“Preparations have gone well and we’re happy with the performances we’ve given so far. But we have to reach the level again on Sunday."

Here’s one thing you knew about Páraic Fanning. He’s Mount Sion and Déise hurling royalty.

Ballygunner were crowned Munster hurling club champions in Semple Stadium, the Waterford side collecting a historic first title since 2001.

The game was over and a damp dusk drawing in but the people walking around Walsh Park were in no hurry to leave.

Waterford’s Ballygunner are through to the Munster club hurling semi-finals, but only after a real battle with Midleton of Cork, who put it up to the favourites in a game that went to the wire.

The State’s exams appeal system is not fit for purpose, a High Court judge has warned after a student fulfilled her dream of winning a place in veterinary medicine following a legal challenge.

Although the auction of 55 acres at Gurtacrue, near Midleton, Co Cork, was cancelled at the last minute by the selling agents CCM (the property featured on these pages on January 18), there has been no shortage of action behind the scenes.

All eyes are on Edinburgh today. But if you can tear yourself away from the rugby, it’s a city that has a lot to offer, says Conor Power.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

A new technique to teaching foreign tongues takes a starting point as word similarities rather than differences, writes Conor Power

Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) 2-18 Ballygunner (Waterford) 2-11: Na Piarsaigh’s greater experience and physicality served them well yesterday in Semple Stadium, as they turned on the afterburners in the second-half to beat Ballygunner to the Munster Club senior hurling title.

Good evening. Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

The irony of Conor Power paying Microsoft for the privilege of getting access to Windows 10 is that he is locking himself in to that system in ways that will both cost him money and be entirely determined by Microsoft rather than himself.

Three-time champions De La Salle fended off a second-half revival from Ballygunner to collect their first win of the season in the Waterford SHC Round 3 at Walsh Park last night.

A woman who claimed she was told to take off her jeans going through a security check at Castlerea Prison and, as a result, accidentally dropped her underwear has lost her damages action.

London-based Irish novelist Kate O’Riordan is one of the chief screenwriters on the hit ITV-PBS show Mr Selfridge, says Conor Power.

Ballygunner 1-10 Cratloe 3-07

Maurice Shanahan measured a last-minute free to supply Lismore with the draw they required on Saturday night to reach the quarter-finals and nudged Fourmilewater towards the relegation play-off.

Welcome to your Friday morning briefing. Let us ensure you’re up to speed on what’s happening and are prepared for the day ahead.

Who gets the most holidays worldwide? With 34 days leave, it’s time to move to Germany or Spain, says Conor Power.

Waterford SHC, Round 4

Ballygunner became the first team to qualify for the Waterford SHC quarter-finals following a low-key top of the table tussle with Mount Sion at Walsh Park last night (0-20 to 1-9).

A cross between orienteering, treasure-hunting and tourism, geocaching can, paradoxically, get both children and adults away from the computer screen and out into the real world, writes Conor Power.

Director Stephen Frears will talk film in Schull next week, says Conor Power.

As President Michael D Higgins prepares for his first state visit to Britain, Conor Power takes a look at Windsor Castle, the preferred home of Queen Elizabeth, and finds there’s a lot more to see in the town.

It has 40 million registered users, although the graphics look like something from the Atari age. Conor Power got his kids to tutor him on the latest gaming craze

Conor Power suggests rising house prices could be a good thing and bemoans what he sees as our reverse negativity

Labour elected Siptu official Lorraine Mulligan as its new chairperson over the weekend after a close competition for the position on the party’s executive board.

Got a DIY problem? There’s a video for that. Conor Power tested the theory by attempting to learn five new skills in a day.

With school holidays looming, Conor Power wonders how long he should allow his son to be online during the summer. It’s a constant battle, experts admit, and you can’t compare it with TV ‘in our day’

I nervously went up to Coom, on the Cork-Kerry border, to be taught how to shear. It was akin to shaving while arm-wrestling, says Conor Power

Despite the Hollywood glitz that goes with the film adaptation of his Cloud Atlas book, David Mitchell is content to live quietly in Clonakilty, writes Conor Power

Which sectors of the property market will be buying in 2013? Conor Power asks the experts

Kildorrery 4-19 Butlerstown 0-11

Thanks to his hit TV show, Chris O’Dowd has put Boyle, Co Roscommon, on the map. The comedian’s father Seán gives Conor Power the tour of the town.

I AM writing in response to Conor Power’s assertion that we are latently British.

Lights Out in Wonderland

CRUNCH time on the club scene this weekend, with Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilkenny) meeting Tullamore (Offaly) in Portlaoise in the Leinster senior hurling final, Ballygunner (Waterford) facing Newtownshandrum (Cork) in the Munster decider.

Wexford senior hurling boss Colm Bonnar has named his selectors for the Model County's 2009 campaign.

WARM favourites Christian Brothers College Cork advanced to the semi-finals of the Avonmore Munster Schools Senior Cup at a windswept and wet Mardyke yesterday, but only after they overcame a strenuous and brave challenge from battling Ard Scoil Rís.