It was back in 2012 that Peadar Mogan first encountered Jim McGuinness, the then 13-year-old getting his photo taken with the Donegal manager when he visited his school in Mountcharles. McGuinness was accompanied by some silverware that day, in the form of Sam Maguire, Donegal having won their second All Ireland title that September by beating Mayo in the final. Twelve years on and Mogan is now an integral part of the McGuinness team that aspires to win the county’s third title, Seán Moran hearing from the Footballer of the Month award winner for May ahead of Sunday’s quarter-final against Louth. Kerry, of course, have their own All Ireland-winning ambitions, Gordon Manning talking to Johnny Crowley about their prospects, Derry their opponents in Croke Park on Sunday. Meanwhile, the hurlers of Kilkenny, Clare, Limerick and Cork are busy fine-tuning their preparations for the All Ireland semi-finals, which take place on July 6 and 7, Joe Canning giving an insight to the kind of work that’s done in the final stretch, key to it all those A-vs-B games when you want “fellas to be pushing hard and putting savage pressure on the lads who have the jersey”.
Johnny Watterson turns his thoughts to the interminable saga surrounding the redevelopment of Casement Park. “Dilapidated and decrepit, it is in many ways a metaphor for the troubled history and complexities of the city in which it stands,” he writes, the past being “dragged up and weaponised against the development”.
In athletics, Ian O’Riordan previews this weekend’s National Championships in Santry, seven Irish athletes currently sitting in a quota qualification spot in advance of Sunday’s cut-off date for the Paris Olympics. Gráinne Walsh has her ticket to Paris already booked, the Offaly boxer securing her slot in Bangkok earlier this month. She talks to Louise Lawless about that journey, which included a not inconsiderable bump on the road in the form of a controversial defeat in Milan back in March.
The Tour de France begins in Florence on Saturday and will feature two Irish riders, Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, Shane Stokes hearing from the former as he prepares for his first appearance in the race in four years.
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And ahead of this Sunday’s Irish Derby, Brian O’Connor writes about a race “that’s beginning to look worryingly dated”, one that “the rest of European racing appears increasingly happy to bypass”. “Endlessly talking but not considering what might be necessary to rejuvenate the Derby won’t stop the clock ticking on the race,” he writes.
TV Watch: TG4 has coverage from the opening day of the Curragh’s Derby Festival (4.50pm-8.40pm), while rugby fans can tune in to the French Top 14 Final between Toulouse and Bordeaux (Premier Sports 1, 8.05pm). And later, the same channel has two more games from the Copa America, Colombia v Costa Rica (11pm) and Brazil v Paraguay (2am).
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