Easy spot the lad itching for a an admin role in the big house .
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The Miltons
You couldn’t be letting them lads into SuperValu park
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A REAL PLUS: The Kerry-Donegal and Cork-Meath All-Ireland SFC Group 1 games later this month will be screened by GAA+, the Irish Examiner can reveal. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
WED, 06 MAY, 2026 - 19:41
JOHN FOGARTY
The Kerry-Donegal and Cork-Meath All-Ireland SFC Group 1 games later this month will be screened by GAA+, the Irish Examiner can reveal.
Both matches have been chosen by the association’s streaming arm and are set to be shown on Saturday, May 23.
For their 4pm slot that Saturday, RTÉ had notified the GAA of their preference for the repeat of last year’s All-Ireland SFC final, Kerry and Donegal having also met in April’s Division 1 decider.
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Páirc Uí Rinn confirmed as Cork footballers’ home choice for All-Ireland series
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Their second choice had been Cork v Meath in Páirc Uí Rinn. However, that is also set to be broadcasted by GAA meaning RTÉ will televise one of the two remaining opening round matches, Galway v Kildare or Roscommon v Kildare, and GAA+ the remaining clash.
The change in the format of the All-Ireland SFC from group stages these past three years to an enhanced qualifier system this year meant the previous rights agreement relating to the early stages of the All-Ireland SFC was null and void.
GAA+ are also expected to have preference in the second half of Round 1 on May 30/31 when they are due to show three of the four matches. RTÉ will carry the fourth.
GAA+ are likely to have first call for the Round 2A/2B games on Saturday, June 13 as well as the third-round clashes on Saturday, June 20. On both weekends, they are scheduled to show three clashes.
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After Round 1 of the SFC, RTÉ will broadcast live coverage of two Round 2A/2B on Sunday, June 14 and one of the four Round 3 fixtures on the weekend of June 20/21.
As before, live coverage of the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals will be split between the organisations, GAA+ showing the two Saturday games and RTÉ broadcasting the Sunday pair.
In consultation with participating counties and the media rights holders, the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee determines when games are played.
Great that these games are being televised. We’ve come a long way from one or two games available to view
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I don’t really care since they’ve more or less killed off Gaelic Football as a pastime anyway, but its a bit ironic that GoGoTV was initially sold on the premise that it was ‘showing bonus games’ that otherwise wouldnt be shown at all, and now its dictating almost everything in terms of first preferences.
Its an abomination too that after 4 years they still dont have it as a channel on the Sky Box.
Findlay is spot on here from 24.30 talking what a load of bollocks streaming is.
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GAA+ is a joke for pubs altogether, some disaster when the feed goes down for 10-15 minutes.
Would putting the channel on the Sky box make it too easy for dodgy boxes to take the feed?
Why are cork playing all Ireland series matches in Flower Lodge?
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In case they damage the grass for the precious hurlers.
I think you spelled precocious wrong there.
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Would require a commercial agreement with Sky and a significant loss of revenue presumably.
all the niche channels on Sky would hardly be paying much to be on the box.
Would GAA+ not be similar?
Kerry have got their beloved 3pm Saturday in Killarney slot against Donegal.
You’d imagine Donegal will fill at least three football special trains to travel down the West Coast Mainline for this one.
This draw is mouth watering. The format is much more exciting than last year. Every round has jeopardy. It’s great that the likes of Kerry and Donegal can meet this early, really can spark a rivalry in the championship before possibly meeting in a final again
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I hope they kill one another
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I find it odd of all the luminaries available, they’ve gone with Paidi for the name of the Munster Cup. Presume there was a bit of backroom lobbying
‘Connacht final day is special’ – Even at 71, Paddy Joe Burke’s enthusiasm for watching his beloved Roscommon is undimmed
Paddy Joe Burke
Paddy Joe Burke
Roscommon fan Paddy Joe Burke before the Connacht semi-final victory over Mayo at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar. Photo: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile
Dermot Crowe
Today at 05:30
Ask not what your county can do for you, but what you can do for your county. Last week was a torturous wait for Paddy Joe Burke. A Connacht final in Roscommon town, at the Hyde, had him enduring sleepless nights in the lead-up. Finally, the day has arrived.
In Connacht football lore Roscommon loom behind the two provincial giants of Galway and Mayo. But they are a county notorious for causing upsets and making your day a misery. And some say they are effective at rubbing it in.
My own personal impressions are coloured by watching the Roscommon team of the late 1970s and being charmed by their attacking flair. Those thrilling matches with Armagh are burned in the memory. They led Kerry in the 1980 All-Ireland final before losing by three points. Paddy Joe’s worst day. Because he felt it mightn’t come for a long time again. He is still waiting, 46 years later.
Roscommon’s Enda Smith tries to get away from Mayo’s Sam Callinan their Connacht SFC semi-final last month at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar. Photo: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile
But you learn to accept your own reality. Your county is your county. You can’t trade it for another and you’d never want to. For people like Paddy Joe, now 71, there is no place like Roscommon. No place like home. Come what may.
“I have been to every county in Ireland following the Rossies,” he says. “We were in all four [league] divisions down the years. We played in Kilkenny, we played in Waterford, and Dr Cullen Park was the last pitch on my bucket list. Not every fan has that privilege.
“I couldn’t sleep with the expectation of the Rossies in the Connacht final. Remember when Santy was coming to you and the two or three nights before it? I know we are supposed to be adults but don’t suppress the child. Let the child out. Tell the world the Rossies are in town.
“The greatest sight is to see the Rossies emerging from the tunnel kicking white footballs up in the air. Jesus, I love it.”
They are heading into this final as underdogs, which is nothing new to them. The year started with a new management headed by Strokestown’s Mark Dowd. St Brigid’s and Strokestown had lengthy club campaigns which meant that when Roscommon travelled to Killarney for the first round of the league they had to blood youngsters. Five debutants took the field against the All-Ireland champions. They lost to a point with the last play of the game.
Roscommon fan Paddy Joe Burke before the Connacht semi-final victory over Mayo at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar. Photo: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile
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News in 90 Seconds - May 10th 2026
And in the tough environment of Division 1 they survived with something to spare. Wins over Monaghan, Armagh, Donegal and Galway, when they came back from 13 points down, made people sit up and take notice. But championship is a different country. They started with a win in New York, thousands of followers heading over to see them play in the Bronx. They followed that with a rousing win in Castlebar against Mayo, playing them off the field in the second half.
Today they will be striving to beat Galway in a Connacht final in Hyde Park for the first time since 1990. The silver jubilee team that won the 2001 Connacht final, thanks to Gerry Lohan’s late goal against Mayo, will be paraded before the crowd.
“Connacht final day is special,” says Paddy Joe, who hails from Four Mile House not far from Roscommon town. “Connacht final day is magical. That’s what we live for. And how privileged we are to have a team in the Connacht final. What a compliment to the management and the backroom team. The shape that we’re in, physically, condition wise, fitness wise. I have never seen a fitter Roscommon team in my life than the team that won in Castlebar.”
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Roscommon players and management - including John Tobin and Brian Talty, two former Galway stars - celebrate in their dressing room following their 2001 Connacht SFC final victory over Mayo at Hyde Park in July 2001. Photo: David Maher/Sportsfile
The long-time Roscommon journalist Seamus Duke collared Paddy Joe on the pitch after the win in MacHale Park. His joy was unrestrained.
“In Roscommon, we tend to get carried away,” says Duke. “We win a match and expectation goes through the roof. There is going to be a big Roscommon crowd there now after the performance in MacHale Park. That’s arguably one of Roscommon’s best-ever shows in the championship. In my time it’s up there with the best ever.”
Paddy Joe Burke went to his first Connacht championship match in Carrick-on-Shannon in the 1960s. Winning is wonderful, of course, but for him it isn’t everything. Following Roscommon, the privilege of being there in the flesh on a day like this, remains exhilarating to him now as it was the first day he went to Carrick aged 11. He is old enough to remember when they listened to matches on the radio, a crowd gathered, hanging on every word.
“I was old enough to grow up with the radio. Our house was a rambling house, all the neighbours came in. And the radio was turned up. John Fahy, the Lord have mercy on him, he’d be standing at the door and he’d start walking towards the radio if Roscommon were starting to win or were coming back. I grew up in that environment.”
The day he went to Carrick to see them for the first time, Dermot Earley played for the minor and the senior teams. None of the excitement has worn off. In the Hyde he has his favourite place on the terrace, near the 20-metre line.
“I never go to the stand. I’m highly volatile and I move a little bit. I need about 10 yards to move over and back just in case. I wouldn’t like to be pinned in the stand. You couldn’t watch the Rossies sitting down.”
Roscommon legend Dermot Earley in possession during the 1985 Connacht SFC final against Mayo at Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
He speaks respectfully of Galway and other opposition teams. The chance to mingle and converse with rival followers is a valued part of his day. “Of course I am very passionate. You’d know I was from Roscommon if you were beside me, but I never engage in any negative stuff. I never run down anyone’s team. It’s a spiritual occasion to be at a football match and your own county playing. You are an ambassador for your county.
“Every fibre in my body is invested in what’s out in front of me. Because this is the Rossies, this is life. It doesn’t get any better. This is magic. This is what we dream about. I never grew up and I love it. Don’t ever get old and get sensible. Hold onto childlike enthusiasm. Hold onto these precious moments.”
Paddy Joe lays claim to having invented ‘the Rossies’ as a term of endearment that quickly caught on and became part of the dialect. He was watching the 1982 World Cup with his mother and adapted it from the Italian striker Paolo Rossi, who ended up tournament top scorer.
But it takes two teams to make a final. And he is conscious of Galway and their reputation, seeking a fifth Connacht title win in succession which would equal the record set by Mayo, twice, and Galway previously.
“I love the heartland of Galway football. Driving through Williamstown and Moylough and Barnaderg where the great Pádraic Joyce comes from, a small rural club and it produced one of the greatest footballers of all time. And into Moylough. Down on through Ballygar, all the All-Ireland medals that came out of Ballygar. All that region. Dunmore MacHales, a famous club. Household names. And every one of them will be coming to Hyde Park.
“It’s one of the best playing surfaces in Ireland. And we’ll have supporters coming from all over the county. From north Roscommon, in Arigna. Arigna produced some great supporters, all the way up to Ballinlough, the famous Michael Glaveys, the club on the Mayo border that gave us Dermot Earley.
“Right across the county, over to St Faithleach’s that gave us the Murtaghs and Diarmuid Murtagh is having the season of his life. Enda Smith will bring them all from Boyle. Up to Pearses, then you’re right on the tip, touching Shannonbridge, touching Ballinasloe. Right across into Athlone and all down through mid-Roscommon. Where are they going? They’re going to Hyde Park. Well, it’s King & Moffatt Hyde Park now.”
On the eve of the new millennium, Paddy Joe had an idea to mark the occasion. He headed down to Hyde Park before midnight with a football, placed it on the penalty spot and kicked it into the net. Then he kicked a point. He then repeated the acts at the other end of the field. He brought along Gerry O’Loughlin, a local press photographer to capture the moment.
“I brought a candle and it was a lovely balmy night. We waited for the clock to tick to 12 and the candle was to bring the light of the Rossies from one millennium to another. We also thought of all the emigrants around the world.”
The Roscommon diaspora is never far from his mind. If they win today he will drive around the roundabout in Roscommon town three times in honour of those who are living in various parts of the world but whose hearts remain in Roscommon.
“We do it because we want to tell them they are not alone, they are not forgotten. We are lucky, we are privileged to be in the stadium.”
The last Connacht final in the Hyde was in 2018 when Galway defeated Roscommon by four points, in a four year-cycle of Roscommon-Galway finals evenly shared. Roscommon’s last title was in 2019 in Pearse Stadium, beating Galway in the final. Their last appearance was there too, when they lost to Galway in 2022.
“Sure they have broken our hearts so many times,” says Seamus Duke. “And they have a very good team. They’ve been in two All-Ireland finals. It is going to be a very different challenge than Mayo offered. Coming to Hyde Park won’t bother them in the slightest.”
On Friday night, Paddy Joe was in Tuam to see Roscommon pip Galway in the Connacht minor final. On Wednesday, he will be in Thurles to see the under 20s play Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. Today, you don’t need to ask where he will be, praying for a clean sweep in the province.
“It is the Connacht final. And we couldn’t have a better football team in the world coming to the Hyde on Sunday than Galway. They will be coming in and entering into Roscommon airspace. We’ll offer up the hand of friendship.”
The best is yet to come for Roscommon, he says brightly, his optimism undimmed.
“Isn’t it great to be a child at 71. Don’t get old, or give up,” he says. “Live the dream.”
Twee
Killarney really is some place for a match on a sunny day.
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Everything in place to have ya pumped for this…then a full minute of bollixing with the ball