TONY BROWNE plays for Waterford against Kilkenny this Sunday in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final. He’s 36.

IMMORTALITY comes with a reddish crew cut. Waterford beat Galway yesterday by the width of a singlet, with John Mullane’s late, late point putting a spear in maroon hearts, as their manager said afterwards.

IN THE gloom outside Semple Stadium late last Saturday evening, the two buses were being boarded. A small group of enthusiastic Galway fans on one side cheering on their heroes, and knots of quiet Cork supporters on the other, watching their hurlers troop out of the ground.

YESTERDAY at half-time, Munster championship-winning captains from the last 25 years lined up in the middle of Semple Stadium.

WHEN the Labour Party subsumed Democratic Left into its numbers a couple of years ago, the photo opportunity of the day showed Labour boss Ruairi Quinn hugging Proinsias De Rossa in a gesture which could be interpreted as saying: welcome home, kid.

WE’RE going to kick off proceedings with the most unlikely call to arms you’re going to hear this week: let’s hear it for Peter de Villiers.

A LEADING economist has likened Premier League football clubs to investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns – financial giants which have recently gone bust.

ROBBIE KEANE thinks we should vote yes in the Lisbon Treaty referendum re-run, soon to come to a ballot box near you.

THAT put us rightly in our place.