On the fifth anniversary of Anthony Foley’s passing I write in the Irish Examiner why his loss affected so many people so much. You can read it here.
I was delighted my essay on sport in Irish fiction was published in the Irish Times in October 2021. The piece describes the dearth of sport in Irish fiction but also how that has changed this year with books by Adrian Dunbar, Rónán Hession, Eimear Ryan and Paul Howard all featuring sport. You can read the article here.
August, 2021. Is it just me or has sport made this summer more glorious? And we’re still only in August with so much more to look forward to. In this Irish Examiner piece I outline some emotions that sport evoked in me this summer. Read it here.
June, 2021. With the easing of restrictions on supporters attending games, I plot a matchday route in an Irish Examiner piece and recall the emotions generated by something which we often took for granted. Read it here.
May, 2021 I wrote a piece for the Irish Examiner welcoming hurling back again for 2021. ‘I wanted to celebrate the return of hurling but behind a sense of juxtaposition. The one Martin Scorsese created when he overlaid the sublime music of the ‘Intermezzo’ from Cavalleria Rusticana on Jake LaMotta’s brutality and violence in Raging Bull.’
May 2021 I wrote a piece for the Irish Examiner about my longing to go to matches again as part of the crowd. ‘As we face into a new GAA season with uncertainty about fans at games we’re all wondering: will sport ever be normal again? And what will that normal be?’
March, 2021. Piece in the Irish Examiner on the 40th anniversary of UCC’s Fitzgibbon Cup win of 1981 in Croke Park when I was playing for College. I interview four old team mates: Nicky English, John Grainger, Mick Lyons and Noel Leonard and pay tribute to our old friend and mentor, Dan Beechinor.
February, 2021. Column in the Irish Examiner, where I write about loss, forgetting and hope in sport. In that order. Why a bad memory is one of the most important qualities to enjoy sport, year in, year out.
January, 2021 Column in the Irish Examiner, where I write about the Liverpool and Manchester United rivalry and what it has meant to me down the years. I also pay tribute to my great friend Tom Abernethy, whom we lost in March, 2020 and whom I miss terribly, especially when United are playing.
December, 2020. I have a short piece on my sporting hero of 2020. This is part of a long read where 30 writers select somebody who made the terrible year of 2020 a little bit better for others. My hero is one of the great volunteers in sport who make sport possible, especially in tough times. Read it here.
