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Friday 24 March 2023 Dublin: 7°C

# long read

This year
2023
# Feature
Footballers’ lives: A glimpse into the struggle, fortune and enduring beauty of the game
The42 spends a weekend in the north-west of England with an array of Irish football people, including Stephen Kenny, John O’Shea and the great hope Nathan Collins.
Last year
2022
# ciphers of the past
The strange history of Ireland's British Empire-era postboxes
An Post archivist Stephen Ferguson tells The Journal about the quirks and surprises of these everyday objects.
# long read
'A bit done, and a lot more to do' - from frustration to GPA merger
Gemma Begley reflects on the journey so far with The42.
All time
# Foundation
'We have a perfect storm... The game is changing and we need to change with it'
As Irish women’s rugby rebuilds, the AIL and inter-pros will play a key role.
# long read
'He read it and said: 'Tony you cannot publish this. If you do people will think you're weak''
Tony Griffin’s 2010 autobiography helped break the mould as an Irish sports star discussing his mental health. Now his new book is aimed at teenagers.
# 2000: Revisited
'The collarbone, winning the All-Ireland and then breaking my jaw, it was probably a rough enough time'
Mayo great Cora Staunton reflects on the 2000 All-Ireland ladies football final and her county’s golden era, which was built on ‘torturous’ training and pure hard work.
# long read
'I was sort of obsessed. Demented. Angry maybe with life as well' - Val Andrews on a lifetime in coaching
From managing Tralee IT’s galacticos on their run to Sigerson glory in the 1990s to Cavan during the Seanie Johnston transfer saga.
# on the frontline
'Everyone is very much involved in this' - The Dublin All-Star doctor on duty in Temple Street Hospital
Noelle Healy shares her experience through the Covid-19 crisis.
# opening up
'You aren't thinking about anybody. You just want the pain to stop, and you'll go to any extreme to do it'
Tyrone and Dromore 21-year-old Oran Sludden delves deeper into his story and mental health struggles – and shares messages of hope.
# long read
'Mick McCarthy drove me to the ground to sign the contract. It was surreal sitting in his Mercedes'
Ex-Ireland and Milwall midfielder Dave Savage revisits his career in football, which included five senior international caps — all earned in the summer of 1996.
# A mountain to climb
In Nepal, Sherpas are losing vital tourism income, but 'stopping the virus is more important than our jobs'
Cormac Fitzgerald reports from Nepal on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting Mount Everest’s guides.
# long read
Concussion deep dive: 'I'd be sitting in my room and I'd just start crying. I'd be like, 'What is wrong with me?'
Clare captain Laurie Ryan and former Galway star Cormac Bane share their scary experiences with concussion.
# long read
'The first day I met him was in the LIT canteen 15 years ago and I was going, 'Jesus, I'm here with Davy Fitz''
In the second installment of a two-part coaching series, The42 chats with Wexford hurling coach Seoirse Bulfin.
# long read
Meath coach talks Ronaldo, Guardiola, New York Knicks, Legacy, Eddie Jones and Jim Gavin
In the first of a two-part coaching series, The42 chats with Meath coach Colm Nally.
# At home with the Byrnes
'When he was dying he said to me: ‘Jack is going to play for Ireland, he’s special’'
David Sneyd sits down with Ireland and Shamrock Rovers midfielder Jack Byrne, along with his family, ahead of the FAI Cup final.
# down-ey but not out
Kilkenny to the bone: Reeling in the years, the good and the bad, with Cats legend Ann Downey
She’s been instrumental in all 13 of Kilkenny’s All-Ireland camogie titles, but Downey recently stepped away.
# in depth
Analysis: Ringrose shines as Ireland's strong defence shuts Scotland down
Ireland had a 94% tackle success rate and gave up only three linebreaks on Sunday.
# Breakdown
The team that Joe built: Putting together a 2019 World Cup squad
We examine how Ireland’s head coach has developed a group of players to compete in Japan.
# everyday hero
'I said, 'Look, I'm not going to let my mother go through that pain again of losing another child''
After losing three siblings to an incurable lung disease, David Crosby was diagnosed himself when he turned 40. The inspirational double-lung transplant recipient and marathon runner shares his remarkable story.
# mentor
‘I would have come from the flats… Brian Kerr gave me the confidence to go into any room and meet people’
St Patrick’s Athletic legend Johnny McDonnell reflects on his memorable career in football.
# The Boy on the Shed
'My career finished with injury and the thing I feared most, my mother dying, happened at that moment... I was 21'
Paul Ferris on adapting to life as a former footballer.
# honesty
'When Jack left me out of the squad for the Euros, I was devastated… I wasn’t the same player or person'
Ex-Ireland international Dave Langan opens up about the highs and lows of his career.
# Aslan
'If you look at U2... they kind of belong to the world at this stage, where we still belong to Ireland'
After over 35 years in the business, Irish rock band Aslan are still going strong.
# long read
'I ended up working for DHL Express and Zidane went on to manage Real Madrid'
Former St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians defender Maurice O’Driscoll on facing one of the greats, a brief spell managing in the LOI and his highly-rated son Aaron.
# Remember when
"They asked me about Effenberg. And I said: 'If he thinks I was like his father, he played like my mother'"
Cork City legend Dave Barry on winning All-Irelands, scoring against Bayern Munich, Patsy Freyne’s fondness for a smoke and representing Ireland against Man United.
# long read
'I felt how most young boys would, thinking ‘F**k this, I’m not playing football’ as I thought I'd been shafted'
Derry City striker Rory Patterson talks his career in Ireland, England and Australia, the brilliance of Paddy McCourt and the return to the Brandywell.
# disclosures tribunal
'The beginning of the end': After McCabe, Tribunal now poised to enter most crucial weeks
Maurice McCabe spoke this week. Here’s what he had to say.
# long read
'I genuinely don’t have any regrets. I’m honest enough to realise that I didn’t put in the work'
Alan Cawley talks joining Leeds United as a teenager, winning a league title with Shelbourne and getting into TV punditry.
# shades of grey
Heroes and villains: Why nothing is clear-cut anymore at the Disclosures Tribunal
Mr Justice Peter Charleton has a tricky task ahead to untangle the web that was O’Sullivan’s strategy at the O’Higgins Commission.
# long read
'The Irish lads at Leeds were so good to us. They would always be giving us money and stuff'
Midfielder Paul Keegan opens up about his playing days in England and returning home to help Waterford’s cause.
# family homelessness
'Mammy. I don't smile much anymore and I don't know why': Homelessness through the eyes of a child
The number of homeless children in ireland has quadrupled in three years.
# long read
'He said 'there’s no f***ing way you’re leaving this room until you sign the contract!''
We chat to Pat Scully about his career in England, representing his country at every level and success in the League of Ireland — both as a player and a manager.
# After Midnight
'My father used to beat me and my mother up for fun': A night on the streets with Dublin's rough sleepers
We went out with an outreach team to see what a night is like on the streets of Dublin.
# long road to glory
'You’re new to a team and all you’ve been is injured. It's tough to take, both physically and emotionally'
Megan Campbell on playing a key role in FA Cup glory after a nightmare run of injuries, the Ireland WNT and her story so far.
# apollo house legacy
What has happened to Home Sweet Home (and the €190,000 that was donated)?
The campaign responsible for the occupation of Apollo House has been quiet in recent months.
# Interview
'We played the Dubliners against the country boys... I could see Brian Kerr thinking: S**t'
Ex-Ireland and Tottenham star Stephen Carr looks back on the highs and lows of his career
# Double trouble
Analysis: Brothers Jordie and Beauden Barrett creating magic for the Canes
The brothers have been in superb form in Super Rugby and look certain to play together for the All Blacks.
# hennessy awards
An award-winning story before bedtime: I Could Have Been a Dancer
Read a story which won the First Fiction award at this year’s Hennessy Literary Awards.
# hennessy awards
An award-winning short story before bedtime: The Taking of Mrs Kennedy
Read the winner of the Emerging Fiction category in this year’s Hennessy Literary Awards.
# George Best
'When I saw the tears in Busby's eyes, I realised the depth of their relationship and what George turned away'
Inside ‘George Best: All By Himself,’ an extraordinary, sobering look at the life and times of George Best.