It’s 2002, late summer. Alan Brogan has been everywhere all championship. His emergence onto a Dublin team swaggering through Leinster under Tommy Lyons has captivated a public drawn in further by his famous dad Bernard and the bridge it builds to the glorious ’70s.

In the first episode of our new horse racing podcast, Jordan McCarthy looks ahead to the weekend’s racing with Patrick Mulcahy of Seamus Mulvaney Bookmakers and our racing correspondent Tommy Lyons.

The notion Kildare have nothing to lose in tomorrow’s All- Ireland SFC quarter-final is one I’ve heard bandied about a few times this week.

Taking the well-trodden path of supporting Dermot Weld should prove fruitful once more, as the leading trainer holds very strong claims with Palmetto Dunes and Good Tradition on this evening’s card at Galway.

Former Down All-Ireland winning manager Pete McGrath has revealed he once turned down an approach to manage Dublin.

We are pleased to announce that Tommy Lyons has been appointed Racing Correspondent of the Irish Examiner.

And there you were, thinking you’d never see him or Westmeath again, when who springs up in Croke Park and on your screen but himself. 

Toscanini and Queen Of Sicily, trained by Michael Halford and Jim Bolger respectively, provided the powerful Godolphin team with a double in Naas last night.

In one of the many great scenes in the film On The Waterfront, Charlie played by Rod Steiger, tells his younger brother, Terry (Marlon Brando) that he needs to be getting up a bit in the world — "You’re getting on. You’re pushing 30. You know, it’s time to think about getting some ambition," says Charlie.

Rathmore 2-8 Kerins O’Rahillys 2-5: John Moynihan’s goal two minutes from time was the gamebreaker as Rathmore edged out Kerins O’Rahillys in a high-intensity Kerry SFC first-round clash at Austin Stack Park on Saturday.

There was no delay. Darran O’Sullivan and Gooch were still razing Kildare on Jones Road as Kerry’s medical team got to work on the James O’Donoghue rehab strategy.

Kerry 7-16 Kildare 0-10

Galway and Royal Dublin’s Barton Shield sides will provide the high quality golf in today’s AlG Cups and Shields National finals but all the excitement may well come from the minnows in the Pierce Purcell Shield semi-finals at Carton House.

All-Ireland fever grips community as local hero Jason Flynn prepares for battle with Kilkenny

Cian O’Sullivan may have been helped off the field after Dublin’s semi-final replay victory over Mayo last Sunday, but Jim Gavin was bullish yesterday about the centre-back’s prospects of facing Kerry in the All-Ireland final.

The appeals board approved the apartment plan in spite of the strong recommendation by its own inspector to refuse planning.

Looking ahead to the thetote.com Galway Plate and the Guinness Galway Hurdle – the twin features of this week’s Galway festival – Ruby Walsh talks to racing correspondent Tommy Lyons.

It was the first time that the Cats were beaten in the Championship on home soil since 1949.

Laois’ summer odyssey is over but they got to finish on terms that were perfectly acceptable given this was an All-Ireland quarter-final and their opponents were one of the game’s blue bloods.

The seamless manner in which Waterford’s new hurling management has clicked with the players augers well for a third league final appearance in five years, according to former Déise defender Brian Flannery.