Sonia O'Sullivan is not just back to form. She is having the best year of her entire career.
At the end of the tunnel in Budapest's Nepstadion, what seemed like an endless sequence of interviews began to fray the nerve endings of the small corps of Irish media, waiting for Sonia O'Sullivan to jog towards them.
Ever since Neanderthal No.8 first stubbed his toe on a rock, grunted and kicked it at the head of his nearest enemy, football has been one of the most popular pastimes of homo sapiens—team rivalry, competition and success being the ingredients which have been successfully passed down through our DNA over the centuries.
The sixteenth World Cup kicks off at the Stade de France outside Paris on June 10. Thirty-two teams will take part and 550 million people will tune in worldwide until one is left in triumph on July 12. Over the next seven pages Magill previews the teams and some of the top players and looks back at the history of an often controversial contest. But first, down to the business of football. Ronan O'Neill looks at the increasing commercialisation of the game and asks will this be the last time we'll all watch it for free
Cliftonville FC has clawed its way back from near extinction to head the Smirnoff Premier League. Can the Reds tackle sectarian strife to take the Championship? By Ronan O Neill
Another controversial planning decision in North County Dublin could become an issue in the forthcoming
by-election. By John Mulligan
Mick O'Dwyer has dominated the last decade of Gaelic football to a greater degree than any of the players who became national figures during that period. Naturally, most of them would be Kerry players. It is hardly necessary to remind readers that the county has won seven All-Irelands in eleven years -and lost two more - under his management.
At half-time in the All-Ireland final, the overwhelming majority of people in my vicinity felt that the match was already won by Kerry and irretrievably lost as a spectacle; that Dublin could not possibly make a game of it, much less threaten Kerry's clear superiority.
Jack Maloney assesses the quality of the Dublin and Kerry football teams and concludes that Gaelic football is in decline.
Like a swan. Beautiful, graceful, smooth; elegance in motion. But underneath, the feet paddle furiously, all movement unseen. That's the Tour de France. The giant peloton, weaving a crooked loop around France. An aessthetic, compelling sight. A sweeping mass of colour on its way to a rendezzvous with a nation. An adornment to La Belle France. Like a swan.
The lounge boy in Paddy Cole's place in Castleblayney is in no doubt. "Your off to Clones," he says. Clones is a small town with a small popu=ulation - 2,500 to 3,000. It has five churches, twenty-two licensed premises, three hotels, and one favouurite son. 'The Diamond' - the town square - is packed with cars. The Lennard Arms Hotel, owned by Barry's family, is booked out. There are glasses and drinkers all over the reception area. The staff haven't slept in two days. The bar hasn't been closed since Friday night. By Orla Guerin