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Paul Rouse

Paul Rouse is an historian, author, broadcaster… and former Offaly football boss. He specialises in sport and Irish culture.

Paul Rouse: The unique colour and noise of a night at the Africa Cup of Nations

S Paul Rouse: The unique colour and noise of a night at the Africa Cup of Nations

An evening in Marrakech watching Côte d'Ivoire play Burkina Faso in a knockout game offers a unique experience.

Fri, 09 Jan, 2026

New Orleans Saints v Tampa Bay Buccaneers - NFL 2025

S Paul Rouse: Sport has always been a friend to the Irish emigrant

Irish sport reveals the hollowness of anti-immigrant rhetoric and reminds us how unity, not fear, has always sustained this country

Fri, 02 Jan, 2026

A young man playing pool.

S Paul Rouse: You think it's easy to smuggle pool tables into college?

In UCD, there was a dedicated pool hall in the basement of the Arts Building; it was known to students as ‘The Trap’. Rarely can a room have been better named.

Fri, 26 Dec, 2025

Cavan v Derry - Allianz Football League Division 2 Round 2

S Paul Rouse: Arrival of radio turned Irish sport on its head

Next month – January 1926 – marks the centenary of the establishment of the Irish national radio station 2RN, the forerunner of RTÉ Radio.

Fri, 19 Dec, 2025

UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor

S Paul Rouse: Much has changed in 10 years of this column but sport's importance is a constant

Ten years ago this week the sports editor of the Irish Examiner, Tony Leen, rang me. He said he had a space for a column in the paper.

Fri, 12 Dec, 2025

Tributes Are Laid At The Hillsborough Stadium Ahead Of The 20th Anniversary

S Paul Rouse: Abject failures of Hillsborough inflicted pain that can never be erased

The Hillsborough disaster archive will show the layers of official disdain for the lives of ordinary people from the north of England.

Fri, 05 Dec, 2025

Live in-play betting app

S Paul Rouse: Where is the modern rise in gambling leading?

By 2028, it is estimated that around $700bn will be gambled per year.

Fri, 28 Nov, 2025

President Trump Watches Washington Commanders Game At Northwest Stadium

S Paul Rouse: Autocrats have their own end game with the sporting world

Identification with sport is invaluable for autocratic regimes. There is nothing new in this.

Fri, 21 Nov, 2025

Casement Park GAA stadium

S Casement Park's redevelopment a chance for conversation about the meaning of Irishness

The complexity of such overlapping identities in Ireland makes a mockery of the interpretations of those who wish to paint the past only in stripes of green or orange.

Fri, 14 Nov, 2025

A Fox Hunt Gets Underway In Kent

S Paul Rouse: Debate on foxhunting still hasn't cut to the chase

A new bill proposes to ban foxhunting in Ireland. It has passed the first stage, but the debate has some distance to run

Fri, 07 Nov, 2025