John Fogarty

6 days ago | irishexaminer.com | John Fogarty

For those of who were then in our impressionable teens, the summer of 1995 is a vivid period of nostalgia. There was no room for nuance in Blur vs Oasis. The bands were hardly members of a mutual admiration society and you followed suit. You either had a harrington or a cagoule jacket. You didn't have both. You were bourgeoisie or proletariat, a Jet or a Shark. Or, as Fr Damo so wonderfully articulated to Fr Dougal, “Oasis or Blur?” A lot of adolescent angst was projected into Albarn v Gallagher.

6 days ago | irishexaminer.com | John Fogarty

If it isn’t enough that Meath have a history of winning silverware in Croke Park in controversial circumstances, their manager does too. Robbie Brennan chuckles as he realises the parallel that is being drawn being 2010 and his Kilmacud Crokes side beating Glen in the 2023 All-Ireland club SFC final despite having an extra man on the field for a short period in the closing stages. Winning as clearly is possible on Sunday is the obvious preference for Brennan.

6 days ago | irishexaminer.com | John Fogarty

David Clifford has suggested the GAA clubs of Gaelic footballers should benefit financially from their moves to the Australian Football League (AFL). Two-time footballer of the year Clifford rejected interest from AFL clubs in 2017 and ’18 but he appreciates there is an allure having seen his fellow Kerrymen Mark O’Connor and Cillian Burke join Geelong. Clifford is not fully sure what can be done to incentivise players to stay around, but believes clubs at the very least should be compensated.

6 days ago | irishexaminer.com | John Fogarty

A restructuring of the Munster senior football championship could be on the agenda for next season. The current format, which seeds the previous year’s finalists and has been in place since 2015, might be up for debate in the coming months. As things stand, Clare and Kerry will receive semi-final draws for the third time in a row. Since the 2023 draw, they have yet to paired against each other at the last-four stage but there remains that possibility.

1 week ago | irishexaminer.com | John Fogarty

Ger Brennanā€™s description of Louthā€™s rivalry with Meath is an oxymoron but three meetings in 13 months with the old enemy have given him a great insight into the tensions. ā€œBetween my time in Louth this year and last year, what I have come to appreciate is that there is a very healthy hatred between Meath and Louth,ā€ he says. ā€œSimilar to what it was with Dublin in the 90s and that four-in-a-row back then (1991) and even as far as 2000 between Dublin and Meath.