RTÉ tip fedora to Big Mal

A touch alarmingly for the newborn Gaelic football championship, the sport’s news agenda has, so far, been hogged by two flamboyant old stagers who won’t kick a ball this summer.

The suited have outshone the booted. Brolly and O’Hara — fancy dan and permatan — have stolen the show. Shooting from the hip has proven the best route to overcoming the blanket defence.

Not everyone is thrilled with this state of affairs, notably Paul Grimley and Kevin Walsh. And the national broadcaster may soon find itself heeding Gary Lineker’s words last year, when he reasoned it was impossible for Match of the Day to ape RTÉ’s controversial approach to football punditry, because players and managers simply wouldn’t talk to them anymore.