It was Declan Hannon who said it, sitting in the victors’ banquet with the Liam MacCarthy Cup in front of him: ‘We’ve all marched behind the band out the back garden when we were four, five, six years of age.’

The colour starts south of the border.

Leading into last year’s All-Ireland final, something that nagged at me as a Waterford man was the thought we might come to rue the time we didn’t kill off Galway earlier that season during a league quarter-final up in Salthill, writes Tony Browne

By last Sunday morning, my voice was creaking, writes Anthony Daly

"You talk about complacency" — Tommy Walsh

"If you don’t win, you’re not remembered" — Andrew O’Shaughnessy

The Limerick academy I was involved with for three years was about fostering a culture of doing things the right way — and not necessarily all about winning. Some people in the county had issues with me over that but I never had anyone say a single negative thing to my face, writes Anthony Daly

Perhaps the oddest bit of GAA friction in 2018 arose when the Galway minor football manager got irked by dual player issues, writes PM O’Sullivan

At 28, Ger Farragher was cut adrift from the Galway squad.

The art of goalscoring — from Cork’s old machine-gun fire to the heavy artillery of Tipperary — and the free spirits like Lar Corbett are in danger of being drowned in a sea of points. What to do? Change the sliotar? Award four points for the goal? Enda McEvoy reports

When first asked to write a column for this paper, the esteemed sports editor gave me three guidelines: Write clearly; be informative; and stay impartial, writes Jack Anderson 

I won’t lie, the first time my wife took me to Ballybunion, I wasn’t blown away, writes Tommy Martin

Could Jason Forde add the missing dimension to Tipperary? Will the Colm Galvin-Tony Kelly Clare midfield axis soar to devastating effect? Or will Tom Devine's return to Waterford be the crucial tool they require?

With the destination of the Liam MacCarthy Cup wide open, this could prove to be the All-Ireland series from heaven. Here Enda McEvoy looks at seven individuals — not all of them superstars — who’ll have a say in the outcome of the 2017 hurling championship

"You made the best of yourself" was Brian Cody’s glowing tribute to Henry Shefflin when the player informed his manager of his decision to retire on Monday.