IT’S been a grim week up in the north-east since last Saturday, despite some fine performances to distract, on the racetrack and in wider sports fields.

I felt a bit of a killjoy when the Troy Parrot adulation and Irish supporters’ frenzy was in full swing. It reminded me of a ‘damning with faint praise’ farewell to an athlete of the 60s and 70s who hailed from these parts. In giving the news of his passing to a friend, one individual described the athlete as “that fellow who used to run for Ireland but never won anything”.