We all live in fear of things being ended unilaterally by the other party.
After nearly ten years of marriage, I’m now fairly secure in the knowledge that those foundations are fairly steady – but you never know. Equally, the quality (hopefully) of the copy that you’re reading is driven by the fact that the editor could, at any minute, ring or send an email/text with the news that somebody else will be doing sport from now on.
It would be disappointing but such is life. However, if you got the news that you were being canned, but with a stay of execution for a year, it would be a strange one to try to process. You’ve been told you’re not good enough but they just don’t have a better option to put in place, yet.
That’s essentially what the GAA have done with the All-Ireland senior football championship, after last weekend’s Central Council meeting opted to retain the current format as it is but bring changes to next spring’s annual Congress for implementation in 2026.
Counties had been polled on various alternatives and the most popular was a system more rooted in knockout than round-robin, with the first round consisting of eight ties and the second round then split between winners and losers from round one.
The four counties winning two would then advance to the quarter-finals and enjoy a longer break while those with one win and one loss would play off for the remaining four spots. It’s not hugely complicated and it would remove one set of fixtures, thereby allowing the schedule that bit more room to breathe.
The question is, if it received the bulk of support from the counties involved, why the delay in bringing it in? Instead, next year will feature the same ochóning about dead rubbers, small crowds and the pointlessness of three counties qualifying from four-team groups.
One of the main criticisms of the system was that teams could lose three games and still be in the championship. That was a red herring of sorts – the decoupling of the provincial and All-Ireland championships meant that one of those losses was immaterial in terms of the All-Ireland – but the extra safety net in allowing three teams to advance was the big negative with what could have been a good format.
Ultimately, nobody – or very few – are going to go to a game where the result doesn’t have a huge bearing on what will follow. The cut-throat Munster hurling championship is the corollary of that and return to a football championship with more meaningful games will, hopefully, give that competition the kick-start it needs.
Now to wait for the report of the Football Review Committee to determine what changes there might be on the field of play. Like altering a championship system, balance is key – too few changes can be a bad thing, but so can too many.
Ideally, you would land on something sustainable that negates the need for more tinkering down the road.
Anthems
The risible debate around whether England interim manager Lee Carsley should sing God Save The King before last Saturday’s Uefa Nations League game against the Republic of Ireland did at least serve one positive purpose.
Carsley, let’s not forget, did play 40 times for Ireland, so from the point of view of basic sensitivity it was logical that he would not belt out another anthem in Dublin, but of course that’s not enough for some elements of the British media.
Instead, we were treated to what was a quite frankly bizarre discourse, which ignored the fact that Carsley did not sing Amhrann na bhFiann when playing for Ireland. Also, while he was England U21 boss – taking them to European glory in 2023 – not singing God Save the Queen/King didn’t really impede on his progress.
Irish media outlets keen for clicks must have been regretting that they hadn’t asked Heimir Hallgrímsson if he would be singing Amhrann na bhFiann ahead of his first match in charge of Ireland.
However, such is the volume of coverage around England whenever they play that it allowed the Icelander to come in somewhat under the radar. Unfortunately, the game itself – as one-sided a 2-0 as one might see – brought any honeymoon skidding to an abrupt end.
As was the case with Stephen Kenny, there are always elements keen to see the incumbent fail.
For proof, all you have to do is look at how many references there were to Hallgrímsson being a qualified dentist compared to those which mentioned him taking Iceland to the Euro 2016 quarter-finals, beating England on the way.
It’s a pity he’s not a qualified wizard, given some of the reaction to Saturday, as if a new manager would magically improve the players to the point where they could outplay a team that came so close to winning this year’s European Championship.
The fact that Ireland were playing England in a competitive game for the first time since 1991 brought back happy memories to when we could take them on and avoid defeat – and even have some English-born players who would get their game for the Three Lions – but those days are long gone.
Patience and time are what is needed but they are rarely in supply when it comes to sports fans.
Paralympics success in Paris
Katie-George Dunlevy, second from left, with her parents John and Alana and pilot Linda Kelly after winning silver in the women's B road race at the Paralympic Games in Paris. \ Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Ireland claimed six medals at the Paralympics and three of those – one gold and two silver – were won by Katie-George Dunlevy.
Piloted by both Linda Kelly and Eve McCrystal, Dunlevy, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 11 and is registered blind, now has eight Paralympic medals, four silver and four bronze.
Any sportsperson will have overcome obstacles and deal with challenges, but – without wishing to sound condescending – those who compete in the Paralympics have already overcome so much to get there.
Speaking to Eoghan Cormican of the Irish Examiner, Dunlevy outlined just some of that.
“The struggles I had as a child, I’ve had challenges all my life,” she said.
“Learning to deal with sight loss, I’m gay as well, so I have had to deal with that. That was hard when I was younger, as a child and teenager, I really struggled with it.”
To her and Ireland’s other medallists, swimmer Róisín Ní Riain and sprinter Orla Comerford, as well as all of Team Ireland, we offer our congratulations.
We all live in fear of things being ended unilaterally by the other party.
After nearly ten years of marriage, I’m now fairly secure in the knowledge that those foundations are fairly steady – but you never know. Equally, the quality (hopefully) of the copy that you’re reading is driven by the fact that the editor could, at any minute, ring or send an email/text with the news that somebody else will be doing sport from now on.
It would be disappointing but such is life. However, if you got the news that you were being canned, but with a stay of execution for a year, it would be a strange one to try to process. You’ve been told you’re not good enough but they just don’t have a better option to put in place, yet.
That’s essentially what the GAA have done with the All-Ireland senior football championship, after last weekend’s Central Council meeting opted to retain the current format as it is but bring changes to next spring’s annual Congress for implementation in 2026.
Counties had been polled on various alternatives and the most popular was a system more rooted in knockout than round-robin, with the first round consisting of eight ties and the second round then split between winners and losers from round one.
The four counties winning two would then advance to the quarter-finals and enjoy a longer break while those with one win and one loss would play off for the remaining four spots. It’s not hugely complicated and it would remove one set of fixtures, thereby allowing the schedule that bit more room to breathe.
The question is, if it received the bulk of support from the counties involved, why the delay in bringing it in? Instead, next year will feature the same ochóning about dead rubbers, small crowds and the pointlessness of three counties qualifying from four-team groups.
One of the main criticisms of the system was that teams could lose three games and still be in the championship. That was a red herring of sorts – the decoupling of the provincial and All-Ireland championships meant that one of those losses was immaterial in terms of the All-Ireland – but the extra safety net in allowing three teams to advance was the big negative with what could have been a good format.
Ultimately, nobody – or very few – are going to go to a game where the result doesn’t have a huge bearing on what will follow. The cut-throat Munster hurling championship is the corollary of that and return to a football championship with more meaningful games will, hopefully, give that competition the kick-start it needs.
Now to wait for the report of the Football Review Committee to determine what changes there might be on the field of play. Like altering a championship system, balance is key – too few changes can be a bad thing, but so can too many.
Ideally, you would land on something sustainable that negates the need for more tinkering down the road.
Anthems
The risible debate around whether England interim manager Lee Carsley should sing God Save The King before last Saturday’s Uefa Nations League game against the Republic of Ireland did at least serve one positive purpose.
Carsley, let’s not forget, did play 40 times for Ireland, so from the point of view of basic sensitivity it was logical that he would not belt out another anthem in Dublin, but of course that’s not enough for some elements of the British media.
Instead, we were treated to what was a quite frankly bizarre discourse, which ignored the fact that Carsley did not sing Amhrann na bhFiann when playing for Ireland. Also, while he was England U21 boss – taking them to European glory in 2023 – not singing God Save the Queen/King didn’t really impede on his progress.
Irish media outlets keen for clicks must have been regretting that they hadn’t asked Heimir Hallgrímsson if he would be singing Amhrann na bhFiann ahead of his first match in charge of Ireland.
However, such is the volume of coverage around England whenever they play that it allowed the Icelander to come in somewhat under the radar. Unfortunately, the game itself – as one-sided a 2-0 as one might see – brought any honeymoon skidding to an abrupt end.
As was the case with Stephen Kenny, there are always elements keen to see the incumbent fail.
For proof, all you have to do is look at how many references there were to Hallgrímsson being a qualified dentist compared to those which mentioned him taking Iceland to the Euro 2016 quarter-finals, beating England on the way.
It’s a pity he’s not a qualified wizard, given some of the reaction to Saturday, as if a new manager would magically improve the players to the point where they could outplay a team that came so close to winning this year’s European Championship.
The fact that Ireland were playing England in a competitive game for the first time since 1991 brought back happy memories to when we could take them on and avoid defeat – and even have some English-born players who would get their game for the Three Lions – but those days are long gone.
Patience and time are what is needed but they are rarely in supply when it comes to sports fans.
Paralympics success in Paris
Katie-George Dunlevy, second from left, with her parents John and Alana and pilot Linda Kelly after winning silver in the women's B road race at the Paralympic Games in Paris. \ Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Ireland claimed six medals at the Paralympics and three of those – one gold and two silver – were won by Katie-George Dunlevy.
Piloted by both Linda Kelly and Eve McCrystal, Dunlevy, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 11 and is registered blind, now has eight Paralympic medals, four silver and four bronze.
Any sportsperson will have overcome obstacles and deal with challenges, but – without wishing to sound condescending – those who compete in the Paralympics have already overcome so much to get there.
Speaking to Eoghan Cormican of the Irish Examiner, Dunlevy outlined just some of that.
“The struggles I had as a child, I’ve had challenges all my life,” she said.
“Learning to deal with sight loss, I’m gay as well, so I have had to deal with that. That was hard when I was younger, as a child and teenager, I really struggled with it.”
To her and Ireland’s other medallists, swimmer Róisín Ní Riain and sprinter Orla Comerford, as well as all of Team Ireland, we offer our congratulations.
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