Damien Richardson's Eye on the eL
Damien Richardson's Eye on the eL
I have said it before. And without any doubt whatsoever, I will say it many times again. Ireland has supplied, and still is supplying, a bountiful crop of extremely talented individuals that is absurdly disproportionate to her size and population. Sport is in many ways the heartbeat of a nation. Sport also offers an immediate reflection of the personality of a nation. While other important reflections of a society can be found for example, in its literature, architecture and other forms of the arts, the truth is that these usually require experience, thoughtful contemplation and quite serious discussion.
It is not easy to contextualise art simply because art is capable of being all things to all people. But sport possesses a simplicity at its very core. The greater the skill the more simple it appears. This is perhaps the most fundamental attraction of sport. When you survey a painting, or attend a ballet, or gasp as a tenor hits the high notes that you know immediately there is no way in the wide world you could emulate. But seeing Ronan O'Gara stick a ball on a sixpence from 80 yards or following a body swerve from Keith Fahey and having to scramble back into your seat produces ambition in the hearts of many who will attempt to follow the lead set by a country's sports stars.
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