Paul Dowling assesses the performances of Ireland's players in the 1-1 draw with Denmark.

Matt Doherty’s late header was not enough to send the Republic of Ireland to the Euro 2020 finals as they came up just short in a tense encounter with old foes Denmark.

Ger McCarthy on the lessons learned from Ireland's 2-0 loss to Switzerland at the Stade de Genève.

The tragic case of Timmy Hourihane, the homeless man who was beaten to death in Cork at the weekend, demonstrates the complexity of the homelessness crisis, the Taoiseach said.

The devastated family of Timmy Hourihane, the homeless man who was beaten to death near Cork city at the weekend, has appealed to the public for help finding his killer.

The family of a homeless man killed in Cork city have issued a statement via the gardaí they "are naturally devastated".

Tragic Timmy Hourihane had a long history of engagement with homeless agencies in recent years and was granted tenancy in a supported social housing unit three years ago.

Homeless people feel the streets of Cork are not safe, according to frontline workers speaking in the aftermath of the fatal assault on Timothy Hourihane.

Great communicators make powerful arguments in pithy, undeniable, one-liners.

Gardaí in Cork have interviewed people who were in the tented village on Mardyke Walk where homeless man Timmy Hourihane suffered a fatal assault on Sunday morning, as it has emerged that a ‘dangerous element’ had moved into the area in recent weeks.

A trained chef who wanted to champion the cause of homeless people, Timmy Hourihane was hospitalised following a number of attacks before suffering the fatal assault that took his life on Sunday morning.

A homeless chef who was killed on the streets of Cork said in a moving radio interview last winter that he felt unsafe on the streets and had been hospitalised three times following assaults on his person.

More homeless people will die unless the Government increases its efforts to tackle the crisis, a frontline charity worker has warned.

A homeless man in his fifties who was savagely beaten to death was a talented chef who had bravely battled alcohol addiction without losing his sense of humour or his spirit.

Ireland are top of the group with two games to play - starting with a tough tie in Switzerland on Tuesday.

Mick McCarthy has an acid tongue that is also capable of delivering lines as smooth as velvet.

Glancing down at his notebook, the journalist prefaces his question for Conor Hourihane with what he believes is a statement of fact.

“It does help that we’re both from Cork and we can understand each other.”

Following his dream debut in the Premier League on Saturday, Aaron Connolly will take his first steps as a senior Ireland international when he trains with the rest of Mick McCarthy’s squad in Abbotstown this afternoon.

Aston Villa cruised into the Carabao Cup fourth round, with substitute Jack Grealish sealing a comfortable 3-1 win over a young Brighton side.

A look at the Republic of Ireland's player performances against Bulgaria tonight.

In a spirit of, as he put it,“nothing ventured, nothing gained”, Mick McCarthy has made the left-field decision to play Conor Hourihane atleft-back against Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

There were times when this would have felt just like old times for Glenn Whelan. And everyone watching.

While Mick McCarthy is always prepared to cut a little slack for a couple of his more experienced and established names, the manager has never sought to minimise the weight he attaches to the general requirement that, in order to play for their country, his players really need to be playing for their clubs.

He might be about to join football’s elite as a Premier League player but his native Bandon helps keep the feet of Ireland and Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane firmly on the ground.

He might be about to join football’s elite as a Premier League player but his native Bandon helps keep the feet of Ireland and Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane firmly on the ground.

At the half-way point in Euro 2020 qualifying, the good news for Ireland is that they sit atop the group table with a healthy haul of ten points from four games.

It was just of 5pm local time, four hours before kick-off, when an open-topped party bus stopped in traffic outside the Ireland team’s hotel in the centre of Copenhagen.

The last time Shane Duffy scored against Denmark with a header…well, do we really need to go through all that again?

His Bandon accent doesn’t quite reach the same caustic shrill of exasperation as, say, a certain someone from Mayfield, but there could be no denying that this was Conor Hourihane channelling his inner Roy.

Conor Hourihane’s first taste of competitive English football was a League Two draw between Plymouth Argyle and Shrewsbury Town at the compact New Meadow Stadium just shy of eight years ago.

Wembley no longer holds any mystery for Conor Hourihane. There is no room for romance in this story.

As the majority of the Irish squad for next month’s Euro 2020 qualifiers begin work at their training camp in Portugal today, Mick McCarthy says he has no fears that the 17-day-long run-up to the game against Denmark on June 7 will see any of his players fall victim to cabin fever.

The call-up will be a boost for Connell after his club, Bolton Wanderers, went into administration following their relegation from the Championship.

Conor Hourihane proved the match-winner as Aston Villa continued their charge towards the Championship play-offs with an eighth successive win on Saturday.

It’s a real game of two halves for Irish football just now.

A funny thing happened on the way to the top of Group D last Tuesday night. The Republic of Ireland forced Georgia to change formation during the first half of their second successive 1-0 win on the path towards Euro 2020.

Mick McCarthy had talked before this one about how his ambition was to win with style, and his team certainly delivered on both counts to the delight of the Aviva last night.

The lessons learned from Rep of Ireland v Georgia.

A wonderful free kick by Corkman Conor Hourihane set the Republic Of Ireland on their way to victory over Georgia at the Aviva Stadium tonight in this Euro 2020 qualifying clash.

Unlike the ultra-defensive Gibraltar, Mick McCarthy can expect Georgia to adopt a more orthodox 4-1-4-1 formation that held Switzerland scoreless for close to an hour last Saturday.

Mick McCarthy insists he hasn’t given up on the idea of Matt Doherty playing on the right side of midfield for Ireland, even though a lack of penetration and crosses into the box meant the manager opted to replace the Wolves man with Robbie Brady before the hour mark in Ireland’s grim 1-0 win in Gibraltar on Saturday.

A new year, new manager and new outlook is working a treat for Conor Hourihane after impressing on Saturday.

A win, any kind of win, was the minimum requirement considering all the negativity that surrounded the final months of Martin O’Neill’s tenure.