As an exclusive perk, Irish News subscribers were invited to participate in a Q&A with our sports team ahead of tomorrow’s All-Ireland club semi-final clash between Tyrone’s Errigal Ciaran and Kerry’s Dr Crokes.
Here’s what you asked:
All over Ireland, GAA players are playing basketball in the off-season. Armagh brought on noted basketball phenom Kieran Donaghy to help train. Should the north be encouraging their Gaelic players to participate in basketball more?
Andy Watters: In the off-season clubs should encourage players to play basketball. It’s a good idea for players to try a range of sports and the basketball season doesn’t overlap too much with the GAA. Plus, it improves a players’ handling, movement, marking, fitness, defensive set-up and attacking transition work. So, yes, I would encourage GAA players to play basketball wherever they are.
Who will win and by how many between Errigal Ciaran and Dr Croke’s?
Andy Watters: I have been impressed with Errigal Ciaran this season. They are a tough unit, the Canavan brothers add flair and, as they showed in the Ulster final, they have quality players and match-winners all over the field. Dr Croke’s are a very good side but I’ll give Errigal the nod to win by three points.
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Is this Tyrone’s year for an All-Ireland at club and county level?
Kenny Archer: The answer to that could come very quickly, probably this month. Errigal Ciaran are the best bet to bring national success but even reaching their first ever All-Ireland final is far from certain; if they can get past Dr Croke’s I’d fancy them to lift the Andy Merrigan Cup.
On the inter-county front, Errigal clubman Malachy O’Rourke is an excellent manager, and will hit the ground running due to his in-depth knowledge of the Tyrone scene, but there’s some catching up to be done. The attacking talent at his disposal does look promising, with Mark Bradley back to augment the Canavan brothers, Darragh and Ruairi.
O’Rourke’s predecessors Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher have blooded a fair few players from the 2022 and 2024 All-Ireland U20 winning teams but it’s likely to take a season or two before the Red Hands are ready to challenge for the biggest prize of all again.
Do you agree with the scrapping of pre-season games?
Andy Watters: The Dr McKenna Cup has been suspended, not scrapped. However, pre-season challenge matches will be continuing for all counties. I can understand why the McKenna Cup has been done away with because it is a very long season even without it. However, if counties are going to train and play challenge matches anyway, then why not let the fans come and watch and the county boards make a few quid?
Will Casement Park be built?
Cahair O’Kane: If anyone had put the gun to my head at any time in the last five years, the answer would have been the same as it is today. I just have struggled to see how Casement Park gets built at this stage. There’s always a ticking clock on the project. Planning permission expires in the summer of 2026, so there’s an onus once more on getting boots on the ground. That depends on funding. The most recent figure we know of for the rebuild is £275m, at a revised spec from what would have been the Euros venue. London haven’t ponied up, Dublin haven’t, Stormont won’t. The question now is the same as it has been for all this time – where is the money coming from? So, in short, I would still lean towards it not being built, because those questions have been about long enough to have been answered by now.
Is Paddy Tally the man to turn around Derry’s fortunes?
Cahair O’Kane: To say that their fortunes need turned around is in some way indicative of how far Derry came in a short space of time. When they started the 2022 season, they had hardly a medal between them. Now they have two Ulster titles and a National League. The summer turned pretty disastrous by that measurement yet they still beat Mayo in Castlebar. The history of Derry football is of being competitive rather than dominant.
Ulster in 2025 looks as tough as it has in maybe 20 years. Armagh as All-Ireland champions, Donegal in year two under Jim McGuinness, Tyrone with Malachy O’Rourke and Derry in the top flight, with Monaghan, Cavan and Down all in the second tier of the league. Paddy Tally brings a wealth of inter-county experience and having been Mickey Harte’s coach in 2003 and in Jack O’Connor’s backroom in 2022, he knows what it takes. The key for Derry is probably that they are judged on their summer not their spring. They were late starting back compared to all the teams that allegedly broke the rules, and they have concerns over key defensive players on top of needing to replace Chrissy McKaigue, all of which they’ll have to deal with through the league.
Are Man United going to get relegated?
Kenny Archer: No, not even close – sorry to dash the hopes of so many.
Even after their dreadful recent run of form, just three points from their last six games, the Red Devils are still seven points clear of the relegation zone. They may not get much higher than mid-table mediocrity but they are in no danger of going down and will pull clear soon.
New manager Ruben Amorim has a huge job on his hands, not least in implementing his three centre backs system, but he has to be given time – he’s barely through the door. He has the coaching nous to bring much more out of an under-performing panel and he’ll need that, because the club will have to sell to buy big. Prospective purchasers will know there’s a ‘fire sale’ element, while Old Trafford is far from the attractive destination for transfer targets it once was.
Still, if Amorim is able to get a settled side soon, the attacking ability is there to ensure their midfield and defensive problems don’t cost them too dearly.
Who is going to win Women’s Euro 2025?
Kenny Archer: Holders England are in a very tough looking group, along with France and the Netherlands (and Wales) so my hunch is to look to another team with recent major trophy-winning experience: World Cup-holders Spain. The quality of their football is top-notch and the likes of Aitana Bonmati and captain Alexia Putellas (who missed the last Euros due to an ACL injury) can provide both the creativity and goals to fire them to further glory. Germany were unlucky to lose the last Euro final and will feel they can repeat their continental dominance of the past, but the Spanish talent, notably from Barcelona and Real Madrid, looks very promising again.
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Here’s what was covered in the last recent Q&A.
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