Features

Another 10 years gone by in the blink of an eye. In hurling, the decade both started and finished with a Tipperary All-Ireland victory over Kilkenny while in Gaelic football an ageing Cork side began the 2010s by finally getting over the line in an All-Ireland final. However, there was only one show in town after this as Dublin went …

—- Originally published October 5th—– _____ Picture the scene; It’s the beginning of March at St Colman’s Park in Cobh, Co Cork. In the 50th minute of the game, Wexford concede their fourth goal via a cruel deflection as a third league defeat on the spin is all but confirmed. At the same time, 20-year-old Wexford-born defender Darragh O’Connor comes …

—-Originally published April 26th—— _____ Only ten Irish footballers have ever featured in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year since the league’s inception in the 1992/1993 season. Here, Pundit Arena takes a closer look at the ten Boys in Green who have made end of season XI over the past 20 years or so. _____ Roy Keane (Manchester …

The ESRI report into life as an inter-county player is superb, supportive, surefooted and in the end, could be instrumental to the games’ survival. The one thing it’s not… surprising. The research paper, undertaken by Elish Kelly, Conor Keegan and Brendan Walsh, used data from a survey of 2016 players to examine how the demands of playing inter-county affect players’ …

A number of years back, a group of buddies decided it was time to do the great east-west United States adventure. Starting out in New York, and before reaching the dry counties of Arkansas, they shacked up in Tennessee one night and needed a break from the bar scene. The cinema was their way out. The Dark Knight Rises had …

“To be honest, I never had an injury like that before so it was all new to me,” Tiernan O’Halloran tells Pundit Arena as he describes the fractured fibula and ankle ligament injury he suffered at the beginning of the season.  The Clifden native has had his fair share of injuries since he made his Connacht debut against Olympus Madrid …

Usually a player’s first encounter with a new manager consists of a phone call or a face-to-face meeting to confirm a place on the panel, however, that wasn’t the case with David Reidy and Brian Lohan.  After a break away from the panel in 2019 to focus on work and his studies in LIT, the Éire Óg man has recommitted …

2019 was a year to forget for the Kildare footballers but for Daniel Flynn, it was the year in which his love for Gaelic Football was reinvigorated.  Flynn had a sensational season in 2018. He scored 4-11 in their championship run and received an All-Star nomination. From the outside, it looked as though he would be ‘the next big thing’ …

There are only two in the final 10-person shortlist for the RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year award who look like winning.  Shane Lowry is the overwhelming favourite following his historic Open win on Irish soil. Katie Taylor is close behind having unified the lightweight division before becoming a two-weight world champion. One of these two will win, not many will …

Picture the scene. Better again, consider the mindset. Last Tuesday night, three of our elected representatives made their way to the Dáil for a vote of no confidence in housing minister Eoghan Murphy. If they walked there, then they’d have stepped over the human waste and people sitting in the cold, looking for enough merely to eat. If they drove, …

Corry’s Corner predicts the starting XV for the 2020 Six Nations opener with one huge call thrown in. ___ With his first Six Nations campaign as Ireland head coach just eight weeks away, Andy Farrell has a lot to think about ahead of Scotland’s visit to Dublin. With Rory Best’s retirement now officially official, a new captain must be selected …

Homer: That little Timmy is a real hero. Lisa: What makes him a hero dad? Homer: Well he fell down the well. And can’t get out. Lisa: How does that make him a hero? Homer: Well, it’s more than you did. ‘The Simpsons.’ Back when he was working the latest in a long list of minor miracles, I went to …

Both Ruan Pienaar and the whole of Ulster Rugby were left devastated when the influential scrum-half was denied the chance to see out his career in Belfast. After joining the northern province in 2010, Pienaar’s family settled into life well as the South African became an integral part of the team as well as a fans favourite. However, despite longing …

Nemo Rangers will look to add to their already impressive trophy cabinet this weekend when they go in search of a 17th Munster club football championship.  The Cork city heavyweights have been the regular standard bearer for club sides throughout Ireland since first making the breakthrough in 1972 – 50 years after the club was founded. With that maiden county …

Sitting in the presence of Mick Bohan is something everyone should experience once in their lifetime.  A towering presence with an almost intimidating look about him, the Dublin senior manager could not be anymore warm-hearted if he tried. He immediately makes those in the room feel at ease as we settle in for a conversation that mostly consists of him …

It’s easy to point to five Ulster titles and an All-Ireland medal when summing up how influential Leo McLoone has been to Donegal football.  However, McLoone’s influence has arguably been felt so much more in the town of Glenties as he leads his club Naomh Conaill into their second-ever Ulster club final appearance this weekend. Known for many years as …

It took a summer away from hurling to reinvigorate Austin Gleeson’s love for the sport when he had been previously questioning if it was all worth it.  It’s a surprise to hear that a 24-year-old who has been a central figure in his county’s senior side for years would question his commitment to hurling but that was the situation Gleeson …

It was back in summer, and a friend was walking to his apartment in the north inner-city of Dublin at about two in the morning. He’d just finished up a shift as a kitchen porter and was heading to the sort of living conditions that ought to have us both ashamed and angry as a people. He had a far …