Had a wonderful time in Egypt thank you. I wanted a period of contemplation and reflection and the desert in Sinai has provided such facilities for thousands of years for a wide variety of people from hermits to healers and meglomaniacs to messiahs, although I admit I probably fail the entrance exams for all the above.

While the small tourist area we stayed in at Taba, which is situated at the upper end of the Gulf of Aquba in the Red Sea, is an artificially created holiday resort, the run from the military airport that serves the area takes you through mountains of rock and flat dark sand that runs as far as the eye can see.

It is not hard to imagine being alone and isolated in this eerie land with a temperature that is freezing cold at night and soaring at daytime.

A surprisingly short walk takes one away from the attractions and comforts of the resort and into a  dramatic yet dismal, almost lunar, landscape where ones sense of direction could quickly disintegrate and be replaced by confusion and even panic.

Looking across the quite narrow Gulf of Aquaba one sees in the same glance the lands of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel and realises that little, if anything would remain secret for too long in this part of the world.

With these three countries and Egypt sharing this same small stretch of water the competition and rivalry that has been long documented between all countries in this volatile part of the globe seems more understandable.

I have been to Egypt on several occasions and while I possess a genuine admiration for the people and a particular fascination for the  immense history of this magical land I also fully accept the insecurities that  have prevailed throughout the troubled region down the ages.

The Egyptians are a proud and stubborn people with a fierce dedication to their place in history. But in this modern world  history can mean all things to all people. However, in the context of the pressures of the same world, history has, to a certain extent and in many ways become overshadowed by the simple demands of living.

This is one of the modern idioms that I find appealing and at times confusing. The ever decreasing world we inhabit becoming more susceptible to and dependent on the contemporary global communication and information that can sidetrack a culture and encourage, in the young especially, a similarity or even a sameness to those from other cultures.

I personally have a predisposition towards most things that demonstrate our similarities as opposed to those that segrigate the attitudes of people.

Hence, this was a particularly good time to visit Egypt. The winning of the African Nations Trophy has instilled a very modern pride in the country.

The phenominal effect of professional football across the world has tapped into the psyche of the modern mentality of so many diverse cultures and introduced a thought process that is fuelled by an acceptable rivalry that many poung people can identify with.

Egyptian TV for instance, shows professional football games from all across Europe.

Champions League, League games in England, Germany, France and Italy as well as their own thriving professional League are shown live and this is reflected in countries across Africa and Asia. Young Egyptians observe their fellow countryman Mido at Middlesborough and many other African players demonstrate the possibilities and success’s now available to young people irrespective of their background or culture.

Speaking to some of the staff working at the hotels in Taba establishes the fact that these young men and women harboured the same dreams and faced similar difficulties that young Irish people encounter.

Education and discipline aligned to ambition offer progressions. But opportunity must exist before belief can be fostered.

Opportunities engendered by social harmony, nationally and internationally, have far greater potential for ongoing success than those presented by individual or indigenous initiatives.

The waiter in the bar wanted to be a professional footballer.

It was all he spoke about. For his sake, I sincerely hope his dream comes true because he was the a terrible barman. I had to tell him he wasn’t quick enough to be a professional footballer, if you know what I mean.

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