Hero in Zimbabwe, Zero at Home

So Jacob Zuma, or more specifically his ANC colleagues, are seemingly hell bent on ousting Thabo Mbeki as South African President after the damning high court judgement stated that he had interfered in the prosecution of Zuma for corruption. Well, in sharp contrast to the vultures circling around the ‘dead snake’ as Zuma so diplomatically described Mbeki at the weekend, the South African president’s successful ‘quiet’ diplomacy in neighbouring Zimbabwe – culminating in the historic power sharing (of sorts) has garnered him enough accolades in that country to perhaps provide him with a much needed escape route. If Zuma and his Umshini Wam’ brigade have their way, Mbeki wont even finish his final term as president. Which brings me to Mbeki’s facilitation of the Zimbabwe deal, which really had seemed unreachable only a few days ago. My humble suggestion is that having spent considerable amount of time shuttling to and sleeping over in Zimbabwe in recent months, the soon to be ex-president may find it more comfortable and much safer to set up his retirement home in one of the plush suburbs of Harare or perhaps Bulawayo, which would be much closer to home. Certainly, Prime Minister and the President of Zimbabwe will be happy to oblige. It’s the least they can do in return. In any case, with many Zimbabweans recalling how farcical the previous government of national unity turned out to be, a readily available Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki may just be the man to referee this unwieldy and incongruous political marriage of convenience. Time will tell!

Key points of the historic Zimbabwe power sharing deal between Zanu PF and the MDC factions

• President Robert Mugabe with two deputies from Zanu PF;

• Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai with two deputies from MDC-M and MDC-T;

• Mugabe, as head of state and government, to chair cabinet of 31 ministers;

• Tsvangirai to preside over a council of ministers, supervises ministers, formulates and implements policies, sits in National Security Council (JOC) and heads government business in parliament;

• Zanu PF to have 15 ministers and eight deputy ministers, Tsvangirai’s MDC faction 13 ministers and six deputy ministers and the Arthur Mutambara faction three ministers and 1 deputy minister;

• Provincial governors to be shared among the three parties;

• If an elected representative (MPs and Senators) dies or is recalled by their party 12 months from the day of signing, none of the other parties to the deal will contest the by-election;

• The "inclusive government" will remain in power for a maximum five years. A review of the power-sharing deal will take place in 18 months, and every year thereafter;

• New constitution after 18 months;

• Constitutional Amendment No 19 to be passed to facilitate implementation of the agreement.

So its London (2012) Calling!

Nasty headache, irritable, bleary eyes, lopsided walk, monotone conversation with my dearest? Sounds like modern day plague. Naw, not really, it’s just the Olympics withdrawal symptoms.

Remarkably as I predicted, Zimbabwe did finish the 29^th Olympiad with more medals of any colour than Ireland. The marvellous Kirsty Coventry, notched 4 medals - 1 gold and 3 silver, becoming Zimbabwe’s greatest ever Olympian with 2 golds, 4 silver and 1 bronze. As for Ireland, three boxers saved the country's blushes with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals as the country finished 62nd on the medal table.

It seems many now hope that proximity to the next games in London 2012 will spur on the Irish to launch an onslaught for the medals. But as one cynical Irish chum half joked, even if the Irish national sports, Gaelic football or hurling (i.e. played nowhere else) became Olympic sports it is likely Australia, whose Aussie Rules is loosely based on the former, would pip poor Ireland to the gold and the US or Canada (where lacrosse with its similarities to hurling is played) would most probably overcome the Irish. What has also been quite galling for the Irish has been the fact the big neighbour next door cant stop gloating about its record Olympic booty!

The Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures 2008

It was case of third time lucky when the sun finally took a peak at the Dún Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures on the third and last day of the global carnival weekend. Over 800 musicians and artists, plus another 1,000 participants and volunteers descended on the seaside town to take part in 150 live gigs, performances and events throughout the town.

Here are some of the colours, pictures and sights from the festival.

Kathakali - from Kerala, India, showcasing their male classical dance/drama

An impressive sand sculpture - quite a tenacious fellow, this chap, considering the awful, drizzly weather, but somehow the sculpture lasted all three days without crumbling...

Born in Tibet, Lobsang Dargye 'the voice of the mountain' was one of the impressive performers in the People's Park.

The Ferry coming in from Holyhead, UK - always an impressive sight when it comes in to dock

Some paella, one of my fav dishes (well, not THIS whole dish, may I add)

Olympic Fever

Well, here I am, a Zimbabwean born Irish citizen, caught between rooting for the land of my birth and heritage and the nation which I now call home, under whose passport I traverse the world. Suffice to say, it has actually been easy. The land of my birth has already featured on the medals table and the land under whose flag I now lay my head has not.

It’s early days yet but it would seem as poor, devastated Zimbabwe could finish the 29^thOlympiad with more medals of any colour than my far much wealthier and more technologically advanced adopted home. Never mind that all of Zimbabwe’s medals will most surely come from one Kirsty Coventry, as was the case at the Athens games four years ago. Back then she picked up a full set of medals (3), becoming Zimbabwe’s first Olympic champion and medallist since the Golden Girls picked up the field hockey gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. By Day 4 of the Games, Kirsty had picked up two silvers in the Women's 100m Backstroke and Women's 400m Individual Medley. She goes into the Women's 200m Individual Medley on Day 5 seeking to claim another medal, hopefully gold this time seeing as she’s qualified first and in new Olympic record time in the qualifying. However, she will be defending her Women's 200m Backstroke title from 2004 in what is her favourite race.

Remember Eric the Eel? Well, at the other end of the scale, this Olympiad seems to have already produced far more successful results for black Olympians in sporting disciplines that rarely feature black athletes. I mean, how many black athletes do you find in the swimming pool, diving, sailing, kayaking let alone on the podium. Well, it was gratifying then to see Cullen Jones, alongside the phenomenal Michael Phelps in the USA’s gold medal and world record shattering team in the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. Furthermore Togo got its first ever Olympic medal when Benjamin Boukpeti claimed bronze in the Canoe/Kayak Slalom (K1) Men’s final. Long held stereotypes about black people and water being slowly debunked? Perhaps?