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Mary Hannigan: FAI left with unrequited love

Closure finally arrives in the Lee Carsley saga; Sandwiches at GAA matches and the descent into middle age; Cork, Poland and Luke Littler

Lee Carsley spoke publicly to confirm his commitment to the England U21s. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Thu Mar 21 2024 - 10:22

We finally learnt on Wednesday that one of sport’s lengthier wooing campaigns had come to an unsuccessful end, Lee Carsley revealing that he had ruled himself out of the running for the Irish job, leaving the Football Association of Ireland dealing with unrequited love. “So, the fourth secret of Fatima remains intact,” writes Gavin Cummiskey, the identity of the man who will succeed Stephen Kenny still a complete mystery. Could it be John O’Shea? Well, his sole focus for now as interim manager is on the upcoming friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland - after that, we’ll see. The only good news for the FAI this week came with the announcement that Sky have agreed a four-year deal to become the shirt sponsors for the men’s team.

In Gaelic games, Ciarán Murphy recounts his trip to Pearse Stadium last Saturday with his three brothers, the eldest of whom has hit the 50 mark. Galway’s hurlers and footballers didn’t make it the happiest of birthdays, though, but the siblings enjoyed their day out which featured sandwiches they’d brought with them, a move which spoke “eloquently of our descent into middle-age”. Ian O’Riordan, meanwhile, spoke with Tomás Ó Sé who is in his second term as the Kerry under-20 boss. “It wouldn’t bother me now if this was the end of the road,” he said when asked if he had any aspirations to move in to senior management. But? “Never say never.” Denis Walsh had the less happy task of attending the sentencing hearing of Kyle Hayes after the hurler had been found guilty of two counts of violent disorder in Limerick city in October, 2019.

In rugby, now that the men’s Six Nations is done and dusted, Johnny Watterson looks at the challenges ahead for the provinces in both the URC and Champions Cup, while Daire Walsh talks to Irish co-captain Sam Monaghan ahead of the women’s trip to France for their Six Nations opener on Saturday.

Ahead of darts’ Premier League visiting Dublin’s 3Arena this evening, Gordon Manning talks to Radek Szagański, the Polish-born Cork bus driver who was the first player outside the game’s elite top eight Premier League participants to beat Luke Littler after his star turn at the World Championships.

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In racing, Brian O’Connor hears from Aidan O’Brien about his plans for City Of Troy, “the most exciting and valuable racehorse on the planet right now”. So exciting, he might well prove to be “the very best to go through O’Brien’s hands in his 28 years at the helm of the world’s most famed training academy”. And that’s saying something.

And in his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan writes about US college football stars finally getting a share of their sport’s lucrative pie, having never received a cent for their immense contributions until 2021. They faced no little resistance, though, along the way.

TV Watch: Seamus Power is in the field at the Valspar Championship in Florida which gets under way today (Sky Sports Golf, 11.30am-10pm). And this evening, darts’ Premier League visits Dublin’s 3Arena, defending champion Michael van Gerwen and teenage megastar Luke Littler among the competitors (Sky Sports Action, 7pm-11pm).

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