Kevin Kilbane seems a nice guy.

Forty-five years after making my Ireland debut, 55 years after watching my country play for the first time, I’m struggling to think of a week when we produced back-to-back performances as poor as these.

The Late Late Show on Friday is certain to raise a few laughs with a host of comedians set to appear.

Garry Doyle halflength cut Saipan: The year was dominated by that single word. Chances are no-one in Irish football had ever heard of the place before but by the time 2002 was out, it was as infamous as the other distant battlefields young Irishmen had fought in — Ypres, Gallipoli, and the Somme.

Superstar Rod Stewart paid a warm tribute to the late footballer Liam Miller, at his concert in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork last night, posting a picture of the former Republic of Ireland, Manchester United and Celtic player on the big screen of his stage.

Jon Walters has announced his retirement this afternoon.

Hey, remember in the old days when the catastrophists were warning that VAR would be the Y2K of football, not just ruining the game as a spectacle but worse — far, far worse — doing away with all those ‘talking points’ so beloved of pundits, whether in a studio or on a bar stool?

Ireland's all-time leading goal scorer will captain his country once more in a Sean Cox fundraiser.

Worrying times for Seamus Coleman. And, by extension, Mick McCarthy.

Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane have parted company with the FAI by mutual agreement.

Former Republic of Ireland international Kevin Kilbane has backed calls for Robbie Keane to become part of the national team's coaching staff.

James McClean will welcome Declan Rice back into the Republic of Ireland squad with open arms should the West Ham United player opt against a switch of allegiance to England and stick with the Boys in Green.

Kevin Kilbane probably summed up what most people were feeling about the Declan Rice saga when, last night on Virgin Media Sport, he opined: “If he’s going to come back and play for us, I need a hell of an explanation.”

If it is possible for an event, which mainly consisted of middle-aged men in a state of wheezy exhaustion, to be considered spiritual, then Tuesday’s Liam Miller Tribute match certainly was that, writes Tommy Martin

‘Down the park’ was for the hoi polloi, but City Hall was more bourgeois — the second leg of the Liam Miller Tribute event was an evening of glamour for the better known businessmen and professionals of Cork, where black tie was the order of the night.

Avoiding compulsory military service has a long and honourable history — from cross-dressing Corporal Klinger in MASH to Donald Trump’s bone spurs — and the recent plight of Tottenham’s South Korean striker Son Heung-min showed that the art of draft-dodging remains highly relevant, writes Tommy Martin.

Once when asked to describe jazz, the famous pianist Thomas Fats Waller replied, “if you don’t know by now, don’t mess with it”. The quote is both sanitised — a four-letter word other than mess was used — and often misattributed (to Louis Armstrong).

Páirc Uí Chaoimh GAA stadium in Cork will have a full house of 45,000 for the Liam Miller benefit soccer match on September 25. The fixture is now sold out.

There will be a full house of 45,000 people in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on September 25.

The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued information which it says will provide “factual background” to the debate around the proposal to repeat the Eighth Amendment.

Ubiquitous. It’s a nice word. But what does it mean?

This is Ireland’s ninth time to be involved in a play-off for the right to participate at a major tournament.

Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has revealed that the memory of guiding the country to the World Cup finals still burns as brightly as the fires that illuminated the night sky in Tehran following their triumph in Iran.

Former Republic of Ireland international Kevin Kilbane has never been shy in his support of Mayo and if Cillian O’Connor finally lifts Sam Maguire, Kilbane’s late father Farrell will be close to his thoughts.

Neil Lennon says Martin O’Neill could still manage a Premier League club, but he wonders how young players would deal with his old-school ways.

The station will broadcast every game and will also have a new preview and highlights show.

You heard them before you saw them.

This is a thing that is happening.

League of Ireland fans might justifiably be relishing the sight of Daryl Horgan hitting the ground running at Preston but Martin O’Neill is probably even more gratified by the resurgent impact one of the older wingers in town is having at Deepdale.

Mickey Quinn won’t collar Wayne Rooney:

Robbie Keane announced yesterday that Wednesday's game against Oman was to be his last.

The Republic of Ireland travels to France this week with a squad of 23 players who will be looking to make history and take Ireland out of the group stage for the first time in the Euros.

The Rebel county is set to give the boys in green a huge Euro 2016 send-off at tonight’s international friendly against Belarus in Turner’s Cross.

Ireland’s build-up to the Euros starts kicking into high gear today, when the squad gathers at the National Training Centre for their first session of the week ahead of Friday’s friendly against the Netherlands.

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has lost his battle to be fit for his side’s decisive Champions League quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain.