D Monday, January 25, 2010 metrolife 15 :60second interview Paul McGrath Irish football legend Paul McGrath, 50, has played for Man United and Aston Villa and was capped 83 times for Ireland. This week he shares the secrets of his success at Metro Heralds Legends In Your Lunchtime, in partnership with National College of Ireland and Newstalk 106-108fm Interview by Lucy White The media made stuff up about me at the drop of a hat so I thought it was time to let people know what my life had been really like, the good and the bad Youve been nicknamed God in the past but how does it feel to be called a legend in your lunchtime? I wish it had have been something more substantial like legend in someones dinner-time. Im joking, of course its a great honour to be hailed as a legend in a sport that you loved playing, as well as meeting some great people who I can now call friends. What do you consider to be your best performance? The 1994 World Cup game against Italy. I nearly didnt play I had a frozen shoulder that was quite painful, so much so that I could barely do the warm up. In the first few minutes Signori and I were in a chase for the ball if I was at my normal fitness it wouldnt have been a problem, but I was running with one arm close to my side which was difficult. I managed to get my head to the ball, and I knew at that moment that I would get through the game despite the pain. The other great memory I have of that match was walking out on to the pitch the mass of green around the stadium amazed us. We expected more blue! It was like a home game, and definitely spurred us on. You overcame a difficult background to become one of Irelands greatest sporting icons. To what do you owe your success? Determination to play, to improve and work on the talent that I was given. It also helps to meet great people, and Ive met them in abundance. I needed a lot of help along the way, and I thank those who were there for me. And then theres luck a scout sees you play, likes what he sees and organises the chance for you to show what you can do. I know a lot of great players here in Ireland that were just as good but never got that opportunity. Your autobiography Back From a few hours sleep on the back seat. What was it like seeing your face on a postage stamp? Like a fairytale. Having your face put on your countrys stamp is a great honour and made me and my family quite proud. It was one of the nicest, and proudest, things to happen to me. The only thing is I never got any free ones. I had to buy them. What are your future plans? I plan to keep healthy, and make myself available for functions and promotional work, as this is my only source of income now. I love meeting people and everywhere I go people are always extremely nice to me, despite my demons and troubled times. I look forward to being available to them and hopefully theyll want to meet me. Paul McGrath will talk to Newstalks Eoin McDevitt from 1-2pm on Wednesday at NCI, in front of a live audience. Admission is free but online registration is required at www.ncirl.ie The Brink has been hailed as the most successful Irish sports book ever published. Was it cathartic to write? It was difficult to talk about the bad things but I wanted this book to be honest. Everyone knows Ive had a great life in football but there were many troubled times too, and its amazing how many people come up to me and say it was a great book and that they can identify with it. The media made up stuff about me at the drop of a hat so I thought it was time to let people know what my life had been really like, the good and the bad. Whats the crappiest job youve ever had? Ive had a few but it has to be the security guard one. I did shift work, including Saturday nights in Ballymun Library where Id get picked up by the St Patricks Athletic Team bus at 8am and travel to Donegal to play Finn Harps, catching T he last decade saw internet dating explode while speed dating sped up and slowed down. The phenomenon of women dating younger men became acceptable cool, even and bedside drawers around the world quickly filled up with whirring sex toys of every size and shape. Sex And The City showed us the many benefits of being single while breaking up has never been more public thanks to Facebook. So what does the new year hold for us? According to our relationship gurus the hunt for the G spot will continue, internet fidelity will rise and multi-dating will allow us to have our cake and eat it. Read on for the rest. Edited by Lisa Scott features@metroherald.ie Body Matters Make a date with the webThe future of relationships: The Noughties brought internet dating to the mainstream but what will the year ahead do for love? We ask the experts for their 2010 dating predictions by LIsa scoTT Online dating will become the most popular way to meet a new partner it is currently at No.3, tied with meeting at work. This zeitgeist shift will be led, as zeitgeist shifts always are, by teenagers. When the cool Facebook generation begin looking to settle down, they wont fanny about with awkward small talk in pubs like we did. Instead, theyll type their criteria into online-dating databases and look to meet someone with whom they truly double-click. Online dating will also change dating habits, even for those who dont use it. For example, multi-dating where you date several different people at the same time before deciding to be exclusive with just one will become popular, like it already is in the US. This is already the norm online, with cyber-daters quite openly meeting up with several different people for short, light- hearted first dates before going on to have a second date with just one. And well use the early dates to gather a lot of information about each others aims in life quite openly, instead of pretending not to know words like marriage or future. Dating in 2010 will be pragmatic, less covert and much more fun. Relationship expert for Match.com and author of Domestic Sex Goddess (Quadrille, 14.99) Kate Taylor Author of The Greatest Sex Tips In The World (Public Eye Publications, 6.99) and relationship expert on The Alan Titchmarsh Show Julie Peasgood The demand for sexual information and advice will continue in the media and online the ground-breaking Durex Ora! site (www.durex-ora.com) is set to launch in the spring and will revolutionise interactive discussion. Not content to let women have all the fun, men are getting in on the act with more toys for boys. Male sex toys, accused in the past of looking a bit gross, are raising their game with new arrivals like the Tracey Cox Supersex Stroker (www.traceycox.com). And in defiance of recent reports, the G-spot will remain alive and well and living in all those lucky enough to find it. In 2010 we will enter the age of the e-motional affair and see a dramatic rise in internet infidelity people are increasingly using technologies such as smart-phones, e-mail and social networks to cheat, often without the sex (at least at first). From flirtatious friendships to the return of the ex to digital dalliances, more and more of us are worried about what our partners are doing online. Emotional resources that should be directed into ones core relationship are getting redirected into other relationships. More of us will end up snooping on our partners and not liking what we find. Author of She Comes First: The Thinking Mans Guide To Pleasuring A Woman (Souvenir Press, 14.99) Ian Kerner Author of seven books on the intricacies of family life including Couples: The Truth (Virago, 14.99), out now Kate Figes There is so much insecurity in our lives now with the recession and climate change. Both will help us see how important relationships and our connections to each other are a committed relationship is good for our body and soul. There is a lot of doom and gloom surrounding the difficulties of finding the right person. The good news is that once we reject the romantic notion that we have to be perfect for each other, our own weaknesses become accepted. And once you have found that sense of acceptance, the sexual rewards are huge. Is there a better way to spend a cold winters evening than snuggled up in bed with someone you love and who loves you, even though your body does not look like that of a model? I dont think so. 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