THE doom and gloom floating around Ireland at the moment has to be seen to be believed as the country, never mind the economy, floats on the brink of extinction if you believe everything you read or hear right now.

Personally speaking I have got to the stage in life where I sometimes struggle to believe what I write -- and I know there are those of you out in the Bronx who won't find that surprising!

Anyhow, back home - as in America I am sure - life is currently dominated by talk of recessions, credit crunches and the general financial mayhem that has snared the Celtic Tiger in a trap.

According to some experts it seems only a matter of time before we are all turfed out of our houses by the banks and heading for the emigration boats to America and Britain once again - I say the boats because Aer Lingus will probably have disappeared by the time we get to emigrate, judging by reports from Dublin Airport.

There is some hope in the midst of all the depression, however -- the hope offered by sport be it at local, national or international level.

The 400 kids who play soccer for our Dunshaughlin Youths club every weekend don't care about any pending recession. They just want to have fun and do so -- most of the time anyway.

In Gaelic games various county finals will be spectacles full of pride and passion this coming weekend all across the country, just as they were last weekend and the weekend before it.

In rugby the big boys from Munster, Leinster and Ulster will all take to the new Heineken Cup stage this coming weekend determined to put the smile back on the face of their supporters at a time when the country appears doomed.

Boxing's Hylands, who fought in Philadelphia last Saturday night, and Bernard Dunne, who returns to the ring in Castlebar next month, are proof positive that adrenaline and excitement will never lose their value.

And then there's the Irish national soccer team and the Italian manager who can do for modern Ireland what Jack Charlton did for the Celtic Tiger back in 1990.

Big Jack has often claimed that the success of his team in Germany in 1988 and then again in Italy two years later was one of the catalysts for the Celtic Tiger and the birth of modern Ireland.

It's a theory, as someone who survived the trenches in 1980s Ireland, that I have long agreed with.

What Jack and his Green Army did was convince Irish people that we could survive on the world stage and prosper, that we had no need to feel inferior to anyone, least of all those who once ruled us.

Ireland today is still in a better place than we were in the eighties no matter how much the economists try to talk us down.

So next Wednesday, when Giovanni Trapattoni sends his team out against Cyprus at Croke Park for a World Cup qualifier, the Italian has a real chance to do a Jack on it and put the smile back on all our faces.

It's not much to ask -- is it?

Watch Out for Canning

THE recession is biting and we don't get out that often, but Croke Park was the venue of choice last Saturday night for the Daily Star's annual GAA awards when my Gaelic games colleagues on Ireland's brightest tabloid honored those who brighten up our increasingly depressing summers.

The usual suspects were greeted and feted on a highly enjoyable occasion within the banqueting halls of the plush Hogan Stand.

Brian Cody, manager of the Kilkenny team that dominated the All-Ireland hurling championship from start to finish, was the main man when it came to the beautiful Waterford Crystal trophies.

Alongside him in the night's hall of fame were the brilliant Tyrone footballer Sean Cavanagh, his own pair of excellent hurlers Eoin Larkin and Henry Shefflin, and a very young man from Galway who is clearly going places.

His name is Joe Canning, still only 20 years of age and a hugely impressive character when you meet him for the first time, as I did on Saturday night.

The first thing you notice with Joe is his size. He is built like a proverbial brick you-know-what house, his strength that of a true athlete who could probably take to any sport and make a go of it judging by his physique.

The other thing that strikes you about young Canning is his humility. There were no airs and graces about him as he chatted freely with anyone who wanted to talk hurling in Croker.

He was at one with the players, the media and the fans who packed the banqueting hall, comfortable with questions and attention alike.

The one place Canning is definitely going next season, on a regular basis, is the very same Croke Park Stadium after an historic vote earlier that day in the very same room.

Special Congress last Saturday finally voted to allow Galway and Antrim into next season's Leinster Championship, and that is good news.

Not alone will those of us living in Leinster get to see a great athlete like Joe Canning perform on a more regular basis, he will now get to play championship hurling at a higher level and against better players more often.

That is, as the man says, a win-win situation for all concerned, so don't bet against Canning receiving even more awards when the Star dinner goes back to the Hogan Stand this time next year.

Hero Of the Week

THE delegates who voted in favor of allowing Galway and Antrim into the Leinster hurling championship at last weekend's Special Congress have done the GAA and the world's greatest field sport a huge favor. Galway will add real spice to the provincial championship in Leinster next summer and, who knows, with a little luck they might even be the team to finally put it up to Kilkenny. We live in hope.

Idiot Of the Week

THE reigning Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear launched a foul mouthed tirade of abuse in the direction of the media at a Tyneside press conference last Thursday. Kinnear even swore that he would never speak to the press again in the middle of a diatribe that included 52 versions of the F and C words and can be heard on the Internet if you Google it. Of course Kinnear spoke openly after Sunday's 2-2 draw at Everton -- which proved that Thursday's outburst was designed entirely to get his name back in the papers again. Which it duly did.

Sideline Views

GAA: Sean Boylan could never be accused of a soft underbelly. Hardness was always an easily recognizable trait with any of his Meath teams, and he has carried a ruthless streak into his management of Ireland's Compromise Rules side heading to Australia in a fortnight. The easiest thing for Boylan to do when he announced his squad on Tuesday was pick Kerry's Colm Cooper, probably the most skillful player in the country. But Boylan is going to Australia to win and he sacrificed Gooch's silken skills for more old fashioned brawn. It was a tough decision that will draw flak for Boylan, but it proved he is still a great manager. And a great man. Maybe Dublin should offer him their vacant manager's job! Now there's a thought.

SOCCER: Talk about moral indignation gone wrong! Script writers with the English soap Coronation Street have had to rewrite forthcoming episodes to appease Glasgow Rangers fans after a recent incident involving a Scottish character. In the scene Tony Gordon, played by Scot Gray O'Brien, was asked about his interest in a very young workmate. "I could no more be interested in Rosie Webster than I could support Glasgow Rangers," said O'Brien. A number of Rangers fans objected to ITV and future scripts have had all references to Rangers removed. The world is indeed a funny place.

SOCCER: Stoke City may not be making much of an impression on the Premier League following their promotion last season, but former Irish international Rory Delap has certainly made an impact with his trademark long throws. City have only scored eight goals so far in the top flight -- and five of them have come from Delap throws. Sadly for the thirty-something Delap the Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni seems in no rush to add a long throw to his World Cup repertoire.

GOLF: Tom Kane, the very affable owner of Adare Manor, has announced that he can longer bankroll the Irish Open and so our national golf championships is currently without a sponsor and a venue for 2009. At a time when the reigning British Open and USPGA winner is Irishman Padraig Harrington such a state of affairs is a national disgrace. Surely the government can bail out Irish golf's finest tournament. After all they can bail out the banks.