Mighty McGregor out on his own

The usual line uttered when talk turns to Conor McGregor has always been that one about how people either love him or hate him.

How he is Marmite in tight shorts. Well, it seems there’s less critics than we think.

The two-belt UFC champ is now the most admired Irish sportsperson on this island, bar none, according to the latest annual PSG Sport and Sponsorship Sentiment survey released this morning.

A nationally representative 1,000-person consumer survey, the survey examines the nation’s attitudes towards sport, their sporting heroes, levels of participation and the impact of sport itself. Close to one in three 18 to 34-year-olds name-checked McGregor as the sports star they most admire and that cohort of young opinion was enough to see off second-placed Katie Taylor and the O’Donovan brothers, Paul and Gary.

McGregor has shot to the summit of the UFC world with his defeat of Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt at Madison Square Garden last month also cementing his place in the affections of his countrymen and women.

It completes a rapid rise up the ranks of popularity at home that started with third spot for the previously unheralded Dubliner on the PSG ‘Most Admired’ ladder in 2014 and continued last year with a bump up to second.

“Conor McGregor really is the story of the 2016 research and he has propelled himself into the psyche of the Irish public, especially with the younger 18-34 year-old demographic,” said PSG CEO Mick O’Keeffe of McGregor whose place in the poll is all the more notable in an Olympic year and one which saw the Republic of Ireland play at Euro 2016.

The O’Donovan brothers were relatively unknown heading into Rio 2016 but are now household names and so popular. There is undoubtedly seasonal bias and major successes that happen earlier in the year tend to drift from people’s consciousness as the end of year approaches.

Recent feats may or may not have been a factor in seeing the Irish rugby team running away with the vote for Team of the Year. The 31% vote for Joe Schmidt’s side was over twice that of runner-up Dundalk FC.

Backing up that decision was the fact Ireland beat the All Blacks. That was deemed Achievement of the Year.

Dismissed in some quarters as a ‘minority’ sport, rugby’s overall popularity was again apparent in the fact it finished joint-second alongside Gaelic games in the category devoted to the nation’s favourite sport.

Association football — soccer — remains the front runner there. The O’Donovans’ capture of a silver medal in the Olympic rowing regatta in Brazil didn’t go unnoticed and neither did their interviews. Their talk of ‘steak and spuds’ and ‘pulling like a dog’ was voted Most Memorable Moment. The PSG survey looks ahead as well as back. With no major football championships or Olympics looming, it is no surprise to learn the sporting event most people are looking forward to in 2017 is the Six Nations and Ireland’s bid to build on such a positive November.