What’s that painful Father Ted line? “Of course, they all have lovely bottoms…” We’re not scrambling here, trying to say everyone’s a winner or that they’re all All-Stars in our eyes, but when there are only 15 names awarded at the end of the year, it’s hard not to feel a little sympathy for some footballers, especially […]

8 years ago

A new look for a new Kilkenny. 2018 is the start of a new era for the Cats – it simply has to be. The 2017 hurling All-Stars list boasting zero Kilkenny natives was, in truth, f**king bonkers to look at. 15 of the best hurlers in the land were awarded for the finest individual […]

8 years ago

Just when Sean Maguire was starting to show the rest of the world what he’s all about. The former Cork City striker has quickly gone about turning heads over in England with a string of impressive games for Preston North End and, after making his competitive Ireland debut in the win over Moldova, he was […]

8 years ago

There are a few problems with the All-Stars in general. The first and probably the most important is that nobody’s going to be happy with them. Ever. There are Dublin fans complaining because only seven of their champions were honoured at Friday’s event but perhaps they do have a grievance when Stephen Cluxton is overlooked. […]

8 years ago

In the persona, the character, and the promotion, it’s probably lost on most people what competing means for Conor McGregor. In the mistakes that a loose tongue and an increasing profile have brought about for him, it’s easy to dismiss the drive that he has and the pure, raw dedication that he has to being […]

8 years ago

In 2015, we embarked on one of the most ambitious pieces of research ever seen in this country. The result was A Slice of Ireland. Over the last two years, tens of thousands of people completed two surveys, giving us information on everything from politics to emigration to home ownership, as well as the really […]

8 years ago

It’s a noisy world out there and only the best or the loudest get heard. It’s never been as easy but never as saturated either for companies to get their brand out there or get their message across and, in the scramble to do just that, mistakes can happen. Ultimate Rugby, an app which Brian […]

8 years ago

A six-day turnaround. The two most difficult pool opponents first. This is about as tough as Ireland’s admittedly kind group for the 2019 Rugby World Cup could’ve been. The schedule for the RWC in Japan has dropped and, despite not knowing two of the teams in Pool A alongside Ireland, Japan and Scotland, Joe Schmidt […]

8 years ago

Cora Staunton has transcended being a role model for sportswomen. She still is, of course she is. She’s one of the most inspirational figures this generation has produced and the females of Ireland could do a lot worse than follow the trail she has blazed. But Cora Staunton is also an example to footballers all […]

8 years ago

Whatever Aidan O’Shea had to do, it was worth doing. Mayo couldn’t have done much more to win an All-Ireland. After 10 games, four draws, two extra time battles and doing everything right at the right time, Dublin were just one point better than them and there was nothing they could’ve done differently. Aidan O’Shea […]

8 years ago

In Jon we trust. Martin O’Neill has not ruled out the possibility of Jon Walters playing against Denmark. The Burnley striker was the hero of Ireland’s last playoff clash with Bosnia when his two goals in Dublin sent the country to France but injury has seen him miss a the latest batch of international games […]

8 years ago

The Irish rugby community has descended into shock. Simon Zebo is leaving. Out of nowhere, no real rumours, barely even a sniff of one, Simon Zebo is parting ways with Munster, the province he has spent the last seven years with. At 27, Zebo’s departure is a huge surprise. The Cork man has been capped […]

8 years ago

An anticlimax to a brilliant campaign. Shrule/Glencorrib didn’t exactly have to dig it out in the end to clinch the league title. The south Mayo club won Division 1C easier than they would’ve imagined. The throw-in was uncontested. There were gaping holes through the middle of the opposition defence. They strolled right through unchallenged and […]

8 years ago

Louth and Carlow don’t share a colourful history. They do now. The Leinster club intermediate football championship got off to an explosive start on Saturday when Kilbride of Carlow and O’Connells of the Wee County finished the game with just 20 between them on the pitch. O’Connells marched onto the quarter-finals with a 2-10 to […]

8 years ago

Irish people in the north are Irish. Culturally, socially, psychologically, politically.. They’re Irish citizens, they’re Irish speakers, they’re Irish people. They’re Irish. The beauty of the peace process saw to it that two different communities with different beliefs and different cultures could live in harmony. If you were in the six counties, you could still […]

8 years ago

Players never want to come off. They’re warriors, they take knocks all the time, they don’t want to be pulled from the battlefield when their team mates are still fighting. Awareness and treatment of head injuries in rugby is increasing but there’s still some way to go. Too many times players are trying to rail […]

8 years ago

In the grand scheme of things, these games can wait. After the tragedies of Ophelia last week when three lives were taken and millions of euro worth of damage caused, games of football and hurling are put into stark perspective. So championship can hold off for a bit in the quest for safety first. Storm […]

8 years ago

We’re not exactly tripping over world champions on this island. Over the week, a young Cork man reached the very top of his sport. Years of dedication, setbacks, fine-tuning, travelling and years of downright excellence brought him to a stage where he could show what he was made of. He used that platform to simply […]

8 years ago

Sometimes it’s brain against brawn. Sometimes it’s nerve against aggression. Sometimes it’s skill against strength. Other times, it’s just Colm Parkinson against Kieran McGeeney. Wooly has taken some punishment already. He’s fought Kenny Egan, he’s been shouldered by Diarmuid O’Sullivan and he’s taken pelts from sliotars all in the name of… we’re not really sure […]

8 years ago

The club championship, eh? My God. There are players on the Kilcar squad who’ve never known championship success. Their captain, Paddy McBrearty – he was only just born the last time the south Donegal outfit conquered the county, but 24 years later, the gap has been bridged. Pics>> https://t.co/fSsI6KEq6i from Sunday's @officialdonegal senior final between […]

8 years ago

Reality check

8 years ago

Jonathan Commins, the master score-taker. St. Mary’s Ardee won the Louth minor football championship at the weekend. 6-21 to 2-10 was the immense final score in the decider over Geraldine’s. The opposition were hardly quiet themselves. They hit 2-10 in a championship final on the same day the Donegal senior title was won on a […]

8 years ago

Back in April, Cian Johnson kicked 2-6 in the Leinster championship for Offaly. Back in April, he wowed Gaels and, back in April, we told you to remember the name. Cian Johnson hasn’t gone away anywhere. On Sunday, he won an Offaly minor title, captaining Ferbane/Belmont to championship glory and, on Sunday, he helped out […]

8 years ago

“Nobody is giving us a chance which is kind of silly, really, because it’s a one-off championship final. You always have some sort of a kick.” Of all the seasons to make a Roscommon documentary, this was the one. Player exodus, relegation, written off from every corner of the island. Revenge. Redemption. From zeroes […]

8 years ago

They don’t think very highly of us

8 years ago

Ireland v Denmark. Two games stand between Ireland and the World Cup and, with Tuesday’s draw throwing up a trip to Copenhagen for Irish fans, excitement is in the air. World Cup playoffs Denmark v Ireland Croatia v Greece Northern Ireland v Switzerland Sweden v Italy The dates for both legs have been announced with […]

8 years ago

A husband. A father. A son. A friend. A Munsterman. Antony Foley left his mark on this world. In 42 short years, the impact he had on friends, family, team mates and fans was incomprehensibly massive. With a 13-year Munster career, a 10-year Ireland stint, the legendary number 8 lived a full life. An inspiring […]

8 years ago

Merciful Jesus. Kian Duffy just had one of those sort of days. Killanny won the Maguire International Minor Football Championship in Monaghan on Sunday and, whilst there might’ve been nine points separating them from Carrickmacross in the end, there were also six missed goal chances between them. Six missed goal chances or six saved goal […]

8 years ago

It cannot be stressed enough how dangerous parts of the country are right now. Hurricane Ophelia has struck violently all over Ireland all throughout Monday and the after-effects are going to be felt for some time. In the sporting sphere, a number of stadia and clubs have been hit with the full force of the […]

8 years ago

180 minutes between Ireland and Russia. With the World Cup playoffs draw taking place on Tuesday, international fever has returned to the air for the first real time since June 2016. One opponent stands between the Republic and a first World Cup since 2002 and just two more games will be played to seal or […]

8 years ago

Cork’s people are a proud people. Cork City is a resilient club. Only six years ago now, they won the First Division as their resurrection from liquidation began thanks to the work of FORAS Supporters Trust who brought the club back from the brink of extinction and lit the fire on the banks of the […]

8 years ago

This storm isn’t going to pass harmlessly by. Already in the early afternoon of Monday, Hurricane Ophelia had taken a life in Waterford with a tragic incident of a fallen tree landing on top of a woman’s car. Come Tuesday, please God there will be no more fatalities but there will be reparations needed all […]

8 years ago

Ah, the club championship. Damp air, winter hats, teas and soup at half time. The most important games of GAA players’ lives unfolding on a softening pitch and groundsmen, secretaries, retired players and family all waiting to invade and capture a moment that will last forever. You can’t beat the club championship. There were 18 […]

8 years ago

Shane Duffy has allayed fears that he’ll miss any of Ireland’s World Cup playoff games in November. The defender limped out of Brighton’s draw with Everton in the 73rd minute after sustaining a groin injury but he’s since reassured fans that he’s hopeful it isn’t too serious. The Derry native is bang on form at […]

8 years ago

It’s genuinely hard to see how you start to weed this out of the game completely. Derry is no different to any other place in Ireland. They absolutely love their GAA there – it’s not an obsession anymore, it’s just life. They’re mad about their clubs so much so that people say it affects the […]

8 years ago

This is a man who’s won an All-Ireland with his county. He’s won four Ulsters with Tyrone and now he’s the most senior player in the ranks. But, for Colm Cavanagh, winning with the club was extra special. Moy claimed their first intermediate championship in 35 years and it was celebrated like every player in […]

8 years ago

You could say it’s Ulster football at its best. There’s only room for one more team to drop out of the Monaghan intermediate ranks but there are five of them in the firing line. If they do one thing best up north, it’s stubbornness. With one fixture remaining for all relevant clubs in the Farney […]

8 years ago

Cork legend Dónal Óg Cusack has revealed that he was one of the people to offer a character reference for Tom Humphries. Back in early October, it was revealed in the Dublin District Court that Humphries, a former Irish Times journalist, had sent over 16,000 text messages to a teenage girl, whom he had groomed and sexually […]

8 years ago

What other person on this planet – and we’re not limiting that to sportspeople – could garner as much traction from one single word? One word. That’s all Conor McGregor needs to send this globe into a flurry. He puts out a tweet and the combat sports world descends into chaos trying to firstly decode […]

8 years ago

Smug as could be. James McClean wore a big smile back to West Bromwich Albion training this week. A national hero once again, the Derry man’s status only grows bigger on the island but his antics during the international break affected everyone in Wales for the worse. A right-footed half-volley sent the Irish to the […]

8 years ago

Here we are on another massive night for Irish football. Here’s a Derry native from Kilrea down the south of the county managing the national side and leading the fourth seeds of Group D into the playoffs of a major tournament for a second successive campaign. There’s Shane Duffy, another Derry man from Galliagh, a […]

8 years ago

By saying how little Martin O’Neill does, Craig Bellamy was trying to praise the Irish manager. The Welsh man worked under O’Neill at Celtic and, although it was only for a short spell, it was like nothing he’s had before. At 38, Bellamy is looking at coaching badges and learning more about that side of […]

8 years ago

It wasn’t a great performance but who cares? Ireland are in the playoffs again, their hunt for the World Cup is still on. A 1-0 win in Wales has seen the Republic advance from their group and dump the Euro 2016 semi-finalists out of the campaign entirely. A dogged display lit up by a bullet […]

8 years ago

This article was supposed to be a backhanded compliment to the Welsh. It was supposed to be taking a swipe at them – ah, they’re not much for the ol’ football but look how great their fans are. Sure that’s something. Fair play to them. That sort of deliberately patronising stuff. Then Ireland went out […]

8 years ago

Ever see that documentary, The Secret? It’s based on the Law of Attraction. A load of Americans talking about how their dreams came true because they knew they would come true. If you believe something will happen, it will happen. That’s the gist of it. Conor McGregor is said to have been transformed after watching […]

8 years ago

Alright, they’ll only miss 15 minutes of the Ireland match. If they don’t record either show that’s clashing… TG4 are airing another Laochra Gael on Monday evening at 7.30pm and the subject is one of Derry’s finest sons. Anthony Tohill and all his brute force, his both-feet skill, his hands and his leadership will be […]

8 years ago

And you thought Pep Guardiola looked good in a suit. Everyone’s favourite right foot, football’s good guy, the world’s man crush is back and he’s about to star in a docuseries that will make for fascinating viewing. Xabi Alonso hung up his football boots at the age of 35 and left a hole in our […]

8 years ago

A Saturday night. A sold-out venue, bleachers rocking on their hinges. A comeback. A three-point effort with just seconds on the clock. A local hero. It’s no wonder Garvey’s Tralee Warriors are the hottest ticket in town right now. The place is a cauldron for basketball at its dramatic best and for supporters at their […]

8 years ago

It’s not uncommon for an American to claim they’re Irish and disguise the fact their heritage is traced back to their great, great grandfather’s cousin’s old roommate. But if we love one thing as good, old Irish folk, it’s validation that we matter and, more importantly, that we’re great. We can’t enjoy a bit of […]

8 years ago

Ain’t so bad. Robbie Henshaw loves it. Some men are designed that way. They thrive off the pain. They lick their lips at the confrontation. The Irish centre’s shock-absorbing torso seemed to get just what it wanted during Leinster’s 23-17 victory over Munster when a late tackle absolutely clattered into Henshaw who just got up […]

8 years ago