It’s a funny old game, isn’t it?

HIS DIARY is stuffed with tour dates, the punters are laughing long and loud, TV producers are devising new formats for him to front on a seemingly daily basis.

Little wonder, then, that Dara Ó Briain quickly reveals an optimistic streak.

After considering the permutations, he has decided that Ireland’s passage to Euro 2012 glory is likely to take in a semi-final on June 28. If it does, Ó Briain has a problem, because that evening he is playing Cork’s Marquee.