One of the strengths that Niall Quinn brings to his new role as FAI Interim Deputy Thingummyjig is that he reminds many people of one of the happiest moments of their lives.

What do we talk about when we talk about sport? Why, the preservation of the patriarchy, of course!

Hurray for the return of the GAA national leagues, which mark the proper start of the inter-county season. Along with the Six Nations, they usher in the sporting year: a time of renewal and reawakening and of getting out of the house, writes Tommy Martin.

IT will come as news to some that Conor McGregor, the well-known whiskey impresario and threat to public order, is fighting this weekend.

Let’s face it, decades ain’t what they used to be. There was a time was when you knew where you stood with a decade. The sixties? Flower power and beards. The seventies? Sideburns and disco. The eighties? Everything was massive: shoulder pads, mobile phones, hair. You used to be able to tell a decade simply by looking at the trousers involved.

The term annus horribilis was used by Queen Elizabeth to describe the year 1992, in which three of her children’s marriages split up and one of her castles burnt down. Quite how horribilis things can really be when you get paid millions by the taxpayer to wave and shake hands with people was never fully looked into at the time.

The Celtic fans having a pop at Rod Stewart last weekend were at least getting into the Christmas spirit nice and early.

You’d almost feel sorry for Donal Conway.

Jim Gavin is only gone a couple of days and already things have started to slide.

Sonia at 50, then.

So John Horan will hardly countenance splitting Dublin, but he is happy to divide Cork.

Brian Kerr has called for people in the FAI to be there for the right reasons and not for "a bigger fancier blazer".

This week’s story about a British man who was arrested in the UAE after wearing a Qatari football shirt might give some people ideas, writes Tommy Martin.

It has been a busy week for the so-called footie idiot, writes Tommy Martin.

Not sure if you have noticed, but Spanish-speaking football managers like to talk about suffering. The word pops up all the time in their post-match interviews. It might be something to do with Catholicism or just a general, Pedro Almodovar heroine-style fondness for tortured emotion, writes Tommy Martin.

The new manager of the Charlotte Independence can no more be blamed for the worst excesses of defensive play in football than David Bowie can be blamed for the Bay City Rollers, writes Tommy Martin

Some people say TV has ruined sport but there’s a strong case to argue that the opposite is true, writes Brendan O'Brien

Neil Lennon has hit out at the abuse he has suffered in Scotland, writes Tommy Martin

Neil Lennon has hit out at the abuse he has suffered in Scotland, writes Tommy Martin

If we’ve learned anything from Netflix TV series, sports podcasts and purveyors of fancy doughnuts, it’s that you can have too much of a good thing. What is at first new and exciting can soon become bewilderingly oversaturated, and soon you have no idea what’s good anymore, or indeed, what to listen to while you are queuing at the Krispy Kreme drive-thru, writes Tommy Martin.

We are the rats, the Aviva Stadium is our lab, and we’re going to get our arses electrocuted no matter what happens, writes Tommy Martin

Watching some of the scenes from recent GAA matches makes you wonder whether those who take part in such events ever consider that what they are doing is probably criminal in nature and that they might also be found personally liable in compensation to any victim, writes Jack Anderson

At school, there was nothing quite like fight day, writes Tommy Martin.

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

Williams has been adopted, willingly, as the battle queen of modern feminism, a shining emblem of the global movement towards equality and to right the wrongs dealt by millennia of patriarchy, writes Tommy Martin

Here's all you need to know this morning.

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.

Given the demands on the modern-day intercounty player, it’s surprising the victorious Limerick panel have time for fomenting violent revolutionary discord, writes Tommy Martin. 

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

Here is your morning bulletin.

Ultimately the exploits of Les Bleus won’t solve political tensions in France, says Tommy Martin

Monkeys, it turns out, have a highly developed understanding of the concept of fairness, writes Tommy Martin.

If there is one lesson to be taken from the football season almost gone, it’s that plans are not just for workshy scholars, writes Tommy Martin.

Much like the persistence of racism, to be still talking about a problem that existed in the days when Graeme Souness had a moustache and a perm feels like a depressing indictment of humanity’s inability to change for the better, writes Tommy Martin.

For a certain type of Irish sports fan,European Champions Cup rugby weekends like the one just gone will always be a reminder of when life got that bit more awkward, writes Tommy Martin.

In many ways it was the perfect Champions League moment, writes Tommy Martin.

It’s quite a state of affairs when Real Madrid wield the sword of righteous justice in any particular contest. This is, after all, the club of General Franco’s favour, shady training ground construction deals, and gaudy Galactico excess, writes Tommy Martin.

It is the dream of every sports broadcaster to have their voices usher in one immortal moment. Jimmy Magee had a lifetime’s worth, writes Tommy Martin.

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.

Spare a thought for the poor guys on TV3 last night, as they were stuck showing Belgium v Sweden, while seemingly most of the country watched Ireland v Italy on RTÉ.

Here's what you can look forward to on the box tonight.