The 42FM

The IRFU last week announced a change to the central contract system that has underpinned Irish rugby’s success in the professional era, with provinces now expected to foot 40% of the salary bill of players on central contracts, with the IRFU saying the money saved will go towards investing in the three provinces outside of Leinster. On this week’s podcast, Sinéad and Gavin discuss the IRFU’s poli...

Rory McIlroy has entered an exclusive club: the subject of back-to-back episodes of The 42FM. Oh, and he’s also become the first Irish golfer to win the Masters and the first European golfer to win the career Grand Slam. Having spoke last week of McIlroy’s years-long quest to win the Masters, Sinéad and Gavin this week reflect on how we he went and did it. They relieve their experiences of one of...

On this week’s podcast, Sinéad and Gavin dive into the epic quest that has become of Rory McIlroy’s efforts to win the Masters. Why does winning the Masters mean so much to McIlroy, and why has he struggled so often at the tournament? And how have all of his heartbreaks and near-misses changed how the Irish public think about McIlroy? Why is he more popular now than when he was winning, and the do...

One of five kids in Ireland drop out of sport when transitioning from primary school to secondary school, and the average age at which a child drops out of sport is 11. On this week's podcast, Sinéad and Gavin discuss the consequences of this drop-out, and what can be done to stop it. Research and anecdotal evidence suggest the single biggest reason behind kids' waning interest in sport is its com...

Conor McGregor caused a national jolt by turning up at the White House on St Patrick’s Day, and McGregor has since doubled down on his intentions to run for President later this year. On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin discuss the prospect of McGregor running for president. Sinéad explains the criteria around running for president, and how McGregor may plot a route to the ballot paper. They als...

On this week’s episode, Sinéad and Gavin discuss gambling in sport, and Ireland’s drawn-out means of tackling it. First they illustrate the extent to which the gambling industry has captured sport, to the point that it’s now some fans’ primary means of experiencing the sport. They explain how and why this has happened, and delve into some of its frightening consequences. More than a decade after i...

On this week’s podcast, and off the back of Sarah Healy, Mark English and Kate O’Connor’s medals at the European Indoor Championships, Sinéad and Gavin choose not to spend  too  long basking in the Ireland’s latest athletics success. They are joined by former 50km walk world champion and RTÉ pundit Rob Heffernan to look beneath the surface of the medals and ask: are these medals because...

Gavin last week met our new sports ministers for the first time, who told him that the government’s promised funding for professional football academies is ‘not imminent.’ The comment caused despair in football circles, and the necessity for his money is the centre of this week’s episode. Sinéad and Gavin delve into the minister’s comments and wonder why they are so slow to follow through on their...

The manner of the exit of Colin Healy from his role as assistant manager with the Irish women's national team has provoked intense criticism of the Football Association of Ireland, and the story refuses to go away. On this week's episode of The 42FM, Gavin and Sinéad explain the background to Healy's exit, why it has proved contentious, and the questions it raises around the competence of the peop...

The amateur filling an 82,000-capacity stadium before returning to the day job on Monday morning is one of the sources of pride among GAA folk. But how long will players be content to train as professionals and generate tens of millions in gate receipts and commercial revenue and go unpaid - while all around them are earning money? Perhaps not long if you go by what Limerick hurler Tom Morrissey w...

Last week, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order banning transgender women from female sport, beneath the title, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sport”, and on Monday of this week, World Athletics issued updated eligibility rules for the female category. On this week’s podcast, Gavin and Sinéad explain what these rulings actually mean, and then explore the broader debate: is it fair to ban trans wome...

This week’s show kicks off with some Six Nations chat: is the Irish team too dominated by Leinster, and is Jack Crowley the fall guy? Sinéad and Gavin dive into the Prendergast/Crowley debate. The biggest story of football’s January transfer window was Marcus Rashford’s move to Aston Villa from Manchester United. How did this happen? How did United’s local hero, to whom they handed a lucrative con...

On this week's episode, Sinéad gives Gavin the lowdown on last week's farcical Dáil scenes, and what is says about this government's hopes of lasting for a full term. They discuss how politics works when it comes to sport (10:35) - who makes the decisions, and why. Is sport underserved by not having its own, standalone department? And how important is it that a sports minister actually likes sport...

There was a big reaction to last week’s episode off the back of Mack Hansen’s punishment for criticising officials, specifically on the nature of media training, which Gavin and Sinéad described as being akin to a “personality transplant.” Among those getting in touch to raise their objections to the episode was Marcus O Buachalla, who is Head of Communications at Leinster Rugby. Marcus accepted o...

The 42 revealed last week that RTÉ have lost the rights to show League of Ireland matches to Virgin Media - despite an early-year press release in which RTÉ appeared to assume they would be showing the games in 2025. On this week's episode, Sinéad and Gavin dig into this story - why did RTE and the LOI prove to be such a loveless marriage? Were RTÉ neglecting their public service remit by not scre...

When Mack Hansen and the entire Connacht rugby squad were sentenced to media training, it was a deflating moment for sports media. But why should you care about the petty gripes of journalists? (6:17) Sinead O’Carroll and Gavin Cooney make the case that a more natural, authentic athlete makes for a better interviewee, which in turn enhances everybody’s enjoyment of their favourite sports. (14:32)...

Who is Rory Gallagher? Why is he seen as such a good Gaelic football coach? Why is he not managing one of the top county sides in Ireland? And why did Naas GAA club reconsider a decision to appoint the Ulster man to the management team of their senior football squad? Gavin Cooney and Sinead O’Carroll break down this week’s big GAA story. The pair also discuss how the club game has reached quasi-pr...

Gavin and Sinéad review the year by picking the moments from 2024 they believe they’ll still be talking about in 20 years. There’s naturally tales and reflections of Ireland’s many Olympic glories, but also a look back on couple of heartbreaks. Gavin also talks about a month on German trains, with a little bit of Euro 2024 football thrown in. There’s also why Rory McIlroy’s ongoing major heartbrea...

This week’s episode is all about sports books, as Sinéad quizzes Gavin about the process of co-writing  The Racket  with Conor Niland, which won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award for 2024. They delve into how the book came about and how the structure of the book was decided upon, along with discussing the process of writing it. Gavin and Sinéad also pick their favourite spor...

On this week’s show, Gavin and Sinéad are joined by The 42's GAA correspondent Declan Bogue to get into the details of Revenue’s audit of GAA county boards. Why are Revenue targeting the GAA, and what specifically are they looking at? Is this matter likely to extend to under-the-table payments to managers? How seriously is this being taken by the GAA at central level, and how worried are the vario...

On this week’s show, Gavin and Sinéad explore the controversy around the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign, a long-running visibility and inclusivity campaign in support of the LGBTQ+ community which two Premier League captains and the Manchester United team chose not to support fully last week. Is the campaign doing more harm than good? Why is the men’s football so hostile to the LGBTQ+ com...

Is Gerry Hutch an exponent of sportswashing? Are Sinn Fein the FAI of politics, to Fianna Fáil’s GAA? And why do all count centres look like Ireland circa 1992? Gav, a “humble sports correspondent”, puts these and other questions to Sinead, who had led The Journal’s coverage of GE24, and must therefore be in a good place to offer some general election player ratings for the party leaders, and a lo...

On Friday, a jury found that Conor McGregor sexually assaulted Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in 2018. Gavin and Sinéad discuss the case on today’s show, and some of the reasons why the jury may have come to their decision. They also discuss the likelihood of McGregor being granted an appeal, and salute the astonishing strength and bravery of Nikita Hand. They also chart McGregor’s rise and fall: w...

Gavin and Sinead discuss what happens when a totemic leader reaches the end. Should they be kept close to the team, or even be given a bespoke role like Johnny Sexton? Or is a clean break as in the case of Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp or Bill Shankly preferable? Could Sexton be inhibiting the next wave of Irish out-halves, in the same manner that Alex Ferguson’s lingering presence at Old Trafford we...

Was Katie Taylor the just winner of last night’s fight for the ages with Amanda Serrano? Was the majesty of Taylor-Serrano II diminished by its staging as part of a farcical event featuring Jake Paul and Mike Tyson? Was the fight so good as to deem such concerns irrelevant? Might Netflix now seek to stage Taylor-Serrano III as a headlining event, minus the novelty sideshow involving a YouTube pers...