Regret, enjoyment, hope: The inner conflict of watching a tournament without Ireland
The 2025 Uefa Women's European Championships get underway in Switzerland this evening, and we are observing from afar again.
The expectation was Ireland would be there. After qualification for a first major tournament in the 2023 World Cup, Katie McCabe and co were fancied to back it up with a maiden Euros appearance. But the dream died last December, Wales winning a two-legged playoff and qualifying for their first finals.
The sense of missed opportunity was huge then, but heightens more so as the opener in Bern arrives.
Regret. Pain. Envy.
Yet, there's excitement and anticipation.
Wrestling with these conflicting feelings is a dynamic Irish football fans have become accustomed to. Qualification for tournaments has not been a regular occurrence recently. In the last 25 years, we have had the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2012 and 2016, and the women's historic debut in 2023.
More often, we have watched from a distance. Lived vicariously through others. Told ourselves Ireland would be there next time.
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Well, here we go again.
The hope was Australia 2023 would be a springboard, that the Ireland women's team featuring at tournaments would become the norm. That may still transpire, of course, but it's impossible to shake this sense of a blown chance. Ifs, buts and maybes.
What could have been. What should have been . . .
The same feelings lingered after failure to qualify for Euro 2022; defeat to Ukraine in Kiev proving costly for Ireland, and Northern Ireland later prevailed from the playoff.
That tournament in England was still enjoyed, record numbers tuning in as RTÉ showed every game and many fans crossing the Irish sea to take in games.
The 42 didn't make the trip, but fondly remembers watching the thrilling England versus Spain quarter-final on a phone in a pub in Galway when the television was broken.
Similar experiences will undoubtedly follow this time around as the action unfolds in Switzerland. A brilliant tournament lies in wait without us.
While squads were named and final preparations ramped up in recent weeks — Wales manager Rhian Wilkinson spoke about conquering their Everest as she unveiled her selection at the top of the country's highest mountain, Snowden or Yr Wyddfa — Ireland faced a very different prospect.
Carla Ward's side were hammered by the US in two low-key friendlies, without McCabe and several others, and now resume their off season and continue to holiday before returning to their clubs.
The Nations League playoff against Belgium — also Euros bound — in October is their main international focus after an off-Broadway 2025.
As a mixed group campaign wound down last month, Katie McCabe and Denise O'Sullivan spoke about the lingering disappointment.
'It's going to be difficult with the Euros on this July,' said McCabe.
'I'll probably turn my telly off. I won't be watching it. It's going to hurt. But we have to feel that. Keep striving to get better. And obviously the 2027 World Cup is a big driving force for us.'
Denise O'Sullivan and Katie McCabe after last year's Euro 2025 playoff defeat. Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
O'Sullivan echoed those sentiments, wrestling with her own conflicting feelings in the same breath, as she brought it up unprompted in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
'That defeat against Wales from last year can stand to us going into the playoff. We've learnt a lot, it still hurts a lot because the pain hasn't gone from that game.
'I think I'll be switching the TV off, doing everything I can not to watch it, but I have teammates from Courage playing in it.
'I know I'm saying I'll be switching the TV off but I'll watch to cheer them on. It's still devastating not to be there, for sure.'
O'Sullivan and McCabe are 31 and 29, almost 30. Ireland's leading lights are in their prime, with quite a few others in the squad in that age bracket.
O'Sullivan will be 33 when the 2027 World Cup rolls around in Brazil, 35 for Euro 2029. McCabe will be 31, almost 32; then 33, soon 34.
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Holders England, favourites Spain and 5 key questions ahead of Euro 2025
The window will close for this generation. Time waits for no one: football careers are fleeting, and opportunities to qualify for major tournaments are few.
This, of course, is known, but it will hit home again and again over the coming weeks.
Regrets will deepen as Wales make their bow in the Group of Death; as England seek to defend their title and world champions Spain set out as favourites.
Envy will intensify as young players light up the tournament, teams etch their names into history, and fans traverse Switzerland with Euros fever in full flow.
Motivation will heighten too: for future playoff rivals Belgium, for the next World Cup tilt, for the future.
But watching on, enjoyment will inevitably trump all else as the moment takes hold.
Here we go again. Just like Denise O'Sullivan, not watching but absolutely watching — let's be honest.
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The 42
21 minutes ago
- The 42
‘The first time I ever cut weight, I was 8 years old'
THE PAST 12 months are as close as it gets to downtime for an elite athlete with Olympic aspirations. In Jack Woolley's case, this less hectic period has been badly needed. These days, the Irish taekwondo star is based in Madrid, training in a club with a big group of international athletes. He moved there after finishing in seventh place at the 2024 Paris Games. It was not the medal win he had hoped for, but it was an improvement on the disappointing round-of-16 exit at the Tokyo Olympics. Not that he has been away long enough to feel homesick, however. Woolley was back in Ireland for an extended period earlier this year to compete in the eighth season of RTÉ's Dancing with the Stars. 'I wanted to enjoy the process for what it was,' he tells The 42. 'I didn't want to have another competitive environment. So I think after week three, I was easier on myself, I was allowing myself to make mistakes.' Competing with pro partner Alex Vladimirov, Woolley lost out in the final to fellow Olympian Rhys McClenaghan and Laura Nolan. Woolley calls the experience 'the best thing I've ever done,' adding: 'I had some time to myself. I never was able to do that, especially after Tokyo. Because it was put back a year [due to the pandemic], we only had a three-year gap between Tokyo and Paris, so that flew by.' Previously, taekwondo required its athletes to put in four years of preparation ahead of the Olympics, but it has been shortened to two. For the last 12 months at least, Woolley has been able to 'have a life and look at things outside the sport a little bit more'. He explains: 'Since I was eight years old, my focus has been to get to the Olympics and perform. This was the first time I'm here for myself, and I've seen so much self-growth in the last six to 12 months.' So after Paris, for once, the path ahead was not obvious. 'It was like: 'Okay, if the sport ended tomorrow, what do I have?' And that was the question that you have to start to ask yourself.' Woolley turns 27 next month. He is a young man in most people's eyes, but old for a taekwondo competitor. 'Unfortunately, in my sport, you never really see anybody go past 30,' he says. Consequently, the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are set to be his last hurrah in the sport he has devoted his life to. One aspect he is unlikely to miss is the inherent focus on weight required for an athlete of his calibre. Jack Woolley is consoled by coach Robert Taaffe after the 58kg Repechage at the Paris Olympics. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Not every single weight class is in the Olympics — it is every second weight class. In Tokyo and Paris, he competed at 58 kilos. He has moved up to 63 now, because '58 was impossible to make'. He continues: 'I haven't made 58 kilos since the Games themselves last year. So I've moved up to 63 and I feel a lot healthier and more comfortable. And this is the path I'm going to take. But there's no 63 in the Olympics, so it's a 10 kilo jump to 68.' This year, he will participate in a couple of events at 63, including the World Championships in October, and test a few at 68, although he has not made a final call on competing at 58 or 68 for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. 'I would be considered tall for 58 but not so much at 68, so we're going to see if my game can hold up in the heavier weight class,' he adds. 'I walk around at 65, 66. It wouldn't be necessary to cut weight. 63 is fine, I just eat a little bit cleaner and don't eat after training the night before I make weight. 'But anything lower than 62, I struggle with.' The need to cut weight in combat sports can often create an unhealthy mindset, which has affected Woolley in the past. 'I've spoken about being very self-conscious and struggling with eating disorders and body dysmorphia and stuff like that. I think, unfortunately, that's what comes with weight making sports; we don't fight at our natural weights, and that can be difficult. Advertisement 'Sometimes, for me, it was bringing in weighing scales to school. The first time I ever cut weight, I was eight years old. It's kind of crazy. 'And now, in these last 12 months, knowing that I don't need to go back to 58, and if I do, it's not right now. So I'm trying to develop a healthier relationship with my body and my eating. 'Being here in Spain, I think it helps quite a lot, because we're training twice a day. I need fuel for performance, not cutting weight so consistently like in previous years. 'Also, the eating times here are structured around training sessions. They eat dinner quite late, and I've just noticed a big shift in my energy. I've not gained a lot of weight. I'm not uncomfortable with how I look. 'Sometimes I can look in the mirror. I can be too heavy for myself, but five minutes later, I can look in the mirror and be skinny. It messes with your head, the sport. 'Sometimes I look at these heavier guys and think: 'I wish I looked like that.' Then, it's a catch-22 because when I do put on the weight, I look at the 58s and I'm like: 'I wish I looked like that.' 'But I'm adapting to it. And I'm in a much better position than I was this time last year.' Being an elite athlete is a constant battle to evolve and improve. Documentaries and books, such as 'The Inner Game of Tennis' by W Timothy Gallwey, have helped the Dubliner better understand himself. 'It's all about managing your mindset and not being so critical of yourself. It's something I've needed, because when I make a mistake, I kind of shut down, whereas I need to see the positives of how to fix it, focus on myself and who's in front of me. Because often, you can have exterior pressure. You look at the crowd, scoreboards, the refs and stuff like that. That's something I have struggled with. 'So a lot of our training now is based on focus and staying in ourselves, in the moment, and not getting panicked when something doesn't go our way.' Woolley has been paying increasing attention to areas of psychology and mental health of late. Not long after the Tokyo Olympics, he was the victim of a vicious, random assault in Dublin city centre that left him hospitalised. Reaching Paris in 2024 was particularly taxing. The qualification system began before the Tokyo Games had even started. You qualify through ranking and pick up points by medalling at various competitions along the way, and the top six advance automatically. 'So we were trying our best and going to every competition possible, travelling the world, trying to block this person from getting medals, even though I had got my points,' he recalls. 'It was all very technical, mathematical, crazy.' So in 2023, Woolley competed in no fewer than 22 competitions. 'And that was 19 weight cuts. And people see these mad weight cuts online with MMA fighters. And it's like that in our sport. 'To do it 19 times, I was cutting seven kilos for every competition. 'And to do 19 of them in a year, two or three a month, sometimes, it just got very overwhelming. 'And then when I didn't qualify automatically and had to go through the qualifiers, especially then with the assault that had happened, everything just kind of built up.' As a top-level athlete, Woolley became proficient at 'shutting things out'. If something entered his mind that did not relate to competing and winning medals, he tried to push it aside. 'I think I did that way too much,' he says. 'I never addressed a lot of the issues that I was having with the weight, with the assault, with losing at the Olympics in Tokyo, there was a lot of pressure on me, and then when I didn't get in through ranking, it hit me like a wave. I was having panic attacks, suffering badly with my anxiety. I was waking up in the morning, not wanting to go to training. 'I had a habit of just dragging myself there, because if I wanted to go to Paris, then I needed to qualify through the event that was on in March 2024, so those treatments were very difficult, and I managed to qualify. 'It wasn't like a switch that I flicked that I was able to be alright again. It was an ongoing process. 'I think after the Games in Paris, I was able to step back and deal with that. Unfortunately, it happened at a pretty bad time, six months out from the Olympics. But I'm one of those people who don't want to have any regrets. I don't want to think 'what if' or anything like that.' Woolley is aiming to qualify for a third successive Olympics in Los Angeles. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo There is a video of the moment Woolley qualified for the Paris Olympics. He drops to the floor, and the sense of relief is palpable. He wanted to prove that reaching Tokyo was no fluke, having also narrowly missed out on Rio as a 17-year-old. 'I know it's doable, but it did take a lot to get there, a lot of psych work, meeting with people to talk about how I'm feeling. I was checking in with somebody every day to make sure I was focused and not getting distracted by anything, and just solely on the game, and that's what I did. 'Even in the lead up to Paris, once I had qualified, nothing changed. I still had the same focus to put in the best performance possible. 'Hopefully now, with a better environment and better headspace going into LA, I'm able to walk away with a medal.' Nowadays, he can put more focus on the sport itself, rather than 'having to train in a load of jackets to try to lose weight and sweat. Sometimes, you're just so focused on what the scales say that you don't pay too much attention to the tactical side of things. But the fact that I don't need to stress about that, it's been really good and [there have been] fewer competitions and just focusing more on training, which is something I've never really had before.' **** 'I can wear both my medals and my identity with pride.' Irish taekwondo Olympian Jack Woolley shares why representation isn't just about visibility, it's a victory, both on and off the mat.#Pride | #Pride2025 I @Irishtaekwondo I @TeamIreland I @worldtaekwondo — The Olympic Games (@Olympics) June 20, 2025 Outside of sport, too, Woolley feels happy. He recently got engaged to Dave, a personal trainer, whom he met in 2021, although the wedding will likely have to wait until after LA. The Irish star also recently teamed up with the Olympics to produce a video (see above) in which Woolley declares he is 'proud' to be a gay man. Woolley came out when he was 15, and while he has not hidden his sexuality since becoming a public figure, he says 'sometimes I find it uncomfortable to talk about' and often felt 'there was no point in talking about it'. He adds, 'Sometimes the personal life isn't well received by the sporting community.' Earlier this year, when Woolley posted news of his engagement to Dave, the Tallaght native was taken aback by the ignorant responses he received. 'There was a big increase in homophobia online, just comments and DMs. I've seen messages from people before they knew. It was like: 'You're my role model, can you give me a shout out, blah, blah, blah, we love you and your style.' 'And then they see I'm in a same sex relationship, I get a load of abuse off them. 'One minute, you're telling me I'm your role model. And now, I'm getting this abuse off you. 'I can just press block and that's the end of it for me. But that's just the way I was brought up. I'm a bit more thick-skinned. A lot of people might struggle with stuff like that, so if I'm able to raise awareness and put my name out there, and show the good and the negative side of being a gay athlete, it might help others in the future.' Woolley says 'nobody cared' when he came out in secondary school nearly 12 years ago, but he has had to deal with abuse in sport. 'I can say it doesn't affect me, but sometimes it does. You never know who's going to be at these competitions or who you're going to bump into. 'I've seen competitors that are going to be at your competition commenting on stuff like this, telling me to get out of the sport, I'm not welcome in the sport and everything like that. 'In 2022, I was walking into the ring against an opponent, and his supporters were shouting slurs at me. That was the first time I had it in person. 'I could have gone one of two ways. I could have panicked and lost that match, or I could have done what I did, and I laughed at them. I won the match, and then I just laughed at them again and walked off. 'But it can be tough. I'm able to act one way, but as I'm sitting at home and thinking about it, it can be quite difficult, because nobody else has to experience that.' In this climate, with homophobia particularly prominent on various social media platforms, Woolley can understand why some athletes and others might be reluctant to speak openly about their sexuality. 'I've had a good few DMs from people who are struggling, especially since being so open about it on national TV [during Dancing with the Stars]. 'Even talking about how I met my fiancé and his struggles — because I came out at 15, he didn't come out until he was 35. So that's two completely different stories. 'I do have his permission, but we do talk about it. And if people are struggling, I have no problem chatting with them, seeing how it fits into their lives. 'I think everybody's different. It'd be wrong of me to turn around and tell everybody: 'Oh yeah, come out. It's great.' I don't know other people's situations. 'It's not my job to do that, and I'm not going to sit around all day. But if I can help them on an individual basis — it's not something I can say for everybody — but do what's best for you is the most important thing, talk to somebody, find somebody you're comfortable speaking to, whether they even understand, or it's just to get it off your chest.' Whether it's dealing with homophobic hatred or coping with the intense pressure of a big taekwondo event, for Woolley, this past year has been all about being better equipped at handling his emotions in fraught circumstances. 'There was a saying my coach said to me the other day, and I'm trying to remember the exact words. ''You can't control the storm, but you can control how you act within it,' or something like that. It's just stuck with me. I can't control what's going on, but I can control how I react.'


The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
What Irish TV channel is Liverpool vs Crystal Palace on? Kick-off time, live stream, teams and odds for Community Shield
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The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Irish sporting bodies panicked about funding losses if they took part in review on transgender participation
The consultation said views collected were likely to be 'provocative, confronting, and even upsetting' INCLUSION PROJECT Irish sporting bodies panicked about funding losses if they took part in review on transgender participation IRISH sporting bodies panicked about losing funding if they took part in an inclusion review on transgender participation in sport. A report also details how three international athletes had agreed to be interviewed but pulled out at the last minute due to 'unease with the subject matter'. The consultation, which was commissioned by Sport Ireland on policy around transgender participation, said views collected were likely to be 'provocative, confronting, and even upsetting'. It said that hundreds of interviews had led to some 'uncomfortable truths' and personal testimonies that showed the 'depth of feeling' about catering for everybody in sports across Ireland. The project report, which was prepared by Carbmill Consulting in July 2023, said that the single biggest issue raised was the inclusion of transgender women in sport. It revealed: 'Individuals involved in boxing and the martial arts were adamant that allowing transgender women to compete against females in their sports was unsafe, possibly unlawful.' More than one interviewee said watching a trans woman competing in MMA was 'akin to watching footage of violence against women'. There were multiple sports where sporting bodies felt there was little issue including touch rugby, rounders, and equestrianism. And some said making games more inclusive would lead to higher participation. But others said the opposite, including members of Ireland's Islamic community. The report said: 'The parent of one of the [football] players concerned explained her daughter and her friend had been put in a position where they had no choice but to withdraw.' Overall, there was general support for inclusion of the transgender community at 'grassroots level' of sport but that it was seemingly 'unworkable at the elite level'. SAFEGUARDING The topic of changing rooms was repeatedly raised, according to the authors. It said that many of the female respondents had not raised any issues around 'safeguarding' but instead 'privacy and dignity for women and girls'. Hundreds of coaches were also contacted as part of the consultation with the report saying some claimed it could be 'the beginning of the end for female sport'. A number of national governing bodies expressed fears they would lose funding if they did not conform to any future Sport Ireland policy on transgender inclusion.