The three men who are the stars of AprΦs Match are already brushing up on their Japanese. Barry Murphy, Risteβrd Cooper and Gary Cooke, who is a scholar in Oriental languages, as he attests, are all ready to go to Japan and South Korea to cover next year's World Cup.
Their party in Vicar Street to launch the video of their live show, filmed in October, was full of football aficionados, and others.
Paul McLoone, of The Undertones and Today FM, was there "in a plagiaristic capacity", he said, hoping to use some of the AprΦs Match jokes on radio. The much-loved Derry group will play the Olympia Theatre on December 20th. They also play Cork, Limerick and Galway this month.
Grainne O'Carroll, producer of the video, explains that they used a "slave multi-camera" to shoot the live show. RT╔'s Billy McGrath is its executive producer.
Sisters Niamh Moore and ┌na Spillane, who has just finished working as producer's assistant on the new Jim Sheridan film, East of Harlem, were there too.
Naoise Nunn from Thomastown, who manages AprΦs Match when he isn't working as a parliamentary reporter in the Houses of the Oireachtas, was there with his wife, Ashley Moran-Nunn.
The three sports "commentators" will be back on stage at Vicar Street for five nights from January 2nd. In the meantime, fans must make do with their video, which is available to rent or buy from the usual video outlets.