The first year down for discussion on REALLY INTO YEARS is 2006, the year in which we all partied...unless you’re Steve Staunton.

We remember the disastrous Staunton reign, from its main idea - to mimic the Charlton years - to that night in Cyprus and the abject Liveline moments.

Might it have been different had Bobby Robson been able to play a larger part? And what happened to the RTÉ panel’s criticism of John Delaney?

We also reflect on the World Cup: why did Zidane do what he did? Why was there a big scrap at the Oxegen music festival after the final? And where does this tournament stand in the pantheon of Funny English Exits?

Plus: the Mayo/Dublin hillgate drama, Munster finally win the Heineken Cup, the sheer Celtic Tigerness of the Ryder Cup, Stephen Kenny’s mighty Derry City, classic Apres Match, Dick Cheney shoots a man, Michael Flatley paints with his feet, the Love Ulster riots, and a fake priest applies for the Irish football job from Joe Schmidt’s future residence.

Get in touch with us to suggest what we missed out on: email gavincooney@the42.ie, or tweet @gcooney93 and @shockproofbeats.

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2000 was a pretty big year in Ireland: Samantha Mumba was topping the charts, the economy was roaring, and a Dubliner called Anna came second in the very first series of Big Brother.

We’re more interested in another runner-up, however, as Sonia O’Sullivan exorcised a few demons in winning silver in the Sydney Olympics.

We remember that, along with the fact it obscured a godawful Olympics for Ireland, and the CJ Hunter/Marion Jones drama.

2000 was also the year that launched a couple of Irish sporting dynasties - the Irish rugby team left behind the bedraggled nineties to win in Paris, as Munster began a torturous love affair with the Heineken Cup; and Brian Cody won his first All-Ireland title as Kilkenny manager.

Elsewhere we remember Euro 2000, perhaps the greatest tournament of them all, and this was also the year in which Roy Keane made infamous reference to the Old Trafford’s Prawn Sandwich Brigade.

Plus - Kevin Keegan quits in a Wembley toilet, Kerry win the All-Ireland, Tony Blair’s drunken son, the Love Bug, and did John Lennon send money to the IRA?

Get in touch with us on Twitter: @gcooney93 and @shockproofbeats.

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We’re turning the clock back to 1994 this week. This was the year the phrase Celtic Tiger was officially coined, and with Riverdance, Jim Sheridan and Pierce Brosnan becoming Bond, it may be the year Ireland took her place among the nations of the Earth.

Jack Charlton’s Ireland are usually the avatar for Ireland’s social progress, and we’re by actor and playwright Emmet Kirwan to remember what it was like to travel to that World Cup, and how it changed this country.

We also remember Leitrim’s Connacht title victory with Seamus O’Rourke.

Plus: Charlie Redmond, OJ, Sonia, and Kevin Keegan’s innocent and inadvisable baiting of Alex Ferguson.

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2012 was the year the Mayans predicted the world would end: that they were wrong was about the best thing that could be said for that year.

It was a pretty grey year - the chills of austerity had set in our bones, and the summer was the wettest and coldest in 28 years.

There were other problems too - there was a moral panic over a Swedish House Mafia gig at the Phoenix Park, Gangnam Style became a thing, and Nike had to apologise for bringing out a Guinness-themed trainer for St Patrick’s Day that they called the Black and Tan.

And in a neat sporting metaphor for the age, Felix Baumgartner plunged 120,000 feet from a helium balloon in Earth’s stratosphere.

An equally ugly crash and fall was of course Ireland’s performance at Euro 2012, which we talk about against the advice of our therapists. There were some off-field moments of note, however: everything naturally became about Roy Keane, while a couple of Irish fans told the world Angela Merkel thought we were at work, and John Delaney lost his shoes.

Much happier was Ireland’s boxing performance at the London Olympic games, and Gavan Casey joins us to remember Katie Taylor’s gold medal win against Sofia Ochigava and to consider the legacy of that four-medal haul.

We also remember London’s opening ceremony, a spate of sporting miracles from Medinah to Manchester, rugby heartbreak in New Zealand and, of course, the summer in which Jimmy was winnin’ matches.

Get in touch with us on Twitter: @gcooney93 and @shockproofbeats.

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Who dares speak of ‘98? Er, we do.

In this edition, we discuss the fraught hurling summer of 1998 - featuring Babs, Loughnane, Jimmy Cooney and the three priests - with Peter Woods, who made a documentary about those wild few months for RTÉ.

We also speak to another GAA documentarian: Pat Comer, the film-making panel member behind the groundbreaking documentary A Year Til Sunday, which went behind the scenes of Galway’s All-Ireland football triumph.

We also remember the ‘98 World Cup in France. The hosts won and their multiracial team were heralded as a symbol of a happy and united country: we discuss how that notion foundered.

Plus, what exactly happened to Ronaldo? And why was David Beckham so harshly treated by the English press?

This was also the year that Ireland won the U18 European Championships under Brian Kerr. Which player from that team had the most successful career? Was it Robbie Keane? Or was it one-time contender for Time Man of the Century Ronnie O’Brien?

Plus, there’s talk of being phoned by Raymond Domenech, World Cup wallcharts and Marty Morrissey.

Find us on Twitter - @gcooney93 and @shockproofbeats.

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