It’s that time of year again, which means only one thing for the Scottish Qualifications Authority - parting company with Mike Haggerty, its irrepressible communications chief. This is only temporary, we hasten to add.
With the exam results safely delivered, Haggerty went off last week to pursue his other career, as a sports reporter at the Olympic Games in Athens - good of the Greek organisers to wait, really.
Haggerty’s arrival may be excellent news for some of our athletes, since the curling and rowing expert can boast a golden touch. He was present in Salt Lake City when Rhona Martin captained the victorious Scottish curlers and in Sydney when Steve Redgrave rowed to his fifth Olympic gold.
So we may be celebrating tomorrow (Saturday) when Edinburgh University student Katherine Grainger, already a world champion (and, who knows, perhaps a proud possessor of an SQA certificate), rows for her country in the women’s pair event.
He may well be mindful of his own mantra at the SQA which can be easily adapted: “What matters is the performance of the young athletes of Scotland, not that of the British Olympic Association.”
