The 42FM
The Explainer
6 Oct 2026
The Lost Sportswriter: Vincent Hogan interview
00:00

Sinead O’Carroll and Niall Kelly are joined by the much-admired sportswriter for a far-reaching chat.


Vincent talks about the privilege and pressure of covering the Olympic games across the decades for the Irish Independent.


And he explains how the GAA has changed - from being an organisation where a journalist such as himself could sit in a dug out for an All-Ireland final, to one where access is tightly controlled by cautious managers.


Vincent explains what has been lost by the culture of secrecy, how it became harder to do the job to the desired standard, and why the reader and supporter of Gaelic games has suffered in that they do not know the players, in all of their colour and contradictions, like previous generations.


Yet he remains an optimist, and says the best sports writers are at work today - and given just a little access, can turn around work which stands the test of time.