the new year that is now stretching ahead of us. It's a sort of threshold and we're in between. It is also a time of commemoration and celebration, as we say goodbye to the past year and welcome the new year.

2022 was an eventful year, in which many important things happened around the world. I don't have the room to write a lot in the space I have, so I'll mention a few things that really impressed me, and especially ones that I haven't written much about during the year. Although many things that happened in 2022 were on the negative side, there were also many positive things that happened. I decided to focus my attention today exclusively on art and sports, because aren't those mostly positive things? This is not the time to be negative - so, no mention of politics, wars, inflation, global warming and more! Without further ado, here are a few highlights in the arts and sports that really impressed me in 2022.

Great Films

A number of films came out with directors and actors from Ireland - including 'An Cailín Ciúin' (in Irish) and 'The Banshees of Inisherin' (in English). I wrote reviews about them during the year in this column. I love 'The Quiet Girl', based on the wonderful book 'Foster' by Claire Keegan.   

Books

A number of great books by Irish authors were published in 2022, both in Irish and English. I can't mention them all here, but I've started reading a few of them and they've been great so far. I will no doubt enjoy them. Which books? English books: 'We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland', by Fintan O'Toole and 'Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story', by Bono. Irish books: 'Madame Lazarre', by Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin. I will write reviews about these books after I finish them myself.

Sports

It was a great year from a sporting point of view. Finally, the impact of the pandemic was greatly reduced, so that we were able to attend sporting events again. In this column, I don't have space to mention all the highlights, and I have chosen a piece of national news and a piece of international news that had a big impact on me.

National Sports - Hurling

Brian Cody resigned as Kilkenny hurling manager. He dedicated 24 years to the task and his teams won 11 All-Ireland championships. Unfortunately, Limerick defeated Kilkenny in the 2022 final, Brian's last final. The Cats did their best in that game, and although they fought with passion and heart, Limerick was better on the day! 

In ainneoin sin, níl aon dabht faoi ach gurb é Brian Cody an bainisteoir is rathúla agus is fearr i stair na hiomána.  Caithfimid a oidhreacht a cheiliúradh agus is rud dearfach é sin.  Go maire tú an céad, a Bhrian Cody!

International Sports - Soccer/Football

The 2022 Soccer World Cup in Qatar initially attracted a lot of controversy from a human rights perspective, but as soon as the games started, people forgot about those matters, and focused entirely on soccer. No wonder - It was a great Cup - maybe the best ever. Although we were surprised by many results, the crowning highlight was the final, with Argentina against France. The game was almost over with Argentina leading 2 to 0, when Argentina conceded a penalty kick with almost 20 minutes left on the clock. Kylian Mbappé flicked the ball into the back of the net, and then the game really started! There was a sharp conflict in the game from then on, with Messi from Argentina against Mbappé from France, from a scoring point of view. The game went to penalty kicks, and Messi and Mbappé scored first for their teams. But then Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made a brilliant save, and France could not catch up with Argentina again. Argentina and its national hero, Lionel Messi, won.

Happy New Year to all our readers!!

.