All-Ireland champions Ballyhale Shamrocks had to work hard to dispose of a gutsy Clonkill side in today's Leinster Club SHC quarter-final in Mullingar.

A former British Government chief whip Andrew Mitchell has lost his High Court libel action over the “Plebgate” incident.

Three police officers from the unit in charge of protecting Downing Street have been arrested on suspicion of accessing hardcore pornography on their mobile phones.

A police officer who lied about witnessing the Plebgate row was jailed for 12 months today.

Comics have psychotic personality traits

David Cameron has firmly rejected pressure to go back to the British Parliament in a fresh attempt to seek MPs’ approval for involvement in military action in Syria, following the Prime Minister’s dramatic defeat last Thursday.

Former British government chief whip Andrew Mitchell today denied that he gave MP Nadine Dorries permission to take a month away from parliament to appear in TV reality show 'I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here'.

THE Government took a brief break from taking an axe to public services last week in order to bulldoze through its labyrinthine €112m Oireachtas budget without any potentially embarrassing debate.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is under pressure to reassert his authority over a Conservative Party reeling after a week which saw the resignation of a senior minister and claims of incompetence and elitism at the heart of his government.

David Cameron has been accused of presiding over a “cover-up” regarding Conservative chief whip Andrew Mitchell’s clash with a Downing Street police officer.

Downing St last night resisted calls for an inquiry into chief whip Andrew Mitchell, after the cabinet minister apologised publicly to police officers for subjecting them to a tirade of verbal abuse.

Thirteen 13 players have reported for the first day of pre-season training at Rangers’ Murray Park training ground, the club’s media team have confirmed.

Aid charities have welcomed the UK’s involvement in a scheme to help poor African farmers to get access to cutting-edge agricultural technology.

In naming his team to face Galway on Sunday, Westmeath manager Brian Hanley has given a vote of confidence to the players that started the Leinster SHC first round win over Antrim.

In naming his team to face Galway on Sunday, Westmeath manager Brian Hanley has given a vote of confidence to the players that started the Leinster SHC first round win over Antrim.

The former governor of one of Nigeria’s richest oil-producing states was jailed for 13 years in the UK today after admitting fraud totalling nearly £50 million.

Star performer John Power produced four points during the closing five minutes, and boosted by another from Ger Aylward, 14-man Kilkenny cobbled together a battling victory over Westmeath yesterday.

BBC World Service broadcasts will benefit from a £90m British government grant less than a year after the body revealed cuts to jobs and services.

Doctors in Tripoli are putting pressure on both the rebel forces and government loyalists to stop attacking the hospitals there.

BRITAIN warned that hundreds of thousands of children could starve to death in Somalia if the international community did not ramp up its response to the famine there.

WESTMEATH 2-14 GALWAY 4-17

The Galway hurlers will field a much-changed team for their Leinster Championship opener against Westmeath in Mullingar tonight (throw-in 7pm).

THREE gift goals proved the undoing of Carlow hurlers in this sub-standard preliminary Leinster SHC tie at Dr Cullen Park yesterday as a focused Westmeath side deservedly advanced to a home meeting with Galway.

Carlow 1-14 Westmeath 4-10

The British government will help 5,000 people escape the besieged rebel-held town of Misrata and provide vital medical supplies to those caught up in violence across western Libya, Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell announced today.

THE FIRST job Donal O’Grady had to complete when appointed Limerick hurling manager was to dim the public’s horizon and minimise the expectation within the squad, and anyone who attended Saturday’s Allianz National league Division Two encounter with Westmeath won’t need much more convincing that O’Grady’s ‘Limerick project’ is very much in its foetal stages.

Limerick 1-20 Westmeath 0-15

Laois 1-19 Westmeath 0-09, Mullingar

Details of the Champion 15 teams for the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher Cups for 2010 have been announced today.

AN extra four million of the world’s poorest children have died over 10 years because governments are “turning a blind eye” to those most in need, according to a report published by leading charity, Save the Children.

England midfielder Joe Cole avoided an immediate ban for speeding at 105mph after a court heard today that his wife was “severely traumatised” after being dragged from her car by “eight thugs on motorbikes”.

Liverpool footballer Joe Cole was today found guilty of speeding at more than 100mph.

Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has said the world's response to the floods in Pakistan has been "woefully inadequate".

NHL DIVISION 2:

NHL DIVISION 2:

Kildare 4-10 Westmeath 0-11

IRISH ploughmen won overall silver and bronze medals in their respective events at the world ploughing championships in Toplice, Slovenia, at the weekend.

Mayo 2-20 Westmeath 0-15

Kildare, Carlow, Kerry and Down were victorious in the opening round of the 2009 GAA Christy Ring Cup as the competition got underway this afternoon.

Antrim 0-15 Westmeath 0-15

Westmeath 4-10 Down 4-18

Tyrone's Ryan McMenamin has failed in an appeal against a six-week suspension imposed following an incident in the county's league meeting with Kerry earlier this month, with the GAA last night instead increasing the ban to eight weeks.

Westmeath 1-17 Offaly 3-22

Flights to and from a regional airport will be suspended or diverted elsewhere when it closes temporarily tomorrow in a scenario which Ryanair has slammed as a “farce.”

WHEN the Christy Ring championship was first introduced a few years ago, along with the Nicky Rackard Cup, the idea was to give the teams in the lower divisions a real target, a prestigious title at which to aim, with the further aim of raising the standards in all those divisions.

Westmeath 2-22 Kildare 3-13

LIKE the gale force wind at O’Moore Park, Dublin huffed and puffed for three quarters of this Leinster championship opener before finally blowing Westmeath away.

Dublin 3-21 Westmeath 0-11

Leo Smith will lead the Westmeath attack against Dublin in Sunday's Leinster SHC quarter-final clash at Portlaoise (throw-in 3.50pm).

Soldiers in Burma opened fire on thousands of anti-government protesters today, killing at least nine people and injuring 11.