‘Books are like movies, there’s always one better’

IF YOU’RE a sportswriting fan – and given what you’re holding in your hands, you probably are – you’ve noticed the recent explosion in the number and variety of Irish sports books.

GAA, rugby, soccer, cycling, golf – there’s more on offer in the bookshops than ever before, and one of the men responsible is Liam Hayes of Irish Sports Publishing.

Well-known as a formidable midfielder on the great Meath sides of the eighties, and a pugnacious newspaper columnist, Hayes has been involved in publishing books for 20 years, but identified a specific gap in the market some time ago.