SHAY GIVEN Age: 30 Sport: soccer Has been known to drop the odd clanger, but overall a safe pair of hands. As well as being the best goalie in the Premiership, his boy-nextdoor looks and his great Donegal accent make him a pleasure to watch, both on the pitch and off.

TADHG KENNELLY Age: 25 Sport: Aussie Rules Do they put something in their feed in Kerry? Is that why the county is known as the Kingdom? He's Ozbased with the Sydney Swans for another three years but after that the tanned and toned Kennelly is homeward bound. Happy days.

CLINTON MORRISON Age: 27 Sport: soccer New dad to son Shay, born in February 2006, this will be the Crystal Palace striker's year now that Dougie Freedman has been sold to Everton. He has been compared to Andy Cole in terms of footballing skills but is obviously much better looking.

ROY KEANE Age: 36 Sport: soccer He's belligerent, moody, marches to the beat of his own drum - and looks well doing it. A lesser man might be somehow diminished by the likes of I Keano but not Roy, with his perennial bad-boy charm and aura of authority.

SEAN �?G, SETANTA AND AISAKE �? hAILPIN Ages: 29, 23 and 21 Sport: hurling and football "They're everything that's right about a man."

"Big, beautiful, rugged?" "I can't figure out which one is the hottest." According to the limited and unscientific survey that we conducted, Mná na h�?ireann have spoken and will brook no argument regarding the loveliness of the �? hAilpin lads.

DAVID GILLICK Age: 23 Sport: athletics Flying the flag for Irish athletics, the boy racer's rise has been meteoric - he won the first Irish sprint gold in 73 years at 2005's European indoor championship - although injury put him off his pace last year. 2007 will see him back on track.

ANDREW TRIMBLE Age: 22 Sport: rugby If Ulster says 'no', then the rest of us definitely have to say 'yes' to Trimble's inclusion on this list. The fresh-faced Coleraine boyo may be one of the younger entries here, but his expertise in the area of theology should provide some interesting pillow talk.

ISAAC BOSS Age: 26 Sport: rugby We all love men in power, and Isaac is the Boss of Hotness, the King of Phwoar and the Lord of Let-me-at-him.

The Kiwi qualifies for the sexy list under the Irish granny rule, but that makes his entry just as valid as any of the others here.

PAUL GRIFFIN Age: 29 Sport: rowing It was another great year for Kerry's first ever Olympic rower, who came third alongside his team mates in August's world championship, keeping them on track for a win in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His bulging collection of trophies is matched only by his biceps.

GEORDAN MURPHY Age: 28 Sport: rugby Geordan is your typical Gillette man - all rugged smiles and carefully orchestrated fingeron-chin poses.

Determined, highly charged and bombastic in rugby, we can only imagine he'd be the same as a boyfriend. Call us Geordan.

ED JOYCE Age: 28 Sport:

cricket Novelty value is a sure-fire way to get the ladies, and Joyce's deftness at the wickets will have us all eating cucumber sandwiches out of his hands in no time. All together now:

FOUR! (Make that phwoar. ) KIERAN DONAGHY Age: 23 Sport: football Tall, white and handsome, the Kerry man is not just a hero in one sport, but two.

A big name on the Irish basketball scene, but it was his rugged athleticism that turned Kerry into All Ireland champions and him into a hero.

Standing at 6' 5", you could even wear heels. . .

DONNACHA O'CALLAGHAN Age: 27 Sport: rugby While we're well used to seeing burly men on the rugby pitch, the sight of the 6ft 6in, 17-stone Munster player in all his glory, sans shorts, was last year's rugby highlight. Didn't you love the way he wanted to play on regardless? And didn't you hate the way the ref, obviously offended by such blatant manliness, made him put on some shorts? Boo hiss!

LUKE FITZGERALD Age: 19 Sport: rugby Leinster baby Fitzgerald has the looks that would make Ross O'Carroll-Kelly reconsider his top Rock boy status. The youngest player to line-out for Ireland in 29 years, Fitzgerald is also making waves at Leinster, not to mention at Club 92.

ALAN KERINS Age: 29 Sport: hurling Alan is way up the ranks thanks to his kind heart and his investment of time and energy into his African projects. But if he ever needs to fall back on his looks, there are no problems there, as he's one of the best in the west.

MALCOLM O'KELLY Age: 32 Sport: rugby Again, it's all about the hair, but it helps if you're a beefy hunk of manly babeness like O'Kelly.

You can imagine him out in the forest, fashioning a love nest out of leaves, chopping down trees with his teeth and then going off for a few minutes to kill and cook a romantic wild boar meal for two.

Mal gets all of the sexy points for being a bonafide retrosexual.

BRYAN CULLEN Age: 22 today!

Sport: football A hint of stubble, some foppish gruaig and a penchant for the academic life, Cullen has it all. This Dub's toughness on the pitch and great, ahem, ball control makes him one of the most desired GAA players in Croker.

KEVIN KILBANE Age: 29 Sport: Soccer Smiley, hairy and built like a brick WC. If the Honey Monster was crossed with a troup of Dolce and Gabbana models, Kilbane would be the result. And that's a good thing, by the way.