#gareth-ocallaghan

#gareth-ocallaghan

Sanewashing is a word that had to be invented to describe how the more strait-laced media outlets were covering the speeches and tweets and other outpourings of Donald Trump.

Waves of deadly Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and southern Lebanon are threatening to derail the US-Iran truce, raising concerns about regional stability.

Carina Hedlund has visited Ireland over 30 times since 2011, capturing the warmth of the people she meets in the capital's pubs with her camera.

George Hamilton's commentary has been a significant part of Irish soccer history, especially during the 1990 World Cup, where his voice became synonymous with the team's journey.

Ireland were cannibalised by their own emotions as the irrepressible energy slowly lapsed with fatigue.

After electrifying the game as a 16 and 17-year-old, when it was announced Kobe McDonald was going at the end of this season, the Mayo people's disappointment was like the time the Templenoe parish priest told his flock that Pat Spillane's first baby was a girl.

This was a very small plot of land. He was a tenant farmer, so it wasn't his. He didn't have money, and he needed to move on because it wasn't working; probably not enough to eat, couldn't sustain. So, he left and went to America, and here I am a couple of generations later.

There are lots of big and interesting football games on live television this weekend. We're getting to the point in the year where the good teams are starting to hit their straps, when results have consequences. Why then, do I get the feeling we'll all feel underwhelmed by Sunday night?

These days, American politics is a highly charged and dramatic landscape - and nowhere more so than in the White House press room, which can, on occasion, feel like part reality show, part bear pit. Rarely a day goes by where a press room moment doesn't go viral, for any number of reasons. And, as RTÉ's new Washington correspondent, Galwegian Jackie Fox cannot wait to immerse herself in the belly of the beast.

"It's so evocative. I'm surprised they got rid of it," Duffy said. "It's written by Stockton's Wing, Mike Hanrahan and the boys. I used to meet Mike in the old radio centre when he was in, doing bits of work." "And he'd always say to me, at least once a year: 'Thanks, we got the Lanzarote this year off it'. I just think it's evocative. And the programme is in a very hard time, a quarter to two. So you need something, a call to listen," he told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk.

Places to socialise are a key part of the culture in our towns and cities

The BBC has named senior executive Rhodri Talfan Davies as its interim general director, as the corporation continues the search for a permanent replacement for Tim Davie. Davie, who resigned in November after the row over the BBC's editing of a Donald Trump speech, will remain in the role until the start of April. Talfan Davies will then take over.

Buckley's tribute to her Hamnet co-star at the Critics' Choice awards was better than the preaching we often hear The identity of Jessie Buckley's husband is wrapped in more mystery than the whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant, or why anyone watches Mrs Brown's Boys. It is known that his name is Freddie, that he is British (which is not his fault) and he works in mental health. His surname and age have never been revealed.

Claudia Winkleman's new chatshow will land next month, and its enthusiast army are already excited. Winkleman herself, who doesn't come off at all breathy, said: I can't quite believe it and I'm incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity. Kalpna Patel-Knight, who commissioned The Claudia Winkleman Show, observed: Claudia is a true national treasure warm, witty and endlessly entertaining.

In 2005, I gave an interview to The Sunday Times, in the UK, and was accurately described as having "severed all ties" with the sport. The reporter, Paul Kimmage, asked why I'd chosen imposed exile, and I told him, "For the last five or six years, the most important thing in my life has been my family. It was nothing against tennis; tennis was my love and passion, but after 30-odd years of it, I needed a break."

In a recent feature by Niamh Horan in this paper, Sarah McInerney said that as an ­interviewer, "holding back gets you so much more than going in studs first". Coming from the latest Morning Ireland (RTÉ1, weekdays, 7am) co-host, this was a tad troubling for fans who had for long regarded her adversarial approach as an outstanding feature.

The podcast will be later in the year, and it'll be an in-depth dive into people's footballing and personal lives, he continues. It'll be a podcast with a twist. I can't tell you what that twist is at the moment, but it *will* be a podcast with a twist. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

Eddie O'Sullivan says he was "shocked" by some of Andy Farrell's post-match comments, when he bemoaned his Ireland side's "lack of intent" in the 36-14 defeat to France in the opening game of the 2026 Six Nations.

The previous Thursday, Andy Farrell had gone public in questioning their "fight" and "intent" in their opening game of the Six Nations.

For years, Irish radio was defined by stability. The voices were familiar, the schedules were predictable, the territory was clearly marked. But, as February 2026 gets underway, the war for Ireland's airwaves is very much on, with RTÉ and Newstalk ready to face off across the chessboard.

"Well, I have to say we've been overwhelmed by texts coming in from listeners, but I won't read them all out because my late father used to quote the proverb: 'Self-praise is no praise'. "But on the other hand, he used to also say: 'If you want to be a somebody, you've got to bang, bang, bang on the drum'. Bit confusing for a young lad. "I will read, and I have been reading the texts that are coming in, and to be quite honest, I'm a bit overwhelmed. But the time has come to thank a few people."