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?’
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.
An article in the Irish Examiner on the first club rugby match since February, due to Covid-19. On the rightness and relief of live rugby’s return to Musgrave Park even in the middle of a pandemic with all sorts of restrictions. Read it here.
I was delighted by be Number 40 in the brilliant Behind The Lines Podcast with Gavin Coooney of The42.ie. We had a wide ranging conversation involving donkey jackets, Nicky English, and sports fiction. My 4 picks for the episode were: “Sport”, a poem by Paul Durcan; “Prosinecki”, a short story by Adrian Duncan in a 2018 edition of Stinging Fly; A Natural, a novel by Ross Raisin; The Throwback Special, a novel by Chris Bachelder.
I’m delighted to announce I’m working with the legendary Cork dual-star Denis Coughlan on his biography, to be published by Hero Books later in 2020 as part of the Legends Series. Denis contested no less than 81 county, provincial and All-Ireland finals at all grades during his fantastic career.
My essay ‘Five Moments in Sport’ was published by The Stinging Fly magazine. Writing in the issue by David Means, Anne Carson, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Ian Maleney, Martina Evans, John Kelly and many other wonderful writers. Purchase options here: https://stingingfly.org/product/summer-2019/ Read the essay online here.
Peter The Great: Beyond Perfect and into Myth. Piece in The Irish Examiner about Peter O’Mahony’s impossible performance against New Zealand in a rugby test match. Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time ever on Irish soil and the win could not have been possible were it not for O’Mahony’s Homeric deeds. Click here to read.
