GREAT YEAR

Giovanni Trapattoni

The FAI finally found the world class manager they were looking for when the Italian was appointed in March and unveiled in May after a late entry into the race to succeed Steve Staunton. He has been harsh in his treatment of Andy Reid and he could do with Stephen Ireland back, but seven points from nine in three World Cup games to date is a satisfactory return - so far!

Munster

The Red Army did it again when they brought the Heineken Cup back to Limerick, Cork and all points in between in May as they beat off the French challenge of Toulouse in the Cardiff final. Paul O'Connell and Ronan O'Gara lifted the trophy, and the reward for Declan Kidney was a new job as Ireland coach after a second European triumph in three years. Great stuff indeed from the men in red.

Bohemians

Pat Fenlon's side had the eircom League title won long before the Premier Division season was over, and then went on to complete the double with their penalty shoot out victory over Derry City in the FAI Cup final at the RDS. Like every other club in Ireland Bohs have their fair share of money problems at the minute, but they were easily the best team in Ireland all year.

Kilkenny hurlers

Brian Cody's side wrapped up a hat-trick of consecutive All-Ireland titles as they absolutely destroyed a revitalized Waterford in the McCarthy Cup decider in September. Eoin Larkin was brilliant that day, but it was Kilkenny's teamwork that did all the damage against a Waterford side that just couldn't live with the Cats.

Tyrone footballers

Mickey Harte's side went into the All-Ireland football final as rank outsiders against reigning champions Kerry, but there was only ever going to be one winner on the third Sunday in September. Inspired by Sean Kavanagh, who later went on to lead Ireland to victory in the Compromise Rules series against Australia, the Ulster side was magnificent from start to finish.

Kenny Egan

Ireland's silver medal hero at the Beijing Olympics has only just turned down a small fortune to turn pro and move to the States, simply because his heart wasn't in it. Egan knows amateur boxing inside out, he has some unfinished business to attend to after losing to the local hero and some debatable scoring in China and he will lead Ireland with pride to the London games in 2012.

Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes

Their bronze medals were overshadowed slightly by Egan's silver in Beijing but both Sutherland, from Dublin, and Barnes, from Belfast, gave the nation plenty to shout about en route to the semifinals of the Olympic Games. Sutherland has since turned pro and vowed to bring a world title back to Ireland; Barnes will be going for gold at the world championships in Milan next year.

Jason Smyth

A young man from Derry by the name of Jason Smyth was the Usain Bolt of the Paralympics in Beijing in September when, just like the great Jamaican, he did the sprint double with gold in the 100 and 200 meter finals in China. Smyth has his sights set on more gold in London in 2012 and don't bet against him.

Padraig Harrington

It was always going to take something special from Harrington to retain his British Open title at Royal Birkdale in July, but he did just that after one of the greatest five woods ever on the 17th hole as he left the field in his trail. Harry Putter, as one English paper called him, then followed that heroic feat up with a supreme win in the U.S. PGA championship in the Olympic month of August. Sheer brilliance.

Aidan O'Brien

The new Master of Ballydoyle ruled all before him on the flat in Europe again this year and should have been Ireland's manager of the year for training so many classic winners in 2008. He saddled 22 group winners in all including the great Yeats, triumphant again in the French St. Leger.

Usain Bolt

The double Olympic sprint champion produced one of the sporting highlights of the year when he won the 100-meter final in a canter on a hot August night in Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium. Bolt was the star of the summer if not the year, turning in triumph with a full 20 meters left, the world at his golden feet.

Ronaldo

Europe's footballer of the year scored a phenomenal 41 goals for Manchester United last season as they ruled the Premier League and the Champions League. On his day Ronaldo is the best player in the world right now, and there were plenty of days like that in 2008.

GOOD YEAR

Paul Hession

Galway's sprint sensation won his 200 meter heat at the Olympic games, qualified easily for the semifinals and then missed out on the final by just one place. Hession was one of the few stars in a disappointing track and field Olympics for the Irish, with honorable mentions going to walkers Oliver Loughnane and Robert Heffernan and marathon runner Pauline Curley.

Eoin Rheinisch

The young man from Co. Kildare put Irish canoeing on the map in the first week of the Olympic games when he finished fourth in the slalom final despite having to train and compete abroad for 220 days a year simply because the facilities aren't available in Ireland.

Waterford hurlers

They lost out early on in the Munster championships and lost their manager Justin McCarthy in the process, but the arrival of Clare legend Davy Fitzgerald rejuvenated the Deise. Davy Fitz brought Waterford all the way to the All-Ireland final before they were destroyed by Kilkenny, but even that was a bonus for their fans after their trials and tribulations earlier in the summer.

Stephen Ireland

Currently the Irish player on top form in the Premier League, Ireland has been a revelation for Manchester City this season. Won't qualify as a great of Irish football, however, until he swallows his pride and makes a return to the international squad. With World Cup qualification to be decided next year we need Ireland back, and soon.

BAD YEAR

The Cork hurlers

The last thing the world needed was another strike by a bunch of pampered Cork hurlers who place far too much emphasis on their own importance, but that's exactly what we've got after Sean Og and company refused to play under manager Gerald McCarthy any more. Thankfully the whiners have been shunned by the Cork County Board and left to train on their own. They should be shunned by the Cork public as well.

Robbie Keane

A dream move to his boyhood heroes Liverpool in August has turned sour for the Ireland captain, who can't seem to persuade manager Rafa Benitez that he is the man to fire the Reds to the title, even with Torres out injured. Word has it Keane could be on his way back to Spurs and out of Anfield faster than he was out of Inter Milan a few years ago. It's all very sad, even if he was back in the team for the 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday when he scored the all-important equalizer.

Roy Keane

Very few could have predicted that Keane would be out of work at Christmas after keeping Sunderland in the Premier League in May. A change in ownership - Americans are now in charge at the Stadium of Light - and a run of five defeats in six games eventually saw Keane resign a few weeks ago, but he has intimated he will be back in management someday soon - maybe in charge of Ireland! Don't bet against it.

Andy Reid's Rear

I've covered many bizarre stories in my time but sitting in a Dublin Airport hotel in November and watching as Giovanni Trapattoni tried to explain, graphically, how he wanted to kick Andy Reid up the behind after a late night sing-song in Germany last September was a real contender for the most bizarre yet. Trap seems to have it in for Reid, no pun intended, but he has to recall the Sunderland midfielder to his squad if not his team if our World Cup dream is to be realized next year.

Denis Lynch

Just four years after Cian O'Connor blackened showjumping's good name when his horse failed a drugs test in Athens, Denis Lynch managed the same feat in Hong Kong at the 2008 Olympics. He's still proclaiming his innocence, but the damage was done as the nation's equestrian industry became a laughing stock again in August.

Martin Cullen

The minister for sport deserves a medal for saving golf's Irish Open, but his pathetic flag waving antics when he was ringside for the boxing at the Beijing Olympics left a lot to be desired, never mind the fact that he managed to miss Kenny Egan's final defeat to China's Xiaoping Zhang when he should have been there.