Taylor retains title of Ireland’s most popular star

IN A sign of her enduring popularity with the Irish public, Katie Taylor has regained the title of the country’s most admired sports star, according to the findings of the Teneo Sports’ sentiment index 2017. Taylor garnered 21 per cent of the vote to regain the title she last held in 2014. Conor McGregor, who was the most admired athlete of 2016, saw his vote halve this year, perhaps due to the controversy he has been courting since his ‘Fight of the Century’ against Floyd Mayweather. The Bray boxer also topped the poll in Ireland’s greatest sporting achievement of 2017 with the public voting for her success in claiming the WBA lightweight championship in Cardiff in October over Galway’s clean sweep in hurling. It is the third time in the past five years that Taylor (below) has emerged as Ireland’s most admired sports star, having also finished top in 2013 and 2014. She just barely lost out to McGregor in 2016 but her establishment as a star in the pro game has clearly resulted in an upswing in popularity. Johnny Sexton came in third with five per cent of the vote, Hurler of the Year Joe Canning and record-breaking trainer Aidan O’Brien were next, with four per cent of the vote each. Apart from Taylor becoming world champion and Galway’s success, other moments that stirred the public were Dublin’s three-in-a-row of All-Ireland wins, which got eight per cent of the vote, and the Irish rugby team’s win over South Africa as well as the World Cup qualifier win in Cardiff, which both got seven per cent. Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, McGregor did feature in the most memorable sporting moment of the year with his showdown with Mayweather getting 26 per cent of the overall vote, double that of James McClean’s goal in Cardiff. The women’s rugby world cup final was third with 11 per cent, just ahead of Joe Canning’s magical winning point against Tipperary. Soccer remains the nation’s most popular sport with 20 per cent of the overall vote, marginally ahead of Gaelic games on 17 per cent. Rugby is third on 15 per cent. Soccer’s appeal is skewed largely towards males with Gaelic games the favourite sport among females with rugby second and soccer third. The All-Ireland championships are the event the nation is most looking forward to next year, with one in four Irish adults saying that they are most excited for that competition in 2018, with the World Cup in Russia coming next with 23 per cent, followed by the Six Nations on 13 per cent. The index, carried out by Teneo Sports and Ignite Research, and in its eighth year, is a comprehensive survey of 1,000 people with quotas imposed across gender, region, age and social class.