Yes, the Deep well mid South was up to expectations and it was good to see the Celtic Target economy at close quarters. One sign in the past that you had crossed the border into the republic (apart from the concrete bloc houses and barbed wire at the end of the 'British' side) was the sudden deterioration of the main road from First World to Third. No longer. The Dublin to Newry motorway is almost up to the border and suddenly it looks as if it is Norn Ireland-UK which is an economic basket case. Building building everywhere at astronomical prices. The average Celt seems very well off and many of the guest workers are English! Some live in Wales (cheap) and commute weekly to work in Ireland where the housing market has soared out of the poor struggling Brit's reach.
The golf clubs reflect this new affluence. Seapoint which is a decent enough track if not quite the Royal County Down (PBUI) demands a joining fee (partly bond eventually returnable) of 17,000 Euro-£ 12,000 in real money plus a hefty annual sub. And a commitment to spend a large annual amount in the bar (not a hardship for most people). Well for some.
The golf was good apart from the fact that my host had not been informed that we were to share the course with a golfing society and its 170 players. Our round took about 4 hours and in the end we walked in the last two holes as a huge tailback had built up in front of us. But Huttonian did not mind having clinched the match and won a staggering 4 Euros.
Yes a good day. And with the benefice of the post Fish generation of weather men in the ascendancy today looks like being even better.
