Tommy Martin: Irish Olympians have delivered more than a relentless quest for medals 

At the time of writing Team Ireland have four medals, their joint third best total ever, and still there is a slight air of underachievement. There’s been rotten luck, injuries and some have plain underperformed

Aidan Walsh with his bronze medal and sister Michaela Walsh at the Olympic village. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

In days gone by Bill O’Herlihy would chair a debate on the last day of RTÉ’s Olympic coverage, the tenor of which was to question what the hell we had been at for the previous two weeks.

As the fireworks of the closing ceremony fizzled out, Billo would gather Mick Dowling, Gary O’Toole, Jerry Kiernan or the likes and, before the nation’s attention spans had moved on, try to spitball how we might not make a show of ourselves in future.