Muhammid Ali

scubakid

Anyone out there that can give me any details on Ali's visit to Ennis. I'd really love to see him but I'm not familiar with the line up and I wouldnt be very familiar with Ennis town itself..

Thanks

Teadrinker

scubakid wrote: »

Anyone out there that can give me any details on Ali's visit to Ennis. I'd really love to see him but I'm not familiar with the line up and I wouldnt be very familiar with Ennis town itself..

Thanks

You can get interactive map of Ennis at http://www.irelands-directory.com/Clare/Ennis/maps.html

There will be road closures but I can't seem to get a link to that info online - maybe someone else knows what they are?

The following programme for the day was published on the ClareFM www.clare.fm
news section in the last few days:

Muhammad Ali - Itinerary


26 August, 2009 - 15:57

• On this Tuesday 1st September 2009, a Civic Reception will take place in Waterpark House, Drumbiggle, Ennis, before Mr. Ali embarks on a drive through the town, the birthplace of his great grandfather Abe O'Grady.

A number of public events marking his visit to Ennis will take place throughout Ennis on the day.
ITINERARY:

• All Day - Muhammad Ali Exhibition, at Glor Irish Music Centre
• 1.00-3.30pm - Public event at Abbey Street Car Park
• 3.00pm - Civic Reception at Waterpark House, Drumbiggle (Muhammad Ali will embark on drive through Ennis town following this event). Please note that the Civic Reception is a closed event.
• 3.00-4.30pm - Street entertainment at O'Connell Square, Abbey St. and O'Connell St.
• 3.15-4.30pm - Live entertainment, Temple Gate Plaza
• 3.15-4.30pm - Live entertainment, Turnpike
• 3.00pm (free admission), 8.00pm (ticketed only) - Showing of 'When We Were Kings' at Glor Irish Music Centre. Proceeds in aid of The Parkinson's Association Of Ireland

Hawk Wing

There are some amount of gob****es crawling out of the woodwork for this gombeenfest

croker95

Hawk Wing wrote: »

There are some amount of gob****es crawling out of the woodwork for this gombeenfest

Besides politicians, obviously, give some examples.......I haven't been paying much attention...

drunken_munky52

1. Black wannabee white rappers
2. Itinerants

But I think the biggest crowd will be the normal people of Ennis, plus the 1000s of other middle class folk expected to desend on the town for the day.

BLITZ_Molloy

Who are the black wannabe white rappers? I do a bit of rapping but I won't be attending.

Not all rappers are wiggers.

finbarrk

Hawk Wing wrote: »

There are some amount of gob****es crawling out of the woodwork for this gombeenfest

We won't be seeing you so Hawk Wing? Pity, it should be a fantastic occasion to see the greatest living legend in the world in our town.
Roll on Tuesday! Hopefully the rain stays away for a few hours.

Jay P

He's going for tea with 200 of his mates in Dromoland at three.

anto77

im thinkin of coming to ennis for this but will we get a glimpse of the great man at all? it appears the civic reception is a private event at 3 and then he will be in the car for the drive through the town so i wonder would the best thing be to head out to turnpike?

Claregirl

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/events/story.asp?EID=6824

Traffic restrictions in Ennis as per A.A.

croker95

BBC, Sky News and EuroNews all wandering around Abbey St this morning. Stage also looks the business. Hope the weather plays ball !:)

seany2929

Seen him very briefly at The Height earlier,nice story for the grandchildren:D town was fairly frantic!

finbarrk

There was some crowd around allright. I just saw him in the car. If I had known he was going to be out for so long in the turnpike I would have gone there.
Sky News are showing it frequently this evening.

soccymonster

It was flippin' packed!
Thougt the entertainment was great craic in abbey street carpark.
Fair play to the guy in the wheelchair singing the rose of lclre.
Enjoyed it .

The woman giving marty all the details of herself like her address, phone number etc was very funny! :pac:

m83

Sorry I missed hm but proud to call this legend one of our own.

Jay P

Saw him at Dromoaland. Poor guy. Was a puppet for the corporations. Didn't even talk. Still, I saw the man himself.

soccymonster

Anyone care to explain what he actually became? Some honourary freeman or something? What is that?

finbarrk

soccymonster wrote: »

Anyone care to explain what he actually became? Some honourary freeman or something? What is that?

Kinda complicated. He is the first person to be awarded the honour in Ennis.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_City

bowsie casey

soccymonster wrote: »

Anyone care to explain what he actually became? Some honourary freeman or something? What is that?

Sky News said this title entitles him to free parking in Ennis :eek: so that's Eur 1.20 an hour saved.

I would've thought it was free in a disabled spot anyway ! So bad deal for Mr Ali.

buck65

The politicians at his side were an embarassment to us all - Timmy Dooley, Peter Considine, Tommy brennan, John Flynn.

Teadrinker

buck65 wrote: »

The politicians at his side were an embarassment to us all - Timmy Dooley, Peter Considine, Tommy brennan, John Flynn.

Local politicians always seem about 20 years behind the times! None of them are Barack Obama but honestly, they didn't come across too badly, I thought. The welcome from the people of Ennis was so genuine that it put a great feeling on the day. I hope to God though, in time to come, we don't find out that Muhammad Ali wasn't as some poster wrote here 'a cash cow' for the corporations. Alltech, the animinal feed/nutrition giant which brought him here and which set up the foundation in his and their name to give educational aid to needy kids certainly gets monumental publicity from the fundraising trip to Dublin and the personal one to Ennis. Was it really necessary for them to get their name on the plaque in Turnpike??? Reading Pat Flynn's piece in the Indo yesterday, they seem to have a heavy hand in dictating his handling even over and above Ali's family's wishes. Jesus, you'd hope that man is able to exercise his own will still.

finbarrk

buck65 wrote: »

The politicians at his side were an embarassment to us all - Timmy Dooley, Peter Considine, Tommy brennan, John Flynn.

Why so?

Greenacres

Did anyone hear the reason why there wasn't full broadcast of audio of the ceremony in the council buildings was because the council sold the rights for any such ceremony to an american network?

Teadrinker

Greenacres wrote: »

Did anyone hear the reason why there wasn't full broadcast of audio of the ceremony in the council buildings was because the council sold the rights for any such ceremony to an american network?

Listen, if someone on the Council managed to get some shekels by flogging rights to an American network of an audio feed of an address by Frankie Neylon, then fair dues!

Pat Flynn's article in the Indo yesterday said full feed to many UK networks and those from further afield of the ceremony at Waterpark House was promised but withdrawn by Alltech minutes before the ceremony and that the local authority had gradually lost control of the event and suggested that Alltech even overruled the promises made by Ali's representatives.

Greenacres

Teadrinker wrote: »

Listen, if someone on the Council managed to get some shekels by flogging rights to an American network of an audio feed of an address by Frankie Neylon, then fair dues!

When you put it like that! lol, they were robbed.

Well, what I was told was that when it was first revealed about his heritage 7 years ago, the council were offered money to sign over the rights(visual and audio) to any ceremony by an american network. So in order to keep within the agreement they couldn't make a full broadcast of ceremony on Tuesday. I'll see if I can find out if there is any truth to it, and if so how much!

croker95

Teadrinker wrote: »

Was it really necessary for them to get their name on the plaque in Turnpike???

If thats true its bloody disgraceful !:mad:

Teadrinker

croker95 wrote: »

If thats true its bloody disgraceful !:mad:

The English language half of the plaque reads, and its in caps.,

To COMMEMORATE THE VIST
OF
"THE GREATEST" MUHAMMAD ALI
TO HIS ANCESTRAL HOME
OF HIS GREAT GRANDFATHER
ABE GRADY
AND THE LAUNCH OF THE ALLTECH MUHAMMAD ALI CENTRE
GLOBAL EDUCATION
AND CHARITABLE FUND
CLLR. FRANKIE NEYLON
MAYOR OF ENNIS
I SEPTEMBER 2009

Now, the launch of the centre had nothing at all to do with the visit to Ennis, but I guess if it could be appealed to for funds to finance some special needs teachers for the kids in Clare with learning disabilities who went back to school this week to find that they no longer had help because of the government cut backs, it might justify the corporation getting its name in.

buck65

finbarrk wrote: »

Why so?

Timmy Dooley with his arm around Ali at the Turnpike? Come on

funnyname

buck65 wrote: »

Timmy Dooley with his arm around Ali at the Turnpike? Come on

I'm surprised that Timmy "the saviour of Shannon airport" Dooley didn't try a bit of shadow boxing with Ali.

buck65

funnyname wrote: »

I'm surprised that Timmy "the saviour of Shannon airport" Dooley didn't try a bit of shadow boxing with Ali.

Ali would still kick his ass

pipeliner

bowsie casey wrote: »

Sky News said this title entitles him to free parking in Ennis :eek: so that's Eur 1.20 an hour saved.

I would've thought it was free in a disabled spot anyway ! So bad deal for Mr Ali.

I think he can also bring his herd of sheep through the town with no repecussion. If i ever get made a free man of a town i am going to do that

BLITZ_Molloy

Ian O'Doherty had a great article about this today. Couldn't agree more. The whole thing was cringeworthy.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/making-the-frail-old-ali-jump-through-hoops-shames-us-and-hes-not-irish-1878067.html

irishturkey

I felt that the whole affair had too much of a corporate vibe going on. Alltech brought him here they told us. Are we to believe that Ali is stuck for a few bob to come to his ancestral home? Yes I know it was about the launch of their partnership for disadvantaged kids and all that but were they needed by his side at every turn.

Ali was stuck on camera at the civic reception, then paraded through the town like there was a bomb in the boot of his car. Of course they had to move quick to get past spectators trying to get hands in the window but it was a bit much.

And the local politicians were, as usual, a joke. Not a sight or sound from them about the jobs the mid-west is haemorraging lately but when theres an opportunity for a photo shot you can guarantee they'll be out.

But I can always say, I personally got a wave from the greatest. When everyone else went to the Turnpike I headed towards Clarecastle to the big new roundabout. As the motorcade approached, down came the window and out came the hand to wave. Nice.

bowsie casey

BLITZ_Molloy wrote: »

Ian O'Doherty had a great article about this today. Couldn't agree more. The whole thing was cringeworthy.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/making-the-frail-old-ali-jump-through-hoops-shames-us-and-hes-not-irish-1878067.html

IOD's a complete tosser and never fails to raise my blood pressure. But he hit the nail on the head here...

fryup

ian o'doherty is one of the best journalists in the country, he tells like it is...and he's dead right with the Ali visit...it was cringeworthy