Old friends

I always loved that Simon & Garfunkel song, Old Friends. I think it had another name, too, a forward slash '/' Bookends. It evoked the sounds and sights of an Autumn evening, sitting on a park bench. 'Old friends, sat on a park bench like bookends.' It's a sad song but there's also a great degree of comfort, too. They're comfortable in their friendship and that's the value of old friends; you can trust them. I ran into Keith Duffy last night just as I got off work. I've known Keith since Boyzone's first 'public' appearance, a sort of showcase, in PoD, back in the early '90s. He went on to become a very famous pop star; then a tv soap star in Corrie and an accomplished athlete, completing triathlons and Iron Man competitions with distinction and raising substantial sums of money and awareness for his charity, Irish Autism Action. This year, he has plans to compete in three marathons, attempt a world record cycle from Mizen Head to Malin Head and another six day cycle around Ireland with a bunch of his pals from Manchester United. Even more impressively, Keith has just completed a five month stint touring Ireland in Druid Theatre's production of John B. Keane's classic Big Maggie. The man has earned his bones, so to speak. But more importantly, he remains an 'old friend,' without changing and always someone you can trust and in who's company, I will always feel comfortable. So here's to you, Keith...