Dempsey happy to be in demand

GIRVAN DEMPSEY is aware of the irony.

A regular on the Ireland team since the turn of the century, some people spent most of that time calling for him to be dropped. Since Eddie O’Sullivan did just that last year, the clamour to bring him back has been just as loud. Go figure.

His inability to transfer his stellar form with Leinster to the international arena is one of the reasons Dempsey’s detractors are now fluttering their eyelids in his direction, but the Terenure man’s form is the chief reason for his soaring stock.