TV sports round-up: Cork bout for the ages and a game of throws
One Night In Millstreet on RTÉ1 recalls the Chris Eubank v Steve Collins bout in Cork in 1995
Seconds out, round one... our sporting highlights round-up starts with a documentary about Cork’s boxing match-up of the century.
The acclaimed film One Night In Millstreet on RTÉ1 on Friday, December 27 at 9.30pm tells the story of the 1995 bout at the Green Glens Arena between then unknown Irish underdog Steve ‘The Celtic Warrior’ Collins and larger-than-life champion Chris Eubank. The film revisits a time and place when the country was undergoing enormous social and economic change.
The heart-warming documentary What Daire Did Next on RTÉ1 on Sunday, December 29 at 6.30pm, follows 12-year-old Liverpool fan Daire Gorman after his meeting with Jurgen Klopp went viral last Christmas.
Daire, from Monaghan, was seen in a video sobbing to the Kop song You’ll Never Walk Alone, and the film shows him meeting Klopp and the players, as well as saying goodbye to primary school, competing in an international powerchair football tournament in Paris, and getting fitted with a state-of-the-art robotic arm.
On the athletics front, filmed over several years, the documentary An Cliath Oilimpeach on TG4 on Thursday, January 2 at 7.15pm reveals the many hurdles Diarmuid Clancy faced as he was training to reach the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
On to GAA, and Cloch le Carn, Micheál on RTÉ1 on New Year’s Eve at 6.30pm is an intimate portrait of the legendary Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh whose energy for life lasted for all his 93 years.
He was the voice of the nation, the king of commentators, but he was also a family man who took his eight kids and his loving wife Helena along for the rollercoaster ride that was his life.
There are a host of TG4 GAA specials this Christmas.
The channel honours 50 years of Ladies Gaelic Football in the special documentary LGFA@50 on Sunday, December 22 at 4pm.
Cúil na Bliana on Christmas Day at 3.15pm shows the 30 best hurling and football goals of 2024 as voted by the public, while GAA2024 na Scéalta on Saturday, December 28 at 4.55pm looks back at the biggest stories and dramas from the GAA, LGFA and camogie seasons.
On the June Bank holiday weekend, Cumann Peile Cill na Martra in Gaeltacht Mhúscraí hosted a tournament and Ag Triall ar Chill na Martra on TG4 on Monday, December 30 at 8.55pm relives it.
Christmas is peak darts season, and the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship is live on Sky up to January 3.
Tapping into the turbo boost for the sport given by 17-year-old sensation Luke Littler, in Rob & Romesh vs Darts on Sky Max on New Year’s Eve at 9pm, comics Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan are granted special access to the star - alongside other top players.
Not only will the boys learn what it takes to come within touching distance of the world crown, they will need to sharpen their own skills for a special head-to-head challenge the PDC have arranged, in front of a sold-out Alexandra Palace at this year’s World Championship.
There is also a three-part documentary series on Sky Now called Game of Throws: Inside Darts, which follows the stars of the sport as they train and play in the big tournaments.
