The Championship. Sprinting over the hill.

The All-Ireland senior hurling and football finals will not return to August next year, according to GAA president Jarlath Burns.

“Look,” says Seán Bugler, puffing out his cheeks. “It is what it is. You have to take it. I suppose the positive thing for us is we’re still in the championship. Our goal of winning the Sam Maguire hasn’t changed.”

Some years ago I was talking to a cousin who declared that he loved sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney’s work and invariably agreed with most of it; the Sligo native’s ‘Hold the Back Page’ column was always the first part of the Sunday Independent […]

This is how bad things got in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday. Some people were seen peeking at the closing stages of Meath v Dublin in Portlaoise.

Dessie Farrell is not a manager disposed to public displays of post-match outrage, but he hasn’t exactly hidden how he feels about Dublin’s last three competitive offerings.

The heading on this column in late October last year read: ‘rethink in football rules reduces the value of goals.’

Seán Currie has acknowledged that his penalty against Wexford last Saturday did not cross the line although his gut feeling remains that Dublin would have won the game even if the goal hadn’t been awarded.

Pat Spillane and Dick Clerkin join Conan Doherty after a weekend where Ulster threw up the game of the weekend between Armagh and Tyrone - which leaves us asking if Armagh are getting the respect they deserve? As for the result of the weekend, […]

Waterford legend Dan Shanahan reckons that county players deserve to have two weeks between championship games given the commitment involved for amateur players.

Bryan Menton, still breathing heavily from the exertions of the 70 minutes on the pitch in Portlaoise, explains how it came about that he rekindled his county career at 33 and, in the process, became a key part of one of Meath football’s biggest […]

Some 45 new hurling units have been set up in the last few months on the back of the Hurling Development Committee’s (HDC) drive to increase playing numbers.

Meath may have made all the Monday headlines but Louth will never have a better chance to, in the words of Craig Lennon, “change the script”.

Donald Trump’s idea of Liberation Day earlier this month sent stock markets crashing. In Leinster it has seen the value of its provincial football championship soar from historic lows.

Hurling is a combative, physical game, but a worrying pattern has clearly emerged of lads going to ground easily, trying to get their opponent booked or sent off.

The Championship. Sprinting over the hill.

The All-Ireland senior hurling and football finals will not return to August next year, according to GAA president Jarlath Burns.

“Look,” says Seán Bugler, puffing out his cheeks. “It is what it is. You have to take it. I suppose the positive thing for us is we’re still in the championship. Our goal of winning the Sam Maguire hasn’t changed.”

Some years ago I was talking to a cousin who declared that he loved sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney’s work and invariably agreed with most of it; the Sligo native’s ‘Hold the Back Page’ column was always the first part of the Sunday Independent […]

This is how bad things got in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday. Some people were seen peeking at the closing stages of Meath v Dublin in Portlaoise.

Dessie Farrell is not a manager disposed to public displays of post-match outrage, but he hasn’t exactly hidden how he feels about Dublin’s last three competitive offerings.

The heading on this column in late October last year read: ‘rethink in football rules reduces the value of goals.’

Seán Currie has acknowledged that his penalty against Wexford last Saturday did not cross the line although his gut feeling remains that Dublin would have won the game even if the goal hadn’t been awarded.

Pat Spillane and Dick Clerkin join Conan Doherty after a weekend where Ulster threw up the game of the weekend between Armagh and Tyrone - which leaves us asking if Armagh are getting the respect they deserve? As for the result of the weekend, […]

Waterford legend Dan Shanahan reckons that county players deserve to have two weeks between championship games given the commitment involved for amateur players.

Bryan Menton, still breathing heavily from the exertions of the 70 minutes on the pitch in Portlaoise, explains how it came about that he rekindled his county career at 33 and, in the process, became a key part of one of Meath football’s biggest […]

Some 45 new hurling units have been set up in the last few months on the back of the Hurling Development Committee’s (HDC) drive to increase playing numbers.

Meath may have made all the Monday headlines but Louth will never have a better chance to, in the words of Craig Lennon, “change the script”.

Donald Trump’s idea of Liberation Day earlier this month sent stock markets crashing. In Leinster it has seen the value of its provincial football championship soar from historic lows.

Hurling is a combative, physical game, but a worrying pattern has clearly emerged of lads going to ground easily, trying to get their opponent booked or sent off.