Priceless treasure burgled

ALAN O'KEEFFE LORD Henry Mountcharles spoke of his "absolute devastation" last night following a robbery which deprived his family of irreplaceable heirlooms and historic treasures. He was at home in Beauparc House outside Navan on Friday night when a gang broke into the mansion and stole jewellery and family momentos which had been cherished by the family for up to 250 years. "It was a heavy situation and I'm just relieved that my wife and 13-year-old daughter weren't harmed as they weren't at home when it happened," he told the Sunday Independent . The items were stolen from a room while Lord Mountcharles was in the next room but he remained unaware of what was happening during the robbery. "It's very distressing. These items have been in my family for generations and they consisted of what survived the fire at Slane Castle in 1991. We had a very significant emotional attachment to some of the items," he said. The stolen items included a gold ring given by George IV of England to Lady Conyngham who was his last mistress. Lord Mountcharles is directly descended from her. The ring was inlaid with emeralds and had an engraving of a shamrock, rose, and thistle. A stolen gold snuff box was engraved with the date of Christmas Eve 1762 with an inscription that it was a gift from Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick and Luneberg, to Captain Henri Conyngham. A missing gold vesta holder bore the inscription that it was given by Emperor Napoleon III to the Earl of Mountcharles in 1855. Another gold snuff box had the inscription that it was a present from George IV to a very young Lord Mountcharles who was a page boy at his coronation in 1831. A stolen 18ct gold child's rattle was a present from George IV to Viscount Slane on his birth. A silver gilt 'freedom box' dated 1799 was presented by Drogheda Corporation to Earl Conyngham. Gardai searching for a gang estimate the stolen items are worth well over ?100,000. Also stolen were: a silver and enamel Garter badge; 18ct ladies gold key wound pocket watch, dated 1850; and two Ivory coach passes, dated 1821.

Ecclestone gathers eager enemies

FORMULA ONE is getting its fair share of headlines these days, with all sorts of stories such as teams going broke, key European races being ditched from the calendar and of course that old chestnut: Ferrari dominating the sport to it's detriment. Even in Japan, an act of God almost added to it's woes. No, I'm not talking about the tycoon Bernie Ecclestone, but the typhoon 'Ma-On' which hit Suzuka, causing the unprecedented cancelling of qualifying. But even God had trouble interfering with the race itself and in the end we got a double header of qualifying and the main event, both within hours of each other. It certainly suited the Schumacher brothers Inc. However much people moan about F1 - and let's face it, the moaning has almost become a sport in it's own right - the global TV viewing figures belie that unrest. More people are tuning in than ever, maybe in the divine hope that they'll see an apparition which would be another car beating Ferrari. But these days they have more chance of seeing moving statues in grottos. Word has it that the teams are getting together to find a way of beating the red one. After years in Siberia, they're feeling the cold and they want to avenge this injustice. But as Confucius said 'If you want revenge you have to first dig two graves'. Maybe they should re-think their strategy and just hire some good aerodynamicists. Their frustration is mainly aimed at F1 supremo Bernie and FIA chief Max Mosely. One deprives them of income and the other deprives them of results. The septuagenarian sixty-four inch billion-dollar Bernie is used to having enemies, not just F1 team owners but now the SOS lot (Save our Silverstone). His fortune has frequently made him a target of envy from many, including muggers who pounced on his six-foot Croatian wife, Slavica, in Chelsea a few years ago and relived her of several hundred thousand pounds worth of jewellery. Ecclestone keeps a sign on his garden gate now that says 'Beware of the owner'. The couple seldom appear in photos together, not because they are trying to avoid the paparazzi but because they can't fit into the same shot, so she's frequently beheaded, leaving many with the impression that he's married to a headless women. At this stage, he's resigned to threats about his life. He told a friend recently "I don't bother with a bodyguard," before he added sadly, "What's the point? Nobody would want to see me rescued anyway." While Bernie is slaving away over hot racing cars, his teenage daughters at least enjoy the trappings of their enormous wealth and can be frequently found hanging out on their superliner in some far-flung tropical hideaway. But that isn't always plain sailing either. Once he was heard to chastise them on the phone as he ordered them to "stop arguing and grow up". Maybe he though he was chairing a constructors meeting. Who said the lives of the rich and famous aren't without their problems? But as Michael Caine once said "I've been rich and I've been poor . . . and being rich is better". Ecclestone keeps a sign on his garden gate that says 'Beware of the owner' Back to Japan, Ralf Schumacher's second outing since his US accident seems to have produced a new man. He took a leaf out of his brother's book and concentrated on physical training and re-charging his batteries. It was good to see him motivated enough to finish second in spite of the fact that he's leaving Williams. If he continues to evolve at this pace then Toyota will be in luck. Takumo Sato had his best home Grand Prix when he followed his team-mate Jenson Button home in third as BAR consolidated second place in the Constructors' Championship. Jarno Trulli got his own back on the team that fired him; in qualifying at least. Unfortunately, his sixth place didn't translate into a points finish for Toyota and he finished behind both Renaults. Villeneuve didn't help Renault's objective of beating BAR when he finished outside the points and the team now have to win and finish third in Brazil if they're to beat their nemesis. And so on to the last stop on the 2004 calendar. Interlagos is the antithesis of the new high-tech circuits of Bahrain and China. It's so run down and poor that you wonder how Ecclestone can criticise Silverstone while a circuit like this occupies the same calendar. But what it has, which the other new arrivals will take years to cultivate, is spirit and passion. In a season that belonged to Ferrari, Brazil is the final farewell. Of course, Barrichello will be hoping this race belongs to him. But his record there is nothing short of disastrous. In the ten Grand Prix he has raced 'at home', he has finished just once. That was in 1994 when he came fourth in a Jordan. Last year, he retired with fuel pick-up problems which often happens when you run out of fuel . . . To make matter worse, he'd even got into pole position. Winning here would mean everything to him, particularly as he grew up in the locality. Probably the country's most important sporting hero next to Pele is still the late great Ayrton Senna. He put Brazil on the map and gave the people a sense of their own worth. That is a difficult thing to achieve in a country with grinding poverty. Barrichello feels the pain of knowing he will never emulate Senna's greatness. But he wants to give his people a taste of the glory days, like when Senna won in 1993. This year has to be his best ever chance. Raikkonen will also be bursting to finish the season on a high and give McLaren their second victory of 2004, if for no other reason than to keep Ron Dennis in a good mood over the winter. And who could forget Brazil last year? It was the third race of the season. Fisichella won it for Jordan after the race was prematurely stopped due to chaos and carnage brought about by torrential rain. Raikkonen looked like he'd won on the road, but was subsequently demoted to second place. Alonso and Coulthard finished third and fourth, the former with his car in shreds. Frentzen in a Sauber and Villeneuve for BAR completed the top six. Schumacher claims he'll be fighting for victory and no concession will be given to his loyal team-mate. So, who's it going to be - Barrichello, Raikkonen or Schumacher? It's a tough call, but for once I'll think I'll go for the man with the worst track record here, the boy from Brazil - Barrichello.