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Mary Hannigan: Will the Dublin Marathon be shunted out of the city or showcase its landmarks?

Gordon D’Arcy is impressed by players in the Irish provinces and Seán Moran on club championships being dominated by the same old names

Dublin Marathon: Colm Murray (centre) is helped home by his daughter Ciara and his wife Orla after the race. Photograph: Tom Maher/INPHO

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Wed Nov 8 2023 - 10:18

If Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority have their way, next year’s Dublin Marathon will be shunted out of the city because, they’re arguing, it’s having a “disproportionate adverse impact” on public transport services. It would be accurate to say that Ian O’Riordan is not overly impressed by their proposition. “It’s both ridiculous and embarrassing on all fronts,” he writes. “No one expects any big city marathon to happen without some disruption to public transport.” If anything, he says, more of the city should be added to the route, the race being an opportunity to showcase famous landmarks. The Paris marathon starts along the Champs-Élysées, London finishes in front of Buckingham Palace, Tokyo passes the Imperial Palace, and so on. Ian is probably fearing that next year’s Dublin race will finish at an industrial estate in east Kildare.

The rugby season is, of course, a marathon and not a sprint, but Gordon D’Arcy is impressed by the start the Irish provinces have had to their URC campaigns, not least because they’ve been without their World Cup contingent. One of those who had a break was Peter O’Mahony who, Gordon feels, should now be elevated to a leadership role in the Irish set-up.

O’Mahony’s return to the Munster camp is good news for Graham Rowntree - and he was in need of some. The head coach confirmed on Tuesday that World Cup winner RG Snyman is set to be out of action for months with a shoulder and chest injury, while a wrist injury will also sideline Joey Carbery for a long spell. And just to add to Rowntree’s woes, he says Munster are facing a battle to hold on to another World Cup winner, Jean Kleyn linked with a move next summer to Lyon.

In Gaelic games, Seán Moran takes a look at how the club championships, in both football and hurling, are being largely dominated by the same old names. “Novelty used to be one of the great attractions,” he writes. “The more familiar the contenders become, the more routine it all appears – which for a competition founded on a sense that anyone might fancy their chances, is a pity.”

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While there was no good news from the Melbourne Cup for Irish trainers Willie Mullins and Joseph O’Brien, there was plenty for its officials, this, writes Brian O’Connor, being “the third year in a row that the race hasn’t been blighted by a fatality”.

The only slight “bum note” on the day was when Mark Zahra went by the winning post holding up two fingers. He wasn’t, though, being rude to the crowd, he was simply signalling that he’d become the first jockey since 1979 to win two Melbourne Cups in a row. “What are you doing you moron,” he asked himself upon realising how his gesture could be, well, misinterpreted.

TV Watch: It’s yet another busy Champions League night, among the 8.00 games Copenhagen v Manchester United (Virgin Media Two & TNT Sports 1), Bayern Munich v Galatasaray (TNT Sports 3), Real Madrid v Sporting Braga (TNT Sports 4) and Arsenal v Sevilla (TNT Sports 2). If there’s any VAR controversy in that last one, Mikel Arteta’s head will explode.