The very structural organisation of the Olympics is deeply political in itself.

The Irish Homing Union was established in 1895 and there are at least 120 racing pigeon clubs. These clubs reside in two regions – the North Region which covers Northern Ireland and the Southern Region which covers the Republic of Ireland. There are also local federations of clubs across Ireland

What is most incongruous of all is the disconnect between ordinary Irish lives as against the insufferable self-regard and pomposity of the trappings of Wimbledon

It is not just the playing of the sports, but the manner in which they have colonised so much of American popular culture that matters.

There is a strong pull on the pool. The Shannon flows briskly through the arches of the stunning feat of 19th-century engineering that is the bridge at Banagher

After the establishment of the Irish Free State, visions of independent Ireland involved a country backboned by prosperous farmers. It was this group that was also understood to be the driving force in GAA clubs

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced that line judges will no longer be used at the US Open.

Put simply: it is not the changed rules of the game that has fundamentally shifted the patterns of play, rather it is the changes in equipment and in the medicalisation of sporting performance.

Micheál Martin acknowledged that the provision of PE in Irish schools has been “historically problematic”, and he also made a pledge to Joe Molloy, saying “I will get on it.” 

The broadcast of hurling — unfortunately — was not what ESPN needed to make itself a viable commercial proposition.