I was in a pub on Saturday afternoon during the Liverpool and Manchester United match, and I was struck by the passion on display, and I'm not talking about on the pitch at Anfield.
The Liverpool and United supporters were wearing their team's colours, chanting the team's songs, and cheering the goals and sending-off as if Ireland were playing a World Cup match.
It's an amazing phenomenon that so many Irish people can get so enthused supporting a team from a different country.
I know Manchester United and Liverpool have equally passionate fans in China, Japan, Australia, South Africa and other such far-flung places, but the question is, what is it about these big PLCs that attract such support worldwide?
Why does somebody from Cork, who probably is a mad Munster rugby fan and a big fan of the hurlers and Gaelic footballers in red, then support the other reds, Liverpool or Manchester United? What connection does that person have with the club, the city, the PLC?
I pick Liverpool and Manchester United as two prime examples, because whenever they appear on the RTÉ Television screens, the audience figures are invariably higher than when any other clubs appear.
Of course, traditionally there's been a huge influx of Irish players at both clubs, but those days are-a-changin', with Robbie Keane and John O'Shea on the bench the only Irishmen on show.
Nowadays, you're more likely to have someone from Cadiz instead of Cork playing for Liverpool.
At United you're more likely to encounter a player from Sao Paolo than Sligo, so the 'they're great clubs with big Irish influences' doesn't wash anymore.
Let's go back to that fan in Cork. What is it about his local club, Cork City, that makes him ignore it? Why is he happier to watch his beloved 'Pool or United from afar, instead of getting out with his fellow citymen and women to support the club that represents the place where he is from?
It's a big question for all eircom League clubs to answer, and one that's been facing clubs here for years.
Yes, Turner's Cross is not the wonderful amphitheatre that Old Trafford is, and yes, the atmosphere generated at Anfield last weekend will be hard to match at the Cross - but funnily enough, I've been to games in Cork where the atmosphere has matched and even surpassed that at Premier League games in England.
The facilities have improved over the last decade, and when your local team is successful, and you're there as part of the occasion, it outstrips sitting in a bar and cheering for the English team on a TV screen one million per cent.
The reason I've picked Cork City as an example here, is that the club's financial troubles have been well documented of late. If just 2,000 more people every week paid through the turnstiles at Turner's Cross, the difference that would make to the cash-in-hand column of the club's ledger would be immense.
It would also help with sales of merchandise, match programmes etc, and the atmosphere would be even better with the extra bodies in the stadium.
Cork's new potential owner, developer Tom Coughlan - who has made a formal bid to take the club out of examinership - has stated that he'd like to see Cork mirror the situation in Barcelona, where the ownership of the Catalan club is in the hands of the members.
Of course Cork won't be expecting the 100,000 members that Barca have (with a four-year waiting list), but they can aspire to a small percentage of that.
The example of the Shamrock Rovers 400 Club is another that will be noted by other clubs in the league here. The fans have a stake in the club, and it becomes more than just a club to support, but something to become actively involved in.
There are many supporters of English clubs here in Ireland who have a genuine reason to support that club. Perhaps having lived and worked in a city over a number of years, having a partner from there, and so on, but I still find it strange that Irish youngsters will support an English club without ever having seen them play or even visited the city.
If you look back at the programme on the MNS website this week, you might notice that I almost broke into a laugh when leading to the Galway versus Bray match. Fortunately I managed to hold things together. Just.
The reason for the mirth in the studio was that we saw Tony O'Donoghue's report from Berlin alongside Richie Sadlier from in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
Dave Barry commented about the fact that Tony looked like he was standing in a hole, because Richie is so tall, and then about ten seconds before we came out of the ad break, we saw Tony giving Richie the big TO'D smile at the end of the piece having signed off.
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to dig out Je T'aime to play over the final few seconds of the report, but it wouldn't have been out of place!
Colm Foley used to be a polite panellist when he first started appearing on the MNS couch, but lately the former St Pat's man is enjoying making the rest of us feel old.
When I compared the Galway full-back Marc McCullough to the former Bohemians defender Alan Kinsella, both Dave Barry and Pat Morley remembered playing against him (he went on to become physio at Shelbourne), but Foley was happy to tell us that he couldn't remember Alan, and not only could he not remember him, but he wondered if he was even born when Kinsella used to play in the league.
I made one (at least) mistake on the programme on Monday when I said that the Hertha Berlin versus St Pat's match would be live on RTÉ Radio 1 on Tuesday.
In fact, because of the early kick-off, there would only be regular updates into the various sports bulletins and Drivetime programmes, with full commentary on the Bray v Galway FAI Cup replay from 7.30pm on Radio 1 LW252, and Radio One Extra online and digital. Apologies for the confusion.
Finally, thanks for the emails to mns@rte.ie on all sorts of issues over the last week. Keep them coming, and if you've any ideas for something you think we should be featuring on the programme, don't hesitate to get in touch.
