MARY HANNIGAN'S OLYMPIC TV VIEW:THEY WERE having a discussion on Tuesday's Newsnightabout Britain's medal-fest in these Olympic Games, presenter Emily Maitlis asking, "Just what is this success doing to our national psyche?"

Come yesterday afternoon Ireland had to ask itself the very same question, while wondering if it had enough spare buses to open-top-parade our boxers when they get home.

We now, when you think about it, have almost one medal per every million people who live in this country - which makes China's achievements, never mind those of the British, look a bit on the modest side, if you ask us. We won't boast though, it's not in our nature - but, GO ON YA GOOD THINGS!

"Nations will look at us and say, 'that's a serious nation, they're winners those people'," said Jeffrey Archer, the former athlete, former Conservative MP, former jailbird and author, on Newsnight, so we now have that much in common with our neighbours.

Mind you, we read yesterday that NBC presenter Jim Lampley responded thus to Britain's unrelenting success: "They've won 40 per cent of their medals in cycling - if only there was snooker, darts and a dog show."

Unkind. He'll be saying the same about us next ("If only there was Olympic hurling, road bowling and ploughing championships").

The Bronze Age, though, has come to Ireland, just at a stage when it felt, in sporting terms at least, like we were stuck with stone. Darren Sutherland, we salute you. Not least because the RTÉ lads kept reminding us that Alfonso Blanco Parra hammered you last time, hence our concern as you stepped into the ring.

No need to fret, though.

"Blanco's brain has gone just that, Blanco," said Jimmy Magee, as the Workers' Gymnasium in Beijing filled with the sound of a tune about a corn-stealer from Athenry, with the odd Olé Olé thrown in.

It was 11-1 in the end, Jimmy noting that Blanco had been "well and truly outpunched, outclassed, outhought and outworked by the champion of Ireland".

In other words, the Venezuelan was out.

"Sutherland's as happy as Larry," said Jimmy, "and that's Gogan and all the rest of them. They must be chuffed with him in Palmerstown and Clondalkin and Rathmines and Rathgar and Balbriggan and Belfast and Galway and Tipp and Wexford."

"Yoo-hoo?" said Manorhamilton.

Over on the BBC Jim Neilly was, frankly, gobsmacked.

"This is just unbelievable, all of Ireland will be whooping and hollering," he said, "a 16-point turnaround, if me sums are right, as they say in Ireland."

Cheeky divil, like we talk like that. Me heart was thumping, was yours?

"Why are Ireland doing so well in these Games?" the BBC's Gary Richardson asked boxing coach Billy Walsh. "We've a good team, you know," he said, "we're not a bad little country for fighting."

Indeed we're not, as, later in the evening, Michael Carruth, Bernard Dunne and Mick Dowling, looking like extras from The Sopranos, agreed.

"If this continues the world's our oyster," said Carruth. "Who's in first semi-final, is it Paddy or Kenneth," he'd asked Andy Lee earlier in the day.

"Darren," said Andy.

See? We've so many of them we're addled.

Fast hands, they have, although maybe not as fast as Usain Bolt's feet. By all accounts he feasts on chicken nuggets - now you know why it's called fast food.

"When Michael ran 19.32 we said he was Superman - Michael, if you were Superman what is Bolt?" the BBC's Stuart Storey asked Michael Johnson after Bolt had broken his 12-year-old record.

"Superman II," said Johnson, "incredible."

"He looked like he was going to take off," said Sonia O'Sullivan.

Is he a bird? Is he a plane? God knows. Johnson, though, looked like he'd cope with the loss of his record, the replay of him watching the race sublime, the American simply dissolving into laughter upon witnessing the superhuman cross the line.

"I won't wake up every morning now going 'it's another great day, I'm still the world-record holder'," he said, "but hey."

And "but hey" was the gist of how Adrian Chiles handled a tricky moment when Britain's Bryony Shaw was interviewed after winning windsurfing bronze.

"I am so ****ing happy," she told the BBC, live, alas, on air.