Reaction
Ireland's Taoiseach Brian Cowen attended the match and said he was "absolutely delighted" and that it was a "real pleasure" to be present at a "hugely exciting match". He said it had been part of "a golden year" for the sport in Ireland.
John Gormley, leader of the Irish Green Party, said the team deserved "the country's fullest praise and admiration" for lifting themselves "to the very heights of the international game".
The British media reported in the aftermath that "everything Irish rugby touches at the moment turns to gleaming silver".
The Leinster team were welcomed back at a special ceremony in their regular home ground, the RDS Arena, on 24 May 2009. Spectators did not have to pay to attend this celebration, which also featured live music and family activities.
Leicester were reported to have taken "their considerable disappointment on the chin".
Read more about this topic: 2009 Heineken Cup Final
Famous quotes containing the word reaction:
“In contrast to revenge, which is the natural, automatic reaction to transgression and which, because of the irreversibility of the action process can be expected and even calculated, the act of forgiving can never be predicted; it is the only reaction that acts in an unexpected way and thus retains, though being a reaction, something of the original character of action.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“Children, randomly at first, hit upon something sooner or later that is their mother’s and/or father’s Achilles’ heel, a kind of behavior that especially upsets, offends, irritates or embarrasses them. One parent dislikes name-calling, another teasing...another bathroom jokes. For the parents, this behavior my have ties back to their childhood, many have been something not allowed, forbidden, and when it appears in the child, it causes high-voltage reaction in the parent.”
—Ellen Galinsky (20th century)
“Christianity was only a very strong and singularly well-timed Salvation Army movement that happened to receive help from an unusual and highly dramatic incident. It was a Puritan reaction in an age when, no doubt, a Puritan reaction was much wanted; but like all sudden violent reactions, it soon wanted reacting against.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)