The 42FM

Sinéad O’Carroll is joined by David Sneyd, who has returned from a tumultuous few days in Debrecen with the Ireland football team.There is much to discuss, including the curious suggestion of this being a ‘media-created’ story.How will the team and Gavin Bazunu be received on Thursday night at the Aviva Stadium?Is there a chance that this Sunday’s game, Ireland’s ‘home’ tie with Israel in Serbia, could be boycotted by Ireland players? Or is the appetite for more tension-filled days and nights in the meantime not there?Also, did agents lean on players to fulfill the fixture last Sunday? Why was the game refereed so leniently? And was the football unimportant, or did it matter in the end?

Ireland will play Israel twice in the coming weeks, despite widely articulated concern and protest over the fixtures. Niall Kelly and Sinead O’Carroll discuss the background to these games, how they came about, and why they will go ahead despite the misgivings of many supporters.The pair discuss previous stories that have been at the intersection of sport and news and politics and explain why this is by far the most contentious in recent decades.With Uefa, the FAI and Irish government opting against making a stand or ruling on the fixtures, the responsibility for protest has cascaded down to the players. We ask if it is fair or realistic for a professional footballer to become the face of dissent against these games going ahead and, as a consequence, the highest profile sporting opponent of Israel.We detail how the media has decided to cover the games, and the policy of The 42 and The Journal.

Niall Kelly is back from Doonbeg to tell Sinéad O’Carroll about a golf tournament like few others.It was a bizarre weekend in Co Clare, which juxtaposed The US president and all of the associated security hardware and personnel with a run of four extraordinary rounds of golf from Shane Lowry.The Offaly man did not just defeat the field, he demolished it, 11 shots clear of second place.What will we think about in years to come when looking back on this Irish Open, the extraordinary entrance and presence of Donald Trump, or the immaculate links play from Lowry?

Declan Bogue joins Sinéad O’Carroll and Niall Kelly as the lure of Australia proves strong for many young footballers.The GAA, says Sinead, have been ‘getting their knickers in a twist’ about the prospect of yet more talented players swapping Ireland for a life of sunshine, flat whites and professionalism in Melbourne and other Australian cities. But should they?With Kobe McDonald signed up with St Kilda, and combines in Ireland attracting top talent, while AFL clubs continue to target successful U20 sides, what can be done? Not very much, suggest our panel, adding that a more pertinent question might be why would you even consider ways to prevent professional opportunities to young people?Are suggestions of limiting the flow of players essentially illegal? And is the idea of compensating clubs or counties antithetical to the GAA’s amateur ethos?And will the flow of players, in the men’s game at least, always be limited by the demand from Australia, where there are hundreds of thousands of players in the sport’s pyramid, most of them trained in the skills of the game from childhood?

Niall Kelly, Sinéad O'Carroll and Gavan Casey provide immediate reaction from Croke Park after one of the greatest nights in the history of Irish sport.

Gavan Casey joins Sinead O’Carroll and Niall Kelly to discuss how Katie Taylor sold out Croke Park.At some point during the 20 years the Bray woman has been a public figure, she has gone from being widely respected to loved. But why is this the case for someone who has rarely bared her soul? Gavan makes the point that she has in fact done this time and again - in the ring. And in the process has displayed a purity of spirit that is at once alien to us and inspiring.He talks about the quiet aura Taylor carries, how people almost stand to attention when she enters a room.Gavan details the injury that has blighted her for years and explains why she would have been far further ahead of the field than she already is with a clean bill of health. And it was in overcoming that hindrance, while facing formidable opponents, that she became a singular figure that can move 80,000 tickets on a Saturday night at the spiritual home of Irish sport.