THE EWAN MacKENNA INTERVIEW: Old faithful’s new day

As a player, Daithí Regan was a force to be reckoned with, and as an analyst, the Offaly man is proving equally formidable. But there’s a deeper, reflective side to Regan the public rarely gets to see

There’s a saying that as athletes get older, their accomplishments seem greater. For Daithí Regan though, in many ways his just seem further away.

A few years back, for no particular reason, he was pottering through his medal collection when it dawned on him that he was one short of the set. Not all that significant, given his victories, the absentee was a chunk of metal from the 1988 Leinster U21 final, yet still he panicked and searched high and low for hours on end. When he finally discovered it under the fridge, he flung the lot into an old plastic bag, brought them up to his mother’s place and told her to keep them safe. Out of mind, they’ve been out of sight ever since, except for one occasion when they were exposed to a weary and tired pair of eyes.