Amber Barrett is a footballer at the top of her game and is relishing her new found status as a national sports star.

Richie McCormack was joined by Declan Lynch and Cliona Foley on the Sunday Paper Review to discuss a number of pressing issues that are taking up the papers, including a sit-down interview with a key figure of the Republic of Ireland women’s team.

Barrett scored her first international goal against Slovakia in a crucial World Cup qualifier at Tallaght Stadium last weekend to boost Colin Bell’s side’s chances of reaching a major tournament for the first time.

The OTB panel highlighted Marie Crowe’s piece in The Sunday Independent as the 22-year-old spoke about her new found fame and her personal journey on and off the pitch.

Speaking about Crowe’s piece, Cliona Foley shared her admiration for the way Barrett approached the subject of body image – something the forward brought up without being prompted.

“She raised the issue of her weight and her fitness, which is really interesting for a female athlete to do, because it’s a bit of a taboo,”

“In men’s football it’s a bit of a taboo not to be seen as fit. And she brings it up, she says: ‘I need to lose weight; I need to tone up,’ and she’s very straight forward about it.

“And what people mightn’t know about her when she’s playing on the field is that she had a very bad knock of glandular fever and is really coming back from that.”

Host of the show, Richie McCormack, delved into the finer details of the piece which touched on Barrett’s attempts to combine inter-county football with Donegal and a Masters course in DCU.

“People think these players rock up to Tallaght Stadium and have a couple of days training before the game and that’s their level of involvement with it,” McCormack said.

“But there’s a hell of a lot more that goes into their lives.”

Listen to the full Sunday Paper Review podcast below:

Written by James Hopper