Colin Murphy: Second place is a great achievement, so why don’t we celebrate it more?
The media tend to ignore good news in favour of bad, and to focus on human drama, neglecting the slower, more subtle stories that really matter
Two of the most exciting Irish sporting achievements in my lifetime were global second places: John Treacy’s silver in the 1984 Olympic marathon and Sonia O’Sullivan’s silver in the 5,000 metres at the 2000 Olympics. The Irish rugby team’s elevation to second place in the world rankings in 2018 was a more ambiguous achievement, but still generated substantial commentary. In Ireland, second place in the world is big news.
Except, it seems, when Ireland comes ...
