Irish Examiner view: Still time for international success
Ireland Nations At Players Full Time At Edinburgh, The Match Celebrate Sunday Bt On Stadium, Murrayfield Guinness Six After
Despite the massive expectations in Ireland prior to Sunday’s Oscars ceremony in Hollywood that our 14 nominations would lead to unprecedented glory, it did not quite turn out that way as sci-fi comedy cleaned up with nine awards.
Martin McDonagh’s and Colm Bairead’s ultimately came away empty-handed. The fact both had been shortlisted was in itself a triumph for everyone involved in both movies.
That they came away without a famous golden statue was far from a disgrace and, in the case of , becoming the first-ever Irish language film to have been selected as a contender for International Film of the Year, made it a history-maker anyway.
But it was not all barren ground in Hollywood for the Irish as Ross White and Tom Berkeley’s won the Oscar for best live action short and Richard Baneham from Tallaght was similarly rewarded for his visual effects work on James Cameron’s blockbuster .
If Irish film-making endeavours did not fully match up to our collective anticipation, the week ahead should put that right — especially in the field of sporting endeavour.
From today, thousands of Irish punters will flock to Prestbury Park in Cheltenham for the annual four-day festival meeting with considerable confidence of at least matching last year’s haul of 18 wins — the third-best performance by our horses and their trainers and jockeys ever.
Pre-festival hotpots Facile Vega, El Fabiolo, Tekao, and Gaillard Du Mesnil are all favourites in their respective races this afternoon, while State Man will challenge 1/3 favourite Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle and fan favourite Honeysuckle will take on Maries Rock in the Mares’ Hurdle.
Irish confidence going to Cheltenham is well justified with such as Energumene and Delta Work running on Wednesday, Blazing Khal and Blue Lord on Thursday and Galopin Des Champs favourite for the Gold Cup on Friday, which is also St Patrick’s Day, the Cotswolds could be greener than usual by the end of the week.
Then, on Saturday Ireland face England in Dublin with a chance of securing their first Six Nations title on home soil.
After a very hard-earned win in Murrayfield on Sunday, in which Ireland shipped worrying injuries to Garry Ringrose and Caelan Doris among others, Ireland has the right to be heavily favoured over an out of sorts England.
The old enemy will not be long for lying down, even after an embarrassing record home defeat to the French at Twickenham last Saturday. Let us hope that the fans at Cheltenham and Lansdowne Road will not come away as disappointed as the Irish did in Hollywood.