Luckiest Man in Ireland?

national | environment | news report Monday December 22, 2008 02:00 by duine gorm

34,000 enter lottery- he wins every year

Without much public comment a strange phenomena is taking place in our midst- a rare and unusual scenario involving the leader of the nation's eco warriors and a megalithic passage grave.

up early- Gormley at Newgrange

In the early hours of the morning of December 21st every year a handful of people gather in the interior of the passage grave at Bru Na Boinne in county Meath to witness the early morning sun rays illuminating the back wall of the ancient structure, through a gap in the lintel specially constructed by our remote ancestors (or an archeologist in the 70's -depends who you talk to).

The passage is only big enough for twenty people to be present each year, so competition for a chance to witness this event is very fierce. This year, over 34,000 people entered the lottery for places.

However, remarkably, the same man found himself amongst the lucky few for the second year running. John Gormley was present on the solstice in 2007, and this year too saw the Minister among those selected to witness the sun rise at New Grange.

Weird huh? Chances of that happening to anyone else? Pretty remote.

But Minister Gormley is a strange man. He sees nothing odd about this incredibly lucky break, and sees no contradiction at all in partaking of celebrations of the ancient heritage of our island, while overseeing the destruction of that same heritage at other sites in Meath.

Some things us mere mortals just can't understand.

Members of the public gathered to celebrate the dawn of the solstice at New Grange, who hadn't been lucky enough to secure a place inside the monument, barracked the minister as he entered the site yesterday morning. They should really have been asking him for his lottery numbers, since he must be the luckiest man in Ireland.

Unless he is just writing his name at the top of the list every year (and thereby denying someone else a place) just because he is the Minister?

No, the Green Party would never behave that way.