What are the biggest “what ifs” in Irish sports?

For such a small and diverse island we have done remarkably well at both domestic and international sport. I never like bashing Michele, she did what she thought was giving her the best chance of winning a medal, she tested negative at those games, so there you go. She is a 3 time Olympic gold Medal winner and no one can take that away from her.

Soccer wise I think the Roy Keane argument around better progression in Japan is shallow enough. His head wasn't there anyway, he walked off the pitch himself. He was the captain, it was his job to keep them boys going. He wasn't prepared for it and threw a strop, phuckem, he was a great player but Spain might still have gone through. We bottled the penos, you need bottle to win penos. We were good but not that good, imo.

The biggest shambles has been the Rugby at the World cup, downright appalling stuff, they really need to raise their game? The last 3 World Cups they have gone to in the top 4 , 3 and 2 in the world.... and came home beaten by teams who adapted better and relished the challenge of a world competition. They have no fight in their dog at the World Cup, lightweights and pushovers, as a former player and now mild enthusiast I would love to be eating my words soon, but they are already heading off with a crocked, albeit brilliant world class out half, who is only one head butt away from being out of the tournament and no replacement. Another shambles awaits.

Why have we no international Gymnastics Arena? How many 50 metre swimming pools do we have? Why do we have to pay to play Tennis?

The one that winds me up the most is how brilliantly our best golfers perform globally. They received no state funding whatsoever, but the reality is that we love our Golf and there are 100's of brilliant courses available across the country. It really shows what we could achieve if we had a few decent 50 metre pools around Athlone, Longford, Clonmel, Tullamore. They bend over backward to pay people doing phuck all with their lives, the least they could do is build a few Olympic pools and tell them they get paid 25 cents a length? We might have a few more decent swimmers then I reckon?

The biggest what if is the lack of state funding, period. All privately funded sports we kill internationally, think horse racing, golf, the talent is there for sure. But the willpower to promote other sports is not. We still have no ice hockey pitch in the south, no Tennis academy, no Gymnastics, Volley Ball, only a handful of athletics tracks. Look what the investment in Astro Turf hockey pitches returned, we competed in a World Championship Final.

Sport in Ireland needs better financial investment, across the entire playing field, what if?

PS - I really got angry at the " Irish " competitors at the Winter Olympics. I am not angry at the "ex pats" who managed to wangle their way to an Olympics... they took the initiative and got there. I am angry at what a phucking waste of money that is. Paying or financing foreign skiers and snowboarders to represent Ireland at the expense of promoting new domestic talent is a complete disgrace. It is short term, cheap and looked pathetic. No offense to the competitors who took their opportunity, but shame on the Irish Olympic council for blowing their money down the swanny. Not for the first time either, it looks rancid in there.

I would be more interested in finding out where it does go tbh. Which sports body are your referring to? It isn't the GAA, I know that for a fact and I doubt it is the IRFU either. The FAI were crippled by a culchie with notions.

Which one ?