Eric Donovan

So many memories.

And for somebody who watched the fights, watched Jason Quigley, watched Conrad Cummings, watched Kenneth Egan, watched John Joan Evan, watched Mick Conlon, watched Adam Nolan, Johnny Joyce, Eric Donovan, my great pal Roy Sheehan.

just so many memories over the years and and and when you every time i'm there they come back flooding back you know so it's just wonderful and and to be able to work around there and do your thing there and interview people in those same seats that we sat in all those years ago it's just it's it's never lost to me so again i want to give a big shout out and a big thanks to jay burn to the promotions to the team to the girls at the front desk who who just do trojan work all the way back to young shane the whip at the back everybody in between a special team a special working environment and It's a real honour, it really is, to be able to record and to be able to give us the freedom of the place to get in and out and talk.

And when we talk about freedom, I spoke to Carl Sheridan moments after his fight in Leopardstown a couple of months ago now.

So that's been yeah, that's been a big, big achievement as well, even for getting in ring

yeah well I like it I mean your every post you do shows up on my feed and I see the reactions from it and it's wonderful to see it really is but now let's get back to the nitty gritty let's get back to Friday week and the fight itself it's such a fantastic card May I quote you for a second? May I quote, actually, if I may quote the great Eric Donovan because I actually made a post about the commentary and all that and he actually sent me back a beautiful response and it was very good of him.

Just well done, John.

A nice piece of history to be involved with.

Enjoyed and best of good luck to the two fighters, Christina and Louise.

Now, Eric Donovan, If you were living under a rock, you might not know this.

But if you weren't, and anywhere in this country, in Ireland anyway, for sure, he was one of our commentators, one of RTE's commentators, I should say, for the Katie Taylor fight, along with Hugh Cahill, a man with an amazing reputation as a boxer, a champion himself, a guy who is... one of the greatest to ever come out of this country.

And not just him, but Steve Collins, which I have to add because I was talking to Steve about something else.

You know, there are a few players who clearly this is, or there are a few Irish sporting figures, like we saw on Monday as well, over 160 Irish sporting figures signed a letter, an open letter to the Irish football team pleading with them not to go ahead with these games.

Now, there is a diverse array of figures there like some have greater profile in the general eye than others some are some are you know well known within their own sports some are not even particularly well known within their own sport but you know there was that group of people came together Ciara McGeehan is on that list like there are some boxers on that list Eric Donovan is one that immediately springs to mind like Joe Brawley David Hickey are among the GAA cohort like there doesn't appear to be like the closest the closest voice that I can think of within the Irish soccer sphere on this has been Richie Sadler and again like Richie is a pundit more than and an analyst more than a current and recent sports star

Yeah, we did this before on the podcast and we kind of said, I don't think it was about Israel sanctions, but it was about something else.

We were like, but if you put yourself in the position, like, so if some of those Gaelic footballers, if they were told, you don't get to play an All-Ireland final for the Sam Maguire, like, would your position be the same? I think for some of