When I looked down from the stage at the nominees in the sports category, all of whom are hugely professional, I realised that longevity has its rewards! People are so used to seeing me anchor major events they are comfortable and perhaps that was the biggest element in voting for me.

Also working with John, Eamon, Ronnie, Graham Souness and Ray Houghton has been a special privilege. Each has achieved greatness in his own way and I have basked in their reflected glory. So I’ve been very lucky to have been part of a great team.

So we move on to the World Cup finals which promise a terrific tournament in South Africa. It will be my ninth and final World Cup and I look forward immensely to a month of great games and great football talk.

Bill

The Tiger saga has been fascinating from many angles but the relationship between sports marketing and branding and the world’s first billion-dollar athlete is illuminating indeed. Nike is the one company not to have jumped ship on Tiger and when they announced their continuing support on 30 November 2009 they received massive coverage. This was maintained and repeated as sponsor after sponsor pulled the plug. How they will have viewed Elin’s reaction to their TV ad, which was designed to underline Tiger’s rehab, has yet to be revealed but it seems to have backfired badly- unless, of course, they believe publicity is all.

I have been reading a most interesting piece of research by O’Leary Analytics on the coverage Tiger and his key sponsors received in the three months following the “accident” near his home. Gillette was the first to announce it was limiting Tiger’s involvement and it generated more than 10,000 articles in a week. Accenture then cancelled their six year sponsorship deal and generated 3,000 articles in a day but when Tiger’s press conference co-incided with the Accenture Match play they were linked with him in another 7,000 articles.

AT&T, the third major sponsor to dump Tiger, made the announcement on New Years Eve and, on what is regarded as a slow news day, it was covered by 2,000 publications world wide that day. Tiger clearly is big news. Each new cancellation was linked to the decisions of other sponsors and, like it or not, their relationship was re-enforced.

So what does this mean?

According to O’Leary Analytical- congratulations to them on an illuminating piece of work- research shows that more than 3 months after the story broke, the relationship in the media between Tiger Woods and his sponsors continues to evolve.

Tiger may not be on their website, may not be wearing their logo, may not feature in their advertising, may not be carrying their name on his golf bag but his association with these companies continues to be reported in the media.

Which leads to this irony: being instantly associated with the most recognised athlete on the planet was once the hardest thing for most companies to achieve- distancing themselves from Tiger in a time of scandal is proving even harder.

Thats all for now,

Bill

The facts are frightening: One in every four cigarettes smoked in Ireland is not bought in an Irish shop, is not subject to excise duty, is not subject to our health regulations and most are smuggled.

No wonder Ireland has become a smugglers’ paradise. There are cottage industries in China and the Far East making counterfeit cigarettes specifically for the Irish market because Irish cigarette prices are the highest in the EU.

Smuggled cigarettes cost the Exchequer a fortune. The loss is calculated at €526 million this year and it’s anticipated to rise to €616 million next year. When you look at the ‘slash and burn Budget,’ Minister Lenihan doing nothing about smuggling is simply not acceptable. And, to be fair, the Minister recognises this so for the first time since 2004 he’s not increased excise duty on cigarettes. Good for him and good for him too that he’s reduced excise on drink because one in every three drinks is smuggled into the Republic or at least duty is not paid here.

But let me enter this caveat- its one thing to hold excise duty at current levels but Customs and Excise operations must be strengthened and more scanners put in place to increase further the level of seizures against smugglers in the coming year. That’s a priority and so too the penalty for smuggling cigarettes.

The Minister has indicated that he will look at imposing much stiffer penalties on cigarette smugglers. About time too. The current situation is laughable where smuggling earns no more than a slap on the wrist in terms of fines and, because of this, crime gangs have moved from pushing drugs to cigarette smuggling because the penalties are small and profits are huge.

So good on you, Minister Lenihan. Let’s hope for a huge new campaign against smuggling in the coming year. That will go someway in helping to balance your books!

That’s all for now folks,

Bill

Ireland did very well with a policy of containment in the first half but as RTE Panellist Graham Souness said to me in studio “It’s impossible to maintain this for 90 minutes”. He was absolutely right and once France turned up the pressure Ireland weren’t at the races in the second half.

Okay, France got a deflected goal and if we had any luck we should have equalised. But we must surely recognise that we conceded too much space, gave away the ball too often and, if we are realistic and not looking through a haze of green, we could see that France were coasting for most of the second half.

I suppose a one goal deficit isn’t insurmountable – in theory anyway. But can our midfield give the service to Doyle and Keane that is likely to produce scores. Furthermore, if we play a more adventurous attacking game with the players that Trappattoni favours we’re likely to be taken apart. With a few exceptions we can’t match the talent of the French side and effort and commitment gets you only so far. So set pieces are our big hope. We have a decent away record in the World Cup qualifiers but France are the best side we’ve met in this campaign and I doubt they’ll bottle it in Paris.

France want to go to South Africa, FIFA want them to go to South Africa and the weight of history is against us. Ireland have not won in Paris since 1937 and no European team that has lost the first home leg of a playoff has made it through to the World Cup finals. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll make it this time but I very much hope I am wrong.

Enjoy the game,
Bill

It’s brought about a couple of interesting comments in all the hype surrounding the match. Brian Kerr who’s Faroe Island team played France home and away strongly debunked the notion that France were disorganised and headed by a manager without respect. Kerr made no bones about the fact that France were unlucky to finish second in their group because of the two bad results in their first two away games, but made clear, that after that, they played with passion, commitment and technique and their football was frequently brilliant!

So much for the suggestion that France are in some way a soft touch. It will be Ireland’s biggest game by a distance and it will be fascinating to see how Trapattoni develops a tactical game to overcome a French side with so many stars. Player for player, with a few exceptions, we’re in a different league but the Irish team is bigger than the sum of its parts and the commitment of the team has brought us unbeaten through the group stage. So why not success in the play-off games?

One thing we can be sure of, it will be attritional rather than entertaining but if we can come out of Croke Park with a win or a nil all draw our chances will be very much alive in Paris. I was glad to see Liam Brady make an important point in relation to the game. His belief that the seeding has been organised so the big teams go through will be shared by very many. But he has put it up to the referees that their performances will be strongly monitored in case there is any sign of referees favouring FIFA’s favourite big name teams.

Finally Saturday will be a good test of the popularity of the Irish team – will the television audience stick with Given, Dunne, Duff, Keane at al or will the X-Factor twins ‘Jedward’ win the ratings battle? Come on – surely the Irish team plus Giles, Dunphy and O’Herlihy is bigger than any pop singers!!

Let’s hope everyone gets behind the Irish on a hugely important day!
Enjoy the game,

Bill

Listening to the special 25^th Anniversary programme, brought back memories. The involvement of Garret Fitzgerald triggered recollections, of his time as Leader of Fine Gael when he brought his party to 70 seats and became Taoiseach. That campaign was the first really professional election campaign in Irish politics and transformed the landscape forever. It was my privilege to have been a member of his communications team.

Times changed after he stepped down but Enda Kenny has brought about a Fine Gael transformation from a party in shambles to the nations leading political party today. It’s mystifying to me why the magnitude of this transformation has not been properly recognised. Indeed this offers the greatest insight into Enda’s abilities – his vision, his determination, his ability to attract top class candidates and his commitment of endless hours to ensure the success of today. I have no doubt his potential to be Taoiseach should be judged on this achievement and not on the basis of sound-byte politics. When I listen to criticism in Dublin I often wonder if there is more to it – perhaps unconsciously a metropolitan bias towards a Taoiseach from the west!

The Morning Ireland anniversary brought another memory too. Of a heart attack and by-pass surgery which meant I missed anchoring the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and taking part in RTE’s very first breakfast television programme. I was devastated at the time – most especially at missing my friend John Treacy’s silver medal in the Olympic marathon and a wonderful performance by the Foxrock school teacher Gerry Kiernan in finishing 8^th – which I watched from my post operative bed. But the surgery was hugely successful and there have been so many compensations since.

Thats all for now folks,

Bill

We can finish first or second in our World Cup group. Italy are favourites to win the group as they currently lead by four points, with Ireland according to all the pundits, likely to finish second. But, beware, Bulgaria are still in the mix, and we will have the extraordinary situation next Saturday of knowing the result of Bulgaria’s match about 10 minutes before kick-off between Ireland and Italy.

If Bulgaria are beaten, Ireland will finish second in the group so we will go into the play-offs. That will give our team a huge incentive to beat Italy and go into our last game against Montenegro, whom we have already drawn with, only a point behind Italy who have a tough final game against Cyprus.

I am not optimistic that Italy, the world champions, will drop the ball at the very end and it is asking a lot for Cyprus to beat them. Much more likely we’ll finish second in the group and be faced with the play offs.

The play-off situation has been very seriously manipulated by FIFA to make sure the big teams go through. They will be seeded, which means that we will be drawn the likes of France, Russia, Portugal or Croatia who will all be favourites to beat us. However not over yet thus it means that we will have a hugely exciting four days and two games ahead. So it’s a rare occasion when something involving Ireland goes right down to the wire. It will be sweaty but let’s enjoy it!

OKEY DOKE thats it for now folks. I’ll be back after the weekend,

Bill O’Herlihy