I thought my days of accumulating caps finished a long time ago, but not so. Thirty-three years after featuring for the British and Irish Lions as part of the IRB’s centenary celebrations in Cardiff, test recognition yielded just that.

A total of 419 living Lions players and next of kin of 416 deceased Lions will receive a one-off, hand-stitched cap.

A legend, a leader, a braveheart, a kind, loving and spiritual man were among the accolades used to describe Willie Duggan at his funeral Mass, when more than 1,000 people gathered to say farewell to a giant of Irish and international rugby.

Ireland’s clash with Canada this evening may not be as momentous as last week’s historic win over the All Blacks, but one man will treasure the fixture.

The IRFU contributed an additional unbudgeted €250,000 to each of the four Irish provinces last season to assist with rising player salaries.

Musgrave Park has hosted some of the greatest days in the history of Munster rugby. 

IRFU chief executive Philip Browne confirmed the union has agreed a deal with a new main sponsor which will kick in next summer, but poured cold water on the size and span of the deal which is reportedly with Vodafone.

The trimming has begun.

The IRFU’s annual report was presented yesterday at the Aviva Stadium.

We look at the power brokers of Irish rugby and find out how they influence the game.

The High Court has today approved an additional and final payment to the clients of a stockbrokers firm which collapsed with losses of millions of euro more than 10 years ago.

The Irish Rugby Football Union should have a new kit sponsor on board by the end of the summer, Chief Executive Philip Browne has revealed.

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis proclaimed that the Heineken Cup is back on track last night.

The uncertain future of the Heineken Cup is a significant risk to the IRFU’s financial health, the union’s Annual Council meeting was told last night.

William B. (Billy) Glynn has been elected the 125th President of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) at the organisation’s annual Council meeting in the Aviva Stadium, today.

DECLAN KIDNEY, Warren Gatland and Andy Robinson will all effectively be on trial during the forthcoming Six Nations to be head coach of the 2013 British and Irish Lions.

Dublin businessman John Hussey has been selected as the 124th president of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

IRISH rugby chiefs look set to benefit almost immediately from the new Aviva Stadium, as they have only €6m left to pay on their share of the stadium cost.

THE future of Connacht rugby will remain under the microscope until the findings of an independent review are made known in early autumn, the Irish Rugby Football Union AGM has revealed.

The IRFU said today that it had recorded a surplus of €1.7m for the season 2009/10, slightly less than that reported at the end of the previous season.

ANY concerns about the FAI’s ability to fulfil their financial commitments to the Aviva Stadium were allayed at the IRFU’s annual council meeting last evening.

RUGBY has bucked the national trend with the IRFU announcing a profit of almost €2 million for the past season at last evening’s annual council meeting in Dublin’s Ballsbridge Court Hotel.

A FORMER head of finance with National Irish Bank is opposing an application by the director of corporate enforcement for a court order disqualifying him from involvement in the management of any company on unfitness grounds.

REVENUES in the Irish Rugby Football Union have increased six-fold to €55 million in a decade.

BEVERLY FLYNN’S father, “Pee” Flynn, was never a politician given to understatement.

FORMER Irish rugby international Tom Grace has been appointed to the board of Paddy Power. He joins the company as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares started 2006 in buoyant form today gaining 66.12 points to close at 7430.08 today.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares started 2006 in buoyant form this morning gaining 86.20 points to 7450.16, over 1%, by 11am.

The Board of Paddy Power has announced the appointment of Tom Grace as a non-executive director of the Company with immediate effect.

The Irish Rugby Football Union last night confirmed its 2006 summer tour schedule in which the Irish team will play New Zealand twice and Australia once on the trip to the Southern Hemisphere.

THE fallout from the plundering of more than €5 million from the clients of failed stockbrokers W&R Morrogh is expected to result in a massive overhaul of investor compensation law in Ireland.

THE financial calm of the business hub of the South West - Cork’s South Mall - abruptly shattered when the city’s only homegrown stockbroking firm went to the wall.

CLIENTS of failed stockbrokers W&R Morrogh are to get their hands on two-thirds of the €10 million in shares held by the firm in the coming weeks.

THE corporate enforcer Paul Appleby will make a decision within the next three months whether to prosecute any of the 19 individuals named in a High Court inspectors’ report into fraud at National Irish Bank.

A TOTAL of €10 million in compensation is to be paid to the 2,600 clients of failed stockbroking firm W&R Morrogh from the industry-funded Investor Compensation Fund.

CLOSE to the 30% of the €10m to €11m in shares belonging to the clients of former stockbrokers W&R Morrogh will be used to pay some of the €5m plus in costs.

The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigations has sent a file on the National Irish Bank scandal to the Director of Public Prosecutions, according to newspaper reports.

THE director of corporate enforcement says criminal prosecutions against the 19 individuals named in the inspectors' report into tax evasion and overcharging at National Irish Bank are unlikely.

KMPG, one of the country’s largest accountancy firms, has had adverse findings made against it in the inspectors’ report into the affairs of National Irish Bank.

AFTER a six-year investigation, none of 19 former executives at National Irish Bank is likely to face criminal prosecution despite their involvement in tax evasion and overcharging of customers.

Harry McGee, Political Career