Saturday ramblings
Haven't been online much this week or this weekend - I've got Chrismassy-type stuff to do and two bored youngsters to strangle try and amuse and quite frankly I'm majorly PMT-ish and can barely put up with myself nevermind anyone else. But there you have it. Can't be a happy bunny all the time ;)
George Best was buried today in Belfast and it was televised on Ulster Television. It was, I can honestly say, one of the loveliest and most moving farewells that I've ever seen, very reminiscent of Princess Di's funeral.
There were *thousands* of people not only in the grounds of Stormont where the service took place, but also along the entire three-mile route. People stood in crowds of ten deep along the side of the road as the funeral cortege passed, all of them applauding, all of them throwing flowers and scarves. Police say there were around about 32,000 people in the grounds of Stormont (that's because the crowd was capped at 32,000 for safety and capacity issues). By the time the hearse pulled up at it's destination the car was covered, the driver having to stop on occasion to clear the scarves, flowers, hats and other tokens of affection thrown by the crowd.
The service itself, although being televised, still managed to hold an air of dignified intimacy that I'm sure the family appreciated. Ten people were selected at random from the crowd and invited to attend the service inside.
The lily-covered coffin was carried into the building, after a one-minute silence and piper's lament, accompanied by the beautiful singing of Peter Corry. He preformed a song from Les Miserable called 'Bring Him Home' and it was incredibly moving and the lyrics so apt. Tributes and anecdotes were given and shared by George's closest friends and family and I must admit to shedding many tears when Calum, George's son, broke down whilst reading a poem. It had been given to him by a local woman the night before - I'm not sure if it was actually written by her for George, or if it was an existing work modified. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.
Brian Kennedy performed 'Vincent' with the lyrics slightly modified, again very beautiful and very moving. Amongst hymns there were further performances by Brian and Peter of 'The Long and Winding Road' and 'You Raise Me Up'. Again, the cars were showered with flowers, wreaths, hats and scarves from many different football teams. Huge banners were held aloft, one of them proclaiming 'George Best, the Elvis of Football'. Some folks in the crowd shouted out things like 'God bless, Geordie' as the cars passed by.
One thing that really annoyed me was a quote made by David Blunkett, that 'pillar of society', who said he couldn't understand the 'mawkish outpouring' of people in the UK over someone like George Best. Then again, this is the same David Blunkett who has proved himself to be a disgrace, a cheat and a dispicable liar so I guess I shouldn't allow the likes of him to mar my memories of George.
All in all, it brought back many memories of Diana's funeral and also that of Joey Dunlop. I sincerely hope that his family were comforted by the love and support shown by the people not only of Ulster but from all over the world who idolised and adored George.
Ok, George had his flaws. But he never denied them and in fact did an immense amount of charity work to try and help others. He loved life and loved living. He was the very best at his trade and he brought the people of Northern Ireland together in a way that no one else could. He made our little island famous for something else other than 'the troubles'.
George might on occasion have been an eejit. But you know what? He was our eejit, our George, our superstar. And we loved him.
George Best was buried today in Belfast and it was televised on Ulster Television. It was, I can honestly say, one of the loveliest and most moving farewells that I've ever seen, very reminiscent of Princess Di's funeral.
There were *thousands* of people not only in the grounds of Stormont where the service took place, but also along the entire three-mile route. People stood in crowds of ten deep along the side of the road as the funeral cortege passed, all of them applauding, all of them throwing flowers and scarves. Police say there were around about 32,000 people in the grounds of Stormont (that's because the crowd was capped at 32,000 for safety and capacity issues). By the time the hearse pulled up at it's destination the car was covered, the driver having to stop on occasion to clear the scarves, flowers, hats and other tokens of affection thrown by the crowd.
The service itself, although being televised, still managed to hold an air of dignified intimacy that I'm sure the family appreciated. Ten people were selected at random from the crowd and invited to attend the service inside.
The lily-covered coffin was carried into the building, after a one-minute silence and piper's lament, accompanied by the beautiful singing of Peter Corry. He preformed a song from Les Miserable called 'Bring Him Home' and it was incredibly moving and the lyrics so apt. Tributes and anecdotes were given and shared by George's closest friends and family and I must admit to shedding many tears when Calum, George's son, broke down whilst reading a poem. It had been given to him by a local woman the night before - I'm not sure if it was actually written by her for George, or if it was an existing work modified. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.
Brian Kennedy performed 'Vincent' with the lyrics slightly modified, again very beautiful and very moving. Amongst hymns there were further performances by Brian and Peter of 'The Long and Winding Road' and 'You Raise Me Up'. Again, the cars were showered with flowers, wreaths, hats and scarves from many different football teams. Huge banners were held aloft, one of them proclaiming 'George Best, the Elvis of Football'. Some folks in the crowd shouted out things like 'God bless, Geordie' as the cars passed by.
One thing that really annoyed me was a quote made by David Blunkett, that 'pillar of society', who said he couldn't understand the 'mawkish outpouring' of people in the UK over someone like George Best. Then again, this is the same David Blunkett who has proved himself to be a disgrace, a cheat and a dispicable liar so I guess I shouldn't allow the likes of him to mar my memories of George.
All in all, it brought back many memories of Diana's funeral and also that of Joey Dunlop. I sincerely hope that his family were comforted by the love and support shown by the people not only of Ulster but from all over the world who idolised and adored George.
Ok, George had his flaws. But he never denied them and in fact did an immense amount of charity work to try and help others. He loved life and loved living. He was the very best at his trade and he brought the people of Northern Ireland together in a way that no one else could. He made our little island famous for something else other than 'the troubles'.
George might on occasion have been an eejit. But you know what? He was our eejit, our George, our superstar. And we loved him.