The 42FM

Why is it so hard to integrate the GAA, Camogie Association and LGFA? Why should it cost the mooted half a billion euro to do so, and why have the leadership of the GAA been so silent on the matter to date, with the vacuum being filled by naysayers? Sinead and Gav address these and more issues around Integration, and consider how much of the €500 million project cost is down to the ‘centre of...

Irish Olympic swimmer Shane Ryan last week announced his retirement from competitive swimming before this week dropping a bombshell: he has signed up to compete at the Enhanced Games, a version of the Olympic Games at which competitors are allowed to take performance-enhancing drugs. On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin explain just what the Enhanced Games are, and who its backers are. On th...

In this week’s podcast, Sinead and Gavin talk to Bláthnaid Raleigh. In July 2019, Bláthnaid was raped by Jonathan Moran at a house party in Galway. Back in their hometown of Mullingar, Bláthnaid would spend the next five years living with the effects; her attacker, unable to be identified for legal reasons, continued his life working, socialising and playing rugby, before he was jailed in July 202...

Sinead and Gav sift through the wreckage of Jim Gavin’s presidential campaign and ponder why so many people thought the former Dublin manager was a suitable candidate. Does this episode now force a reset in how we look at venerated GAA figures? Does success in football put you in any kind of stead to become President of Ireland, or to withstand the brutalities of the campaign? What next now for Ga...

Gav dials in from New York City, following the most remarkable, the most epic and the most fractious Ryder Cup of all. He tells Sinead about the personal and vitriolic abuse that was directed at Europe’s players, Rory McIlroy in particular. He describes the febrile atmosphere and tries to make sense of how we’ve arrived at a stage where this passes as acceptable behaviour for some of the attendees...

Gav dials in from Bethpage Black, where the Trump-attended 45th Ryder Cup tees off this week. He tells Sinead why this edition of the inter-continental grudge match will be more politically freighted than usual, but that thoughts of a raucous, blue collar New York crowd have likely been curtailed by the extraordinary ticket prices. The pair discuss Europe’s Corinthian refusal to be paid to represe...

The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park on 28 September, marking the first regular-season NFL game to be played in Ireland. On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin ask why there has been so little public debate as to whether hosting America’s Game in Dublin is a good idea. They discuss what the NFL is, and explain its close ties to the US military. As America continues...

Gavin joins Sinéad from Yerevan ahead of this evening's must-win World Cup qualifier vs Armenia. If the Boys in Green claim three points, can a generation of Irish fans who missed out on Italia 90 and Saipan dare to dream of seeing their nation on the biggest stage? Sinéad and Gav discuss their mixed emotions following Ireland's 2-2 draw vs Hungary last weekend and draw comparisons between Heimir...

Dana, Adi Roche, Sean Gallagher, David Norris, Gavin Duffy - all people who thought they had a good enough public standing to seek election to Áras an Uachtaráin. And all likely regretted putting their name forward following bruising campaigns replete with intense scrutiny and accusations, some of which were irrelevant, or untrue, or both. Into that breach now steps Jim Gavin, with an already stel...

It’s Galway Races week, so on this week’s episode Sinéad and Gavin dive into the Irish State funding of horse racing. They present the figures which show horse racing earns multiples more of taxpayer’s money than any other sport, ask if this is fair, and explain how this is justified by our politicians: that horse racing is not a sport, but an industry. They then interrogate that claim, and find t...

On this week's episode, Sinéad and Gavin look back on a shocking All-Ireland final collapse by Cork. Did they choke? And why is there such stigma attached to calling sportspeople chokers? They explain what it means to choke, and why it happens. They also discuss whether the importance of sports psychology and mental performance in sport is underrated, and whether Cork can ever recover from their T...

On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin look at the recent developments in the case of George Gibney, former swim coach and subject of the 2020 Second Captains/BBC podcast Where is George Gibney? As we await the 77-year-old's return to Ireland after decades on the run following allegations of sexual abuse, Sinead brings us up-to-date on what happened in the Florida court last week where Gibney appea...

Gavan Casey dials in from New York City to reflect on Taylor’s majority decision win over Serrano in their Madison Square Garden main event. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a bonus episode of The 42FM, with Gavan Casey joining Gavin Cooney live from NYC ahead of Katie Taylor’s third battle with Amanda Serrano. This time they are the headline act at Madison Square Garden, without the accompanying circus of Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson. We explain why Taylor and Serrano have now been utterly vindicated in their decision to lend their credibility to the Tyson/Paul circu...

On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin look back at the extraordinary fall from grace of DJ Carey. They contextualise his greatness as a sportsperson and explain how he defrauded people of money by claiming he needed treatment for a cancer he did not have. Did the public’s celebration of Carey as a hurler lead him down this path? And now will his standing in the eyes of that public ever be rebuilt?...

On this week's podcast, Sinead and Gavin toast the extraordinary work of Jim Gavin and his Football Rules Committee, which has successfully saved Gaelic football. They discuss how the FRC pulled off the job, and where it stands among other ingenious rule changes in other sports. They then make the point that if Gaelic football can be saved, then anything is possible: what lessons can the governmen...

An estimated one in five Irish households access live sport using a dodgy box - on this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin explain the crackdown on their use, and the potential punishments for any user caught with a dodgy box. They discuss the appetite among Gardaí for this crackdown, and how some broadcasters are seeking to take things into their own hands. They also debate the moral question - w...

David Beckham has completed a career ambition with the bestowing of a knighthood by King Charles. On this week’s podcast, Gavin and Sinéad discuss why Beckham wanted a knighthood so badly, and detail his 20-year campaign for the honour. They look back at his career, assess his legacy, and consider the controversies. Do we underrate him as a player? Why did the English media establishment get Beckh...

Sinead spent the weekend at Croke Park, watching her beloved Kildare hurlers complete a stunning rise to win the Joe McDonagh Cup, and earn promotion to compete among Leinster's elite in the Liam McCarthy Cup next year. On this week's pod, we discuss how Kildare completed their rise, and then discuss the GAA's biggest single failing of their history: the failure to grow hurling across the country....

On this week’s episode, Sinéad and Gavin look ahead to the biggest events of the summer, previewing storylines and the likely winners and losers. What the hell is Fifa’s Club World Cup, and why is Gianni Infantino a collectible in the official sticker album? Can Rhasidat Adeleke or anyone else on Team Ireland win a global medal at the world athletics championships? Why do we all get so inexplicabl...

Imagine first experiencing the thrill of scoring a goal or kicking a point at the age of 51. That's the unlikely and thrilling turn life took this year for Laura Byrne, The Journal's Opinions Editor. This week Laura tells Sinead O'Carroll about her upbringing on the side of a GAA field in 1980s Wicklow. Football was hugely important in family life, but it just wasn't something girls played in her...

On this week’s pod, Gavin and Sinéad discuss Gary Lineker’s early exit from the BBC, after he shared a social media post that included an anti-semitic trope. They discuss how Lineker found his political voice, and why his challenging of the BBC’s impartiality rules made him a controversial figure. They explain what those impartiality rules are, and how they are not appropriate for the coverage of...

Gav dials in from Quail Hollow where Rory McIlroy begins his new quest - to become the first golfer of all time to win a calendar Grand Slam. He and Sinead consider the long odds against such a feat yet ponder whether a freewheeling and easy McIlroy can at least take the next step at the golf course with which he has a cherished relationship. Also, the pair discuss Shane Lowry’s chances after a he...

18 All-Ireland medals and 11 All-Stars across camogie and LGFA - few people are as qualified to speak on the skort controversy as Rena Buckley. The Cork woman tells Sinead O’Carroll that players’ wishes should be respected, but there are more pressing issues facing camogie - such as the failure to promote the sport to a wider audience and the slow pace of integration. Rena sets out how the big spo...

The GAA enacted a revolution a couple of years ago in introducing the split season, bringing forward the All-Ireland finals to July to allow for a defined season for the benefit of the club player. But as Meath’s shock win over Dublin was lost to many on a busy Sunday of GAA and other sport, Gavin and Sinéad ask if the GAA have made a mistake in so dramatically changing the season’s schedule. They...