TURNS 20 next month and really only has Kevin Doyle for opposition as the coming man of Irish football. This time 12 months ago, he was heading off to Sheffield Wednesday on loan, more sure than not that he hadn't much of a future at the Reebok Stadium. Even three months ago, he was resigned to another season in the Bolton reserves with maybe the odd cup game thrown in. Now, he's an everpresent. Meteoric doesn't come close to doing justice to his ascent.

His breakthrough came in October when, with Bolton sundered by injuries and facing a daunting Uefa Cup tie in Turkey against Besiktas, Sam Allardyce took him to the deep end and threw him in.

O'Brien took in a few mouthfuls of water early on but, eventually, he floated . . .better, it was remarked by many afterwards, that a few of the older players didn't relish the feral atmosphere quite as much as he seemed to. Since then, the injury crisis has worked itself through and the established players have come back.

There has been no moving O'Brien, however. Since the Besiktas game, only Jussi Jaaskelainen has played more than him.

A sleeves-rolled-up midfielder if given the choice, he's been converting himself into a right-back for Bolton (although he has played there on occasion for Irish underage sides). Quick, tigerish in the tackle and strong even though he hasn't "lled out yet, his best performance came against Arsenal at the start of December. Not content with putting no less a presence than Robert Pires in his pocket, he managed to get forward and contribute to Bolton's "rst goal in a 2-0 win, his strong run setting up Stelios Giannakopoulos to cross for Abdoulaye Faye.

A Crumlin boy whose father, Patrick, played Gaelic football for Dublin in the dim and distant, O'Brien is an alumnus of Lourdes Celtic and Stella Maris. So productive was his time at Shef"eld Wednesday last season that their manager Paul Sturrock made him honorary captain for his last game at Hillsborough, just as a little thank you for his efforts.

Honest and genuinely engaging, he has spoken repeatedly in the Bolton press about how hard it is for him to believe his luck.

"A year ago I was just playing reserve-team football in front of 25 people, " he said in an interview before Christmas. "I just can't believe what has happened to me. You always hope to get your chance, getting in and playing in the Premiership. I thought I would get it with a bit of hard work, although deep down you think it just might not come." Well, it has come now and he's taken it with vigour.

As for where he goes from here, the world inside the Premiership window is so cutthroat and ruthless that if O'Brien is in the same position this day next year, he'll have had a stellar 12 months. God knows, there are few enough Irish players holding down "rst-team places in the Premiership so a year of consolidation wouldn't remotely be a disappointment.

Obviously, he'll have to come into the reckoning when the next Irish senior squad is announced, regardless of who it is that ends up announcing it. Roy Keane and Stephen Carr have both departed. Happily, O'Brien has a little of both in him.

2 COLIN COSTELLO Athlete, age 19

IT'S fair to say that Ireland have had many promising young athletes over the years and now there is no better prospect on the scene than Colin Costello.

Here is a young man with the pedigree to follow in the footsteps of Ireland's finest 1,500 metre runners, names like Ron Delany, Frank Murphy, Ray Flynn, Eamonn Coghlan, Frank O'Mara and Marcus O'Sullivan.

They all achieved something special, with Flynn still holding the Irish records for the 1,500 metres (3:33.5) and the mile (3:49.77) which he set in Oslo 24 years ago.

Now Costello has taken to blazing the trail to stardom and world-class times and there was no greater testing ground for his ability and competitive instincts than in the European Junior Championships in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas last July.

There the 19-year-old from the Star of the Sea club in County Meath showed that he had the cut and thrust to hold his nerve, run the perfect tactical race, and then produce a turn of acceleration over the last 200 metres which left his opponents trailing, including his Irish teammate, Danny Darcy.

Costello claimed the gold medal in 3:45.25, a personal best, becoming the first Irish athlete to win this event with Darcy taking a highly creditable second after making so much of the pace.

Costello is special in that he clearly has the temperament for the big occasion. In 2004, when only 18, he "nished second in the national senior 1,500m with a massive breakthrough time of 3:45.34, two strides ahead of multi Irish distance record holder, Mark Carroll.

A week after his Kaunas victory, Costello smashed Flynn's long standing Irish junior mile record with a time of 4:01.83 in a race in Santry where he would undoubtedly have broken four minutes had he not been shouldered with the responsibility of pushing the pace in the third lap.

Furthermore Costello is extremely ambitious to do well and become one of the best in the world over 1,500 metres and has taken the scholarship route to an American university, just like so many of our top stars from the past.

Up to recently he was coached by Robert Denmead but since he took up a scholarship at the University of Arkansas last September he is being coached by John McDonnell, the man who guided O'Mara and Alistair Cragg.

One of the reasons why Costello left DCU for Arkansas was the poor grant from the Sports Council of just 1,500 a year. He made the point that works out at less than 4 a day, not enough to pay his bus fare to and from training.

With a promising 1:49.37 for 800m to his credit Colin Costello is a name we should be gearing for a rostrum position in London 2012 when, at 26, he will be at his peak.

3 ROB KEARNEY Rugby player, age 22

A RICH crop this year but Kearney is probably just about the pick of a pretty impressive bunch. Jamie Heaslip was a close call but he does play in an area of the field where Ireland have vast resources, and thus his international opportunities may prove limited. Andrew Trimble's in a similar situation, which leaves Kearney, an outside back of genuine talent and promise, the one most likely to succeed.

The story so far? Well if we made it up you'd bin it as fiction. Schools Cup winner with Clongowes Wood College in March 2004, captain of the Irish schools tour to Australia that summer, Ireland under19 full-back last season and now fully fledged member of the Leinster squad, not to mention a shadow member of the Irish set-up.

A full-back by nature, Kearney's played on the leftwing for most of this season and that adaptability has been notable. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly his most impressive quality because he appears a genuine allrounder. He has the pace to succeed at the highest level, he's always aware of what's going on around him, especially with the ball in hand, and he's got a left boot on him that would put many an out-half to shame. Added to all that, he has a genuine nose for the try line.

"I encountered a lot of opposition when I wanted to play him in the senior team, just because of his age, " says David Knox, the Leinster backs coach who's done so much to bring the young talent to our attention. "But I knew he was good enough and I think that's been validated by the fact he's in the Irish squad."

Knox is mystified as to why Kearney didn't play some part in the autumn internationals and we can't help but agree.

With talent like that, why wait?

4 NEIL SINCLAIR Boxer, age 31

THE Belfast welterweight is set to return to the spotlight this year after touching on obscurity in recent times. For those of you finding the stretch too much on wellworn memories, Sinclair won a Commonwealth Games gold in 1994 but surprisingly moved to the pros before Olympic dreams could be brought to life. After a slow start to his new career he dropped Daniel Santos in a 2000 WBO title fight but couldn't maintain the momentum and ultimately lost out.

And the reason for a potential re-emergence in 2006? New management.

Sinclair is set to leave his Belfast conclave and head to New York where he'll be supervised by Tracy Harris Patterson and Stan Hoffman.

With the likes of Hasim Rahman and James Toney already under their stewardship, the two are bound to have big plans for Sinclair and couple of fights early in the year could lead to another title shot.

5 CONOR GRACE Basketballer, age 23

IRISH basketball has been looking closely at Conor Grace in recent seasons as he went from strength to strength with Davidson. The 6' 9" forward was a vital cog for the Wildcats throughout his time at the college, controlling the boards as well as any.

In his sophomore season, the Dubliner lead the Southern Conference in rebounding and continued to be a huge talent in that area right through to his senior year. However it wasn't just his rebounding that won him plaudits, but his scoring from underneath and his accuracy from distance.

Success with one of the bigger US colleges was bound to result in a prosperous future for the 23year-old and a move to Europe wasn't long in coming. Italian side Viola Reggio Calabria signed Grace for the current season and he will be hoping to establish himself quickly in one of Europe's most competitive leagues while continuing to make inroads with the Irish national side.

6 ADRIAN MAGUIRE Trainer, age 34

THE Thursday of the Leopardstown Christmas festival will be remembered by most for little more than the buckets and buckets of rain that fell. But on a day you wouldn't put a cat out in, two stories caught the eye. One was the bolting from the blue at a huge price of Nickname, a former French hurdling star now in Martin Brassil's yard.

But the other was one to warm the heart and dry the head. Adrian Maguire's first big-time win as a trainer came with a mare called Celestial Wave. Maguire and Nina Carberry got as big a welcome into the winners' enclosure as the weather allowed. He probably never felt a thing.

When Maguire set himself up as a trainer near Kanturk in Cork just over three years ago, many thought that he had initially made a mistake by concentrating on point-topointing. After all, he already had the two things going for him that most fledgling trainers would kill for . . . contacts and name recognition. As a relatively recent Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey whose career would probably still be going but for injury (he's younger than Conor O'Dwyer, after all), he was fresh in people's minds. But Maguire was long enough in racing to know how much he didn't know so he took some of the pressure off himself and went away to make his mistakes on his own.

He plugged away on the point-to-point circuit and took out his full trainer's licence just over a year ago. His "rst winner came in March when Celestial Wave won a mares' bumper at Limerick but he had to wait another six months until he saw his next . . . Hardwick taking a maiden hurdle at the Listowel festival.

And that stood as his biggest day until Celestial Wave brought home the bacon again at Christmas.

Few trainers are lucky enough to find a star starting off but Celestial Wave looks to be Maguire's. He has others such as Drumbug, Oscar Night and Sonofapreacherman to keep an eye on and has already shown his keen eye for a horse in finding Royal & Sunalliance Novices' Hurdle second favourite Denman for Paul Nicholls. It's an eye that will serve him well.

7 JOE CANNING Hurler, age 17

IN a recent article in The Irish Times, Jamesie O'Connor provided his own brief history of time (in a Clare jersey). His pithy review of 2005 said as much about Galway as it did Clare. Commenting on how Anthony Daly's team died with their boots on against Cork in the All Ireland semi-final he admits: "I'd say losing to Cork this year was on a par to '98 and losing to Tipp in 2001. And they would have beaten Galway. What a "nal it would have been. Just what hurling needed."

And they would have beaten Galway. Taken as a given.

This was O'Connor's contribution to 'The greatest game ever?' debate, namely Galway's nine-goal game of pinball in the other semi-"nal against Kilkenny. In Clare eyes, it didn't count. All smoke and mirrors. Galway always had "ash alright but the backbone to beat Clare in an All Ireland "nal? Next question.

Enter Joe Canning. Now, bigging up a 17-year-old minor is an ethically questionable exercise in itself but the Portumna Community School student is name-checked here, not so much for his own indisputable talent and potential but for what he represents: a Galway hurling breakthrough in 2006.

Nobody is asking him to shoulder the county's senior hopes just yet but if Conor Hayes's team build on their summer and go one step further, then it's hard to envisage Canning not having a squad number next September.

And this isn't the first written signpost. After taking Cork for 1-6 in the All Ireland minor semi-"nal, manager Mattie Murphy - not a man of verbiage - mentioned him in the same breath as Henry Shef"in. In September, the Connacht GAA writers selected him as their Personality of the Month after he led the line from fullforward in the "nal against Limerick, scoring 1-3.

There's another reason why he could hit the headlines in 2006. No player has won three All Ireland minor hurling medals since Tipperary's Jimmy Doyle (1955-57).

Seventeen since October, Canning could bridge that half-century gap by emulating that achievement.

A brother of All Star Ollie, he takes the frees, takes the sideline cuts, and has the presence and power to wear the number 14 shirt for club and county. Proli"c is another word for him. Look at his stats as Portumna lifted the county title. Quarter-final v Carnmore: 2-9. Semi-"nal v Gort: 2-12. Final v Loughrea:

1-11. His final tally consisted of two sideline cuts, one 65, four frees and four points from play.

No wonder Conor Hayes is already mulling over the issue of his senior call-up. "I'd be conscious of Joe Canning's age but it's something we will be looking to strongly, " he admitted just a few weeks back. "He'd be very hard to ignore, even at 17 or 18."

If Galway actually make the senior breakthrough, it just might go hand in hand with that of Joe Canning's.

8 RORY McILROY Golfer, age 16

THERE have been moments already when there might have been doubts about Rory McIlroy. Like when last summer he failed to qualify for the matchplay stages of the British Amateur Championship, and like when he missed out on selection for the Walker Cup matches in Chicago. Maybe the advance publicity for Irish golf's wunderkind had been a puff of smoke after all.

Then you remember that while McIlroy might actually have what it takes to step onto the stage currently occupied by Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell, he has only just turned 16.

So results don't have to be paramount in the infancy of a career. Glimpses of this precocious talent from Hollywood in county Down are quite sufficient. He missed the cut at the Nissan Irish Open last May, but his first round of 71 at Carton House was an impressive display of nerve among the professionals.

Earlier in the year, he had become the youngest winner of the West of Ireland championship at 15, and he went on to repeat the feat at the Irish Close. "Once I'd qualified, I knew that no one was really going to trouble me in the matchplay because I don't make many mistakes, " he explained following the victory at Westport. Confident? You could say that.

If there's an innocence behind the swagger, he has every reason to believe in himself. Anyone who manages to shoot an 11under par 61 on the Dunluce course at Royal Portrush as McIlroy did in qualifying for the North of Ireland championship last July is entitled to an extra ounce of self-esteem.

For such a young player, his method appears sound, and given that he has sensibly staved off a move to the pro ranks until perhaps 2007, there will be less pressure as he continues a full-time amateur schedule.

Less pressure and fewer doubts.

9 RAYMOND MULGREW Footballer, age 19

A FORTNIGHT ago when asked about a certain player called up to the Tyrone squad for the upcoming McKenna Cup campaign, Mickey Harte checked himself and merely described him as "a very good player". Privately, the Tyrone management team feel Raymond Mulgrew could be much more than that. His work rate reminds them of Brian Dooher; his foot passing, of Brian McGuigan; his power running, of Sean Cavanagh. The Tyrone player he most reminds us of though is Ger Cavlan. If, like us, you get the inkling that Harte isn't that terribly enthused about the possible return of the Dungannon man to the set-up, maybe it's because there's a younger, hungrier version of Cavlan just a few miles up the road in Cookstown.

To continue the comparisons, his progression could be similar to Sean Cavanagh's. When Cavanagh broke onto the scene in 2002, that remarkable year that spawned three other remarkable teenage rookies also with the C initial (Cooper, Clarke and Cluxton), it was as a forward. Mulgrew too will probably play most of his football this year up front, on the wing, where his clubmate Owen Mulligan was named as an All Star this year, and where, like Cavlan, he'll come in and grab the odd kick-out around the middle. When his upper body "lls out though, expect him to play most of his football around that middle, and dominate games from there like he did the 2004 All Ireland minor "nal.

Though you'll be impressed by his ability to finish . . . it was Mulgrew who scored the goal for Dungannon in that all-St Patrick's Hogan Cup final in 2004 against Colm O'Rourke's Navan . . . it's his vision that sets him apart. So far the term 'no-look pass' isn't exactly common place in Gaelic games. After you've seen Mulgrew, Magic Johnson-style, look one way and pass the other, it will.

10 EIMEAR CREGAN Hockey player, age 23

IT could easily have been camogie but Eimear Cregan's devotion to hockey will see her play a major role in her country's fortunes over the coming months. A niece of Eamonn, she made moves at the University of Limerick in both sports before becoming that rarity in Irish hockey . . . a professional.

That was brought about by Dutch club Push, and although the club are one of the lesser names in the Holland, her transfer abroad was a huge boost for both her own game and Irish hockey in general . She has returned home since, but a move back to the continent in the near future is a possibility if not a likelihood.

Good performances on the international scene will help her impress potential suitors and would greatly help Ireland's cause in 2006. It's a massive year for a national side that has seen retirements leave the 23year-old leading the line and carrying many hopes.

World Cup qualifiers take place in Rome in April and Cregan will easily be Ireland's greatest attacking threat during the two-week competition where Ireland will be hard pushed to qualify. However, Cregan has been on target at major tournaments before and if she repeats such form she could be impressing on the biggest stage of all come September.