Avril Doyle President of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland said that he was very bright had definite opinions and

Avril Doyle, President of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland, said that he was “very bright, had definite opinions and was prepared to stand up and be counted”. Above all, he will be remembered for being fiercely competitive in the arena (especially in speed competitions, in which he was renowned for his do-or-die efforts) and for being the best and liveliest of companions when the class was over.Genevieve Murphy. His pupils included Princess Haya, daughter of the late King of Jordan, who was to be her country’s first Olympic show jumper when she competed in Sydney in 2000, and Dermott Lennon, who went on to win the world title in 2002.Princess Haya sang his praises as a trainer Fellow riders described him as an inspirational team-mate. “I don’t want to ruin a good horse by taking him to Rotterdam at this stage and I don’t want to ruin the team’s chances either,” he said.As he came to the end of his distinguished riding career (which included two Olympic Games, two world championships and a hugely popular win on home ground in the 1987 Dublin Grand Prix), Darragh was already in demand as a trainer. Darragh was nevertheless chosen to ride Carroll’s Carrigroe at the Europeans, but he pulled out after problems at Hickstead.

She had given everything she had at the previous year’s World Championships, but could only plough through some of the huge fences that she faced there. She had, he said, “a heart as big as Ireland” – but she did not possess unlimited scope. He made the most of it when he partnered Pele to win the 1975 British Jumping Derby at Hickstead.Although he proved his talents as a horseman by getting a fine tune from a variety of disparate mounts, Darragh will best be remembered for his dynamic partnership with the amazing little mare Heather Honey, who had earlier changed hands for just £60 because of her alarming tendency to hurry backwards when asked to go forward. Both horse and rider were small (Darragh was just 5ft 3in) but they were full of fire and fight. For three glorious years – from 1977 to 1979 – they were part of the Irish team that won the Dublin Nations Cup for the Aga Khan Trophy, supplying the only double clear round for Ireland in the final year during which they were also on the winning team at Aachen in Germany.Because of his affection for the diminutive mare, Darragh did not want Heather Honey to be considered for the 1979 European Championships in Rotterdam.

Banks’s Hideaway, who was ridden by Michael Saywell at the Munich Olympics of 1972, was among the horses that Darragh jumped successfully in England, winning big contests at the Suffolk County and the Royal Show.Banks had a reputation as a hard taskmaster and, though the experience Darragh gained on the British circuit would stand him in good stead, he must have been pleased to get back home to a gentler way of life in Ireland As it turned out, his homecoming was perfectly timed. Eddie Macken, runner-up in the 1974 World Championship on Iris Kellett’s Pele, had decided to base himself in Germany, so Darragh was offered the ride on this wonderful horse. With his light frame and natural gifts as a horseman, Paul Darragh could have been a brilliant Flat-race jockey. But the son of a doctor from Co Kildare had set his heart on a career in show jumping from an early age and he pursued his goal with a characteristic sense of purpose. Paul Darragh, show-jumping rider and trainer: born Killiney, Co Dublin 28 April 1962; married Jane Macdonald (one son, two daughters); died near Ashbourne, Co Meath 3 January 2005.
With his light frame and natural gifts as a horseman, Paul Darragh could have been a brilliant Flat-race jockey. Always a stickler for getting the basics right, she gave her pupils (among them the great Eddie Macken) the best possible grounding.Darragh’s competitive edge was apparent from the time he began jumping a stunning pony, Peggy Sue, at the age of nine.

He was later chosen to represent Ireland in three successive Junior European Championships from 1969 to 1971, winning individual medals (two silver and one bronze) on each occasion and collecting a team gold as well in the final year.In 1974, when he was 21, he spent a year in Yorkshire where he was based with Trevor Banks, who was then running a joint business venture with the county’s best-known show jumper, Harvey Smith. “Universal high standards require universal good behaviour in our schools.”Parents have a right to send their children to orderly schools but with that there is the responsibility to ensure that their child attends school and behaves well, as well as the responsibility to support the school’s approach to discipline.”Badly behaved pupils damage their own education and that of their classmates: pupils who truant seriously reduce their chance of success at school as well as later in life. “Under this Government there will be no free-for-all in admissions or the setting up of new grammar schools.”We want parents to choose schools, not schools to choose parents.”She said all people involved in education – including herself – should be “first and foremost parental champions”.However, she coupled her pledge with a warning that parents should remember their responsibilities as well as their rights. Our report shows that it is not possible to demonstrate a straightforward link.”A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said that increased investment had an important role to play in raising standards. “Investment, education reform and the achievement of the teaching profession go hand-in-hand in raising standards,” he said.”Investment has provided the record increases in teacher numbers, the new buildings and the classroom technology necessary to support education reforms, which together with the hard work of teachers and pupils has delivered significant improvements in pupil performance since 1997.”The report also criticised the DfES for its response to the school funding crisis of 2003, when at least 250 teachers were made redundant after changes to the funding system left some schools with deficits of more than £100,000..

Schools should be allowed to test pupils for drugs even if their parents refuse permission, the Tories argued yesterday. Between 1991 and 1995 the proportion of students getting five good passes rose by 6.7 percentage points while spending rose by 11.4 per cent in real terms.From 1995 to 1999, exam passes rose by 4.4 per cent while spending increased by 3.4 per cent. But between 1999 and 2003 under Labour, education spending rose by 31.6 per cent but exam passes increased by just 5 percentage points.Barry Sheerman , chairman of the committee, said: “The Government has argued that its increased investment in education since 1997 has led directly to increased levels of achievement, for example at GCSE. Just when they thought the pressure could not get any worse, BBC employees caught up in the planned relocation to Manchester received some uncomfortable news yesterday: they face inflated property prices in the north unless they get an early foothold in the market. However more than half felt US car makers would grow market share compared with 42 per cent a year ago..