Ireland’s draw full of eastern promise

SO yes, there is life after the World Cup and now we know what it looks like.

And none too daunting it is too, after the European Championship 2012 draw in Warsaw yesterday put Ireland in a group which is not only negotiable but, if we can allow ourselves to be optimistic for a change, downright winnable.

If anything, the outcome of the draw had something of the routine about it, especially when set against the sexier options of unfinished business against France, a renewal of ancient rivalry with England or even the moderate spice of coming up against former gaffer Brian Kerr and his Faroe Islands.