Feeling a bit down in the gob this morning are we?  A tad pissed off about the rugger maybe or else bored senseless at this interminable election campaign?  If so, I have just the tonic for you.

You’ll recall that I’ve a prediction competition going in conjunction with Setanta which involves guessing the results of the NFL matches that the channel are covering during each round of the campaign.  Well, I thought it’d be nice if I could add a weekly prize to the pot as well and now I’ve managed to do so, in the form of one of the best books ever written about the GAA.

Over the Bar by the late great Breandán Ó hEithir is a wonderful read – it’s a warm, witty and affectionate semi-autobiographical account of the author’s upbringing in the Thirties and Forties on Inis Mór and his subsequent adult life in Dublin. Weaved into this are his memories of going to and then later, as a broadcaster and journalist, covering great GAA clashes and events over a number of decades.  As such, the book is his personal tribute to the organisation and a wonderfully evocative tribute it is too.

For some insane reason (perhaps to do with all that vacuous crap that fills the shelves of bookshops nowadays) this gem is currently out of print and so is hard to get. But, thanks to Greg at Read Ireland, I’ve managed to get my hands on a number of pristine copies of it.  I can’t do one for everyone in the audience but I can dole out a copy to every weekly winner of the competition I’m running with Setanta (which, in case you’re reading this, Daire, means that you’ve got one in the bag already) and I can also set one aside as part of the booty for the winner of the mini-league as well.

Now, feck off and do some work before I change me mind.  It is Monday morning after all.