Blog: It’s Nearly All Too Much!

Written by Jackie Redpath Thursday, 07 June 2012 10:56

What a weekend!  It's safe to say the Diamond Jubilee celebrations exceeded our highest expectations.  Put on show was the very best of British pageantry, tradition and heritage, with a splice of the modern.

It was three days of high theatre from the Thames flotilla, to the concert, with the incredible Palace lightshow and fireworks, then the soaring experience of St. Paul's, culminating in that Household Cavalry-accompanied carriage parade back to the fly-past Palace balcony final appearance of the Royals.

I reckon it is indisputable that no other country has the history, pageant and experience to pull all this off to such a degree of excellence.

Beyond all this the long weekend saw an outpouring of joy, community and affection for the Queen, and indeed the Duke, which was not a given beforehand, at least not on such a massive scale.  Isn't it amazing that you seldom notice the Duke when he's a few steps behind the Queen, until he's not there?

Then, as if all that wasn't enough, on Wednesday the feel-good factor spilt over into downtown Belfast and onto the Shankill, where big crowds cheered Wayne McCullough as he carried the Olympic torch up the Road.  Hundreds lined the route on Wednesday evening.

All of the above we will never see again!

And there's more to come.  The Olympics begin next month and before then, Northern Ireland hosts the Irish Open at Royal Portrush with Messrs McIlroy, McDowell and Clarke leading the charge for glory.  Oh, and of course, there's the planned Diamond Jubilee visit of the Queen to this part of the United Kingdom.

As if that's not enough there's the excitement for some of us, of wall-to-wall coverage of the biggest International football event outside the World Cup, which kicks off this weekend.

Quite a summer ahead.  Let's hope the weather matches the excellence of all the above.  Enjoy!!