It Occurs To Me: 'He’s some man for one man, Our own Seimi Coleman'

Troy Parrott is deservedly hogging all the headlines, but as Didi Hamann pondered, what if Seamus Coleman had played in our earlier games, particularly against Armenia?

In any event, they are all heroes now and I was reminded of some lines I penned ten years ago after a crucial play-off game against Bosnia.

Seamus had a superb match as Ireland earned a crucial 1-1 draw with Bosnia in the first-leg of their play-off double header. “He’s some man for one man, Our own Seimi Coleman Big heart, bigger legs, And he comes from Killybegs!” Eamon Dunphy was full of praise for Coleman at the time and applauded his guts and grit. 

Seamus Coleman: 'He has character – he’s pure Donegal'

He said: “Coleman made a crucial tackle, a match saving one – and he has character – he’s pure Donegal. He’s a great little pro, he’s a tough little man.”

I recall making a TV programme with Bradas O’Donnell a decade ago in Killybegs, and watching as Seamus patiently signed autographs in the Bayview Hotel into the wee small hours. A very special and thoughtful human being. He was a young 27 then… what a warrior still!

‘Crynaldo’ and Morgan… again!

Piers Morgan has had ‘Crynaldo’ on as a guest three times in five years. The latest whingefest was just after his narcissistic elbow hit Dara O’Shea, getting him a deserved red card.

It’s interesting that Portugal won 9–1 without him against Armenia. Morgan subsequently whinged about the said card: “Well well well… It seems Dara O’Shea has form for deliberately provoking Ronaldo in World Cup Qualifiers, then diving like an Olympic swimmer to try to get him sent off. Here’s what he did to @cristiano when Ireland played Portugal in 2021.."

He then showed a clip which actually proved that ‘Crynaldo’ deserved a clip himself at the time! In the interview with Morgan, he boasted that he’s more famous than Donald Trump and better looking than David Beckham. Piers’s tongue hung like a grateful puppy after a feed of Pedigree Chum.

Cristiano has praised the Saudi Pro League, ridiculously claiming that it is far superior to Portugal’s Primeira Liga and also argued for its top performers to be considered for the Ballon d’Or!

Let’s remind ourselves about Saudi Arabia… the kingdom carried out 345 executions in 2024, the highest number recorded by Amnesty International in over 30 years. Amnesty made a plea to ‘Crynaldo’ “to highlight the country’s glaring social problems rather than contribute to laundering its reputation”. However, he insists that Saudi Arabia is a “safe place” and an “amazing country”.

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Amazing alright. Al-Nassr pay him £177 million per annum plus bonuses and a reported 15 percent share in the club. As regards his mucker Morgan, a few years ago, he said: “My DNA is predominantly Irish whether Ireland wants that or not.”

Piers! I’ll give you two guesses!

How to treat heroes!

Remember Stephen Crean, the Roscommon-born Nottingham Forest hero who intervened on a train in Huntington as a knife-wielding attacker went berserk. S

urprise, surprise, Ryanair refused to refund his tickets to Forest's Austria game and churlishly suggested: “All Ryanair air fares are non-refundable, which is why we strongly recommend passengers take out travel insurance in order to protect themselves if they can’t travel.”

This prompted calls for Forest fans to boycott Ryanair, with Mr Crean himself even weighing in and describing the Irish firm as “poxy”. Now British Airways has offered Mr Crean two return business class seats to Porto to see Forest take on Sporting Braga on Thursday, January 22.

The offer, which Mr Crean has accepted, also includes accommodation for two nights at a five-star hotel. The club has also arranged the tickets for Mr Crean to attend the Europa League game. There are many reasons to be proud to be Irish this week… Ryanair is not among them.

The mortgage tracker scandal

It was impossible not to be moved and angered by the Prime Time mortgage tracker programme. All of those who participated had depressingly similar stories to tell. My heart went out to all of them, but watching the heartbreak and emotional reaction from Michael and Sonia Grace in Cavan was gut-wrenching in the extreme.

In 2006, they took out a tracker mortgage to purchase their first home. A few years later, they switched banks and fixed their rate for three years. Five years later, however, when they requested a switch back to a tracker mortgage, they were bluntly told that this was not an option.

A tearful Sonia calculated that approximately €600 per month was the difference between what they should have been paying and what the bank was actually charging them in the first four months.

Had they been allowed to return to their tracker mortgage, she added, “We wouldn’t have had to choose between fuel, food, and coal. Our life ended up spiralling after that… unfortunately, downhill.”

After the Central Bank’s investigation into the scandal, the Graces eventually got their tracker mortgage back and were paid just over €14,000 in compensation.

They were very unhappy, particularly because of an insulting payment of €59.99 in recognition of the “time value money” lost to them for the years without the tracker.

“All of my health was impacted because of the overcharge, because of the stress. Michael’s health as well, you know, and our marriage too had suffered,” she said.

“I ended up setting up an office in the sitting room and I said: ‘This is war’.”

Eventually, after an appeal, they were awarded an additional €64,000 in compensation, an amount which would never compensate them for the trauma they experienced. However, in the settlement agreement was a confidentiality clause. They felt obliged to sign as it might risk losing the award from the appeals panel.

“You get your award, but then you have to sign this confidentiality agreement where it's a non-disclosure and it's an ex gratia payment… You had to sign it. You weren't given any other choice. It’s a gagging order. We didn’t do anything wrong,” Sonia added.

Michael said: “They just want it sort of kept hushed, kept quiet. I think people need to know what people have to go through.” In another development since the Prime Time programme, the Bank of Ireland has said it is formally investigating comments made by some members of staff in a work chat regarding RTÉ’s two-part documentary series on the tracker mortgage scandal.

The messages, which have been seen by journal.ie,  “...show several members of staff discussing, Trackers: The People V The Banks, and Padraic Kissane, a financial advisor and mortgage broker who helped clients impacted by the scandal resolve matters.

Kissane featured in the series as a leading expert on the scandal. Disparaging comments about Kissane were made by several members of staff at Bank of Ireland in the work chat.

”In a statement, Bank of Ireland said the comments were “completely unacceptable” and don’t represent the views or values of the company.

“We  have initiated a formal investigation and have taken immediate actions. We will take any further steps that are necessary when this investigation concludes,” it said.

It added that some of the comments made by staff within the digital conversation “showed empathy for customers impacted by the tracker issue” and acknowledged the bank’s failures, but others were “completely and utterly inappropriate”.

“These included unacceptable comments directed towards someone who played a critical role in representing homeowners,” it said, actually refraining from naming Kissane. 

Kissane told The Business Post, which first reported the story, that he was “upset, hurt and angered” by the posts, and said one of them was “appalling”.

Umberto’s  ‘echoes’                                       

The late Italian philosopher Umberto Eco, renowned for his novel The Name of the Rose, delivered a timeless critique of the digital age.

He warned that social media had created an “invasion of idiots”. 

Eco argued that before the internet, public speech required some form of expertise or accountability - but now, platforms have given everyone the same megaphone, regardless of knowledge, credibility, or responsibility. He didn’t oppose free speech; rather, he emphasized the danger of misinformation and equal amplification of ignorance.

His statement resonates deeply today, in an era where false news spreads faster than truth and emotional outrage often replaces thoughtful debate.

Eco’s words challenge us to use technology responsibly- to verify, question, and think critically before sharing.He reminds us that while every voice matters, not every opinion deserves authority.