It Occurs To Me: Hammering Kerry definitely didn’t fit the Sunday Game narrative

Although much of the post-match analysis of Donegal thumping Kerry concentrated on Michael Murphy and the red card controversy, he was head and shoulders over Kerry’s iconic David Clifford on the day, as was Caolan McColgan who stuck to Clifford like glue.

Brendan McCole restricted Dylan Geaney to one point, and all over the pitch, our players were immense, not least Michael Langan and young Max Campbell.

However, the begrudgers were at it early, some actually calling the tournament ‘Mickey Mouse’ and saying that Sam would be a different kettle of fish.

It even extended to the Sunday Game, where Lee Keegan was tight-lipped in faint praise and Joanne Cantwell encouraged the gaslighting about a “strange atmosphere” in Croke Park and “sure yerrah…, Kerry don’t care”!

Yes, there was a “strange atmosphere” — it was in an RTÉ studio! Cantwell, Whelan and Keegan had a script that Donegal managed to unhinge, forcing Keegan to say “I still think it’s very unknown and I don’t think we learned a whole pile from Division 1 in particular.”

Stuff and nonsense! It kills Ciaran Whelan to ever praise us, and by God, he was no saint himself. Remember 2006, he was sent off in Healy Park in what became known as The Battle of Omagh and hit Mayo’s Ronan McGarrity so hard, the latter was concussed!

So please, less of the pontificating, and as for Joanne Cantwell, she couldn’t handle Joe Brolly and prefers lads who stick to her banal programme script.

‘Our players were immense, not least Michael Langan’

As for the “strange atmosphere”, was it because Donegal supporters outnumbered Kerry’s four to one? That, plus the hammering, definitely didn’t fit the Sunday Game narrative. Bring back Peter Canavan, a proper pundit and God rest Michael Lyster. Anyway, to hell with the begrudgers… this was the day the ‘mouse’ roared and one of Sam’s handles started facing north-west.

Travel ‘beyond the Pale’ In response to a parliamentary question about the Navan rail line just last month, the minister for transport said that the Government was committed to the Navan rail project and it was anticipated that a planning application (a railway order) would be lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála in 2028.

Recently, RTÉ did extensive programming around commuting times for those who travel to Dublin from within ‘The Pale’ — M50, Dundalk and Drogheda.

They also included Galway in the mix, as one of a number of towns and cities with serious congestion problems… Dublin is now 11th in the world, sandwiched between LA and Boston. Minister Darragh O’Brien said congestion was caused by an increase in “private cars”.

Wow! I wouldn’t have guessed that… It's no wonder he’s been given the Transport portfolio. It reminded me of the statement just before Christmas 2025 when Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said that there is little more they can do to fix congestion on the M50.

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That’s it then! Unbelievable. Throw in the towel… wash the hands clean, and kick another can down already choked-up roads. Like the 18th cancellation of the opening of the Children’s Hospital, where does the buck stop in this country?

There is no accountability and no proper forward planning. Imagine a commitment to a Navan rail project (and I don’t begrudge them) while Donegal commuters still suffer from the lack of proper networking between Sligo and Derry.

I’ve written here in the past about the exorbitant Expressway delays — exacerbated by the Letterkenny traffic — but one recent journey took the proverbial biscuit.

The bus was only ten minutes late leaving Sligo — which was a plus — but when it stopped in Ballybofey, the ‘fun’ started. We could see the driver foothering with the door for some ten minutes, only to inform us that he couldn’t close it, but a mechanic from the Stranorlar depot was on the way.

When he landed, the foothering continued, only for the driver to inform us that another bus was on the way! Eventually, one landed, but we were informed that it would only go to Letterkenny, and Derry passengers would have to wait in LK until another one was organised.

By this time, we were an hour late, and waited another 15–20 minutes for said bus to turn up. As it turned out, it had not been put on specially, but was a regular Letterkenny to Derry afternoon service.

When we told the driver that we had already shown our tickets in Sligo, he said he didn’t know about the breakdown — quote: “Nobody told me!” Among the passengers were three Americans and two Canadians, one of whom looked at me and asked: “Is it like this all the time?”

“Far too bloody often!” I responded. One of their company was diabetic and couldn’t believe that there were no toilet facilities on the old yock we had boarded in Sligo.

Nor was the Wi-Fi working. Before it landed in Sligo, I watched with great interest as a high-vis jacket showed three other employees how the new wheelchair apparatus worked on a bright new shining 261 Reg bus in an adjoining parking bay. I wonder if we’ll ever see it going through Donegal?

Isn’t it about time our elected representatives en masse kicked some ass? (Good rhyme there, sir!) It is appalling in the extreme what commuters have to endure in the north-west, and nobody seems to give a goddamn!

Seimí keeps his dignity 

Over the years, particularly in his jousts with a rather crabbed Martin O’Neill, I’ve had some sympathy with RTÉ’s Tony O’Donoghue, but I didn’t like his approach with Seamus Coleman after the loss to Czechia.

The game could have swung either way, as penalties are fickle, and had Ireland come through, he would have been smiling with his teeth and suggesting to Seimí that there was life in the old dog yet!

We lost so he immediately queried the Killybegs man on his possible retirement, but rather than resorting to tetchiness, Seimí calmly replied:  “Right now after the disappointment? No, I would never think of myself that quickly after the nation was so disappointed. That’s something that will come later down the line.

“I’m just disappointed for the lads. Disappointed for all the fans. That’s not something in my thoughts at this moment in time... Listen, it would have been great to get to America for the World Cup. We’re all going to be disappointed in there. I’ve enjoyed getting back into the fold and being part of it again, wearing that green jersey. I’m just disappointed I couldn’t help a bit more to get the lads over the line.”

There was only one professional in that encounter!

The Limerick gardaí scandal

Fair play to Alan Kelly of Labour who has been consistent and forthright in his criticism of Garda management’s handling of the Limerick gardaí farce.

In the Dáil, he said: “What happened here was a disgrace, and will have to be investigated, and most of all, I can also talk about what I have raised in here and in committee on numerous occasions, in relation to how gardaí were given faulty holsters, and the impact that has had, and the impact it has had on the lives of serving gardaí. And the tragedy it has caused. And it will haunt this government.

"It will haunt the previous government. It will haunt this minister, and it will haunt Minister [Helen] McEntee.  And what will also haunt them is the manner in which they did not deal appropriately with protected disclosures that were made to this, and I guarantee you, it will come back to haunt these ministers, I guarantee.”

Frank Thornton, who is the local senior representative of the Garda Representative Association, said the NBCI’s failed investigation had damaged confidence and morale in the Limerick Division.

 “The sense of relief today is hampered by a suffocating emotion of anger and disbelief that our colleagues and their families have had to endure nearly six years of exile, suffering, personal anguish, and character assassination.”

He added that the treatment of gardaí was a “dire dilution of basic employment rights” and a failure of due process.

“What has unfolded here in Limerick with this witch hunt is a stark reminder to all, that an independent public inquiry of this investigation is not an option for the Minister for Justice, it’s an absolute necessity. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have agreed with a review, and the only review possible is one in the form of an independent public inquiry,” he added.

As I write, I see where the AGSI has said its members are shocked at the conviction of a garda for dangerous driving after he pursued two masked men on scrambler and electric bikes.

The garda was convicted of dangerous driving in the Dublin District Court last week, banned from driving for two years and fined €500 following an investigation by Fiosrú, the Garda Ombudsman. The madness continues!