It’s one of the biggest weekends of the year for sport. Here are five things to watch out for involving Irish companies that have made an investment in bringing sport to life…

1. Paddy Power
The Aintree Grand National is the biggest betting horse race of the year and there is always a clamour for betting and gaming brands to be to the fore.  Ireland’s own Paddy power is right up there when it comes to getting in front of the field when it comes to publicity and they were not found wanting this week having produced this video of jockey Ruby Walsh ‘jumping’ a moving car as part of his preparation…


2. Clune Construction
Rory McIlroy has taken all the pre-tournament headlines but the leading Irish contenders extend beyond the World number one as the Masters grabs the spotlight this weekend.  The resurgent Padraig Harrington is right in contention after the first day’s play and Clune Construction’s support of the player through a long slump could yet pay a major dividend, at a time when the global building sector is looking to spend…

3. GloHealth
The Health Insurance Company are the main backers of Athletics Ireland where the National 10K Championship takes place this weekend as part of the Spar Great Ireland Run.  The brand launched a campaign during the week around Lifetime Community Rating and it will be interesting to see how they look to get the message of #BornBefore1985 across to an audience of runners for whom health and fitness are clearly a priority…
4. Spar
That Spar Great Ireland Run will bring over 10,000 runners to the Phoenix Park and be broadcast live on RTE2 on Saturday afternoon.  Hopefully the good weather of the last few days will persist for long enough to make it look and feel as good an event as it often is.
5. Allianz
The Allianz Leagues in GAA have been lively and exciting this year, great news at a time when the sponsorship is coming up for renewal, and this weekend keeps the momentum bubbling with football semi finals involving Cork and Donegal, Dublin and Monaghan.  The most likely outcome is a repeat of last year’s final between the AIG supported Dublin and the Chill Insurance supported Cork.