Niall

How life turns: Niall was a larger than life character I knew since he and I were 4 years old. Niall died suddenly in 2006 of natural causes.

I found this cutting marking a page in a book recently.

Niall was an early employee of Ireland's now most notorious banker, Sean Fitzpatrick. Sean did Niall proud at his funeral and at the rugby match publicised in this newspaper cutting.

But I sit here now and wonder at the turns life takes, Niall the bon viveur rugby player dead; the bank he worked for - now nationalised and the main cause of my country's downfall.

The bank took the greatest of risks with others money, which I and my children will pay for in taxes: Niall risked his life once to retrieve the bank's money from armed robbers (and succeeded).