The new Ireland manager, Martin O’Neill, got a shock when he found out that Aiden McGeady was his cousin.

After his appointment he said “Of course I’d know Aiden McGeady, I gave him his debut when I was at Celtic. So I’d have a fair idea about a lot of the players”.

However, all the time he was his manager at Celtic, O’Neill didn’t realise that Aiden was a cousin of his according to Donegal Daily. It seems that their grandmothers were related.

it might be difficult when it comes to deciding who gets into the Irish team. It might be difficult to pick his new-found cousin. Perhaps he should recuse himself and leave that decision to Roy Keane.

Not only that, it seems that Sinn Fein TD, Pearse Doherty is also a cousin of Martin O’Neil’s. That won’t do any harm at election time – providing Ireland are winning matches.

Of course, we can trump that in Moville with Enda Kenny being James McIvor’s cousin. Although most people would prefer a ticket for one of Ireland’s big games than a tour of the Dail.