There was relief as much as joy for Galway Golf Club at Carton House as the pain of a third successive Barton Shield final defeat was erased with victory in the blue riband event at the AIG Cups and Shields on Saturday.

Limerick Golf Club face Galway in today’s AIG Senior Cup final aiming to bridge the 15-year gap to their last victory in Irish club golf’s blue riband competition.

Warrenpoint celebrated a second successive AIG Barton Shield title but left Galway needing to quickly banish the demons of a third successive final defeat ahead of today’s Senior Cup semi-finals.

A pre-finals pep talk from All-Ireland hurling hero Joe Canning has helped Galway Golf Club return to today’s AIG Barton Shield decider at Carton House, where they will bid to avenge last year’s defeat to Warrenpoint.

The GUI’s annual AIG Cups and Shields All-Ireland finals look primed to get off to a blistering start this morning when Munster champions Tralee meet Connacht kingpins Galway in the first Barton Shield semi-final.

After a series of outstanding matches throughout the provinces, the way has now been largely paved for the national finals of the AIG Irish Cups and Shields at the O’Meara Course, Carton House, Kildare next month, (September 20-23).

The great Lahinch links, especially when it is swept by a seriously strong wind from the Atlantic, never fails to provide great matches over the closing stages of the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Championship. 

Royal County Down has a habit of punishing aggression but big hitting Douglas man Peter O’Keeffe kept his love of attack in check to open with a fine 70 in the Flogas Irish Amateur Open in idyllic conditions at the firm and fast Newcastle links.

Simonstown Gaels 1-14 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 0-8: Simonstown Gaels made no mistake at the third time of asking when capturing their first ever Meath SFC title before a crowd of 6,000 at Páirc Tailteann yesterday.

A dramatic 45 foot birdie putt on the 18th green at Fota Island last evening by Ulster’s Ben Best foiled Connacht of a famous victory on the second day of the Interprovincial Championship. The match ended 5½ points apiece, leaving Leinster, who defeated Munster 8-3, the favourites to retain the title when they take on Ulster in today’s decider.

Dublin might be waiting to take on Kerry in Sunday’s All Ireland Football final but it was a Mayo man who was beaming brightly at Carton House yesterday as Royal Dublin ended their 47-year wait for victory in the AIG Barton Shield.

Galway and Royal Dublin’s Barton Shield sides will provide the high quality golf in today’s AlG Cups and Shields National finals but all the excitement may well come from the minnows in the Pierce Purcell Shield semi-finals at Carton House.

It was a bad day for Munster golf as Muskerry and Douglas crashed out in their respective semi-finals of the AIG Cups and Shields National Finals at Carton House.

It’s like the Champions League of golf but unlike the continent’s premier football tournament which has yet to be retained by any club, Muskerry’s Niall Gorey is hopeful the Cork club can become the first back-to-back winners of the AIG Barton Shield for 18 years.

A Maynooth University team of considerable talent has emerged as warm favourites to capture the AIG Irish Senior Cup, having come through the Leinster qualifying section in highly impressive fashion.

“When it’s breezy, swing it easy” is a well-known golfing adage and it proved to be just the advice Alan Lowry needed to follow in the footsteps of his famous big brother and win the Mullingar Electrical Scratch Trophy.

The ban on promotion in primary schools should be lifted immediately, according to delegates at the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) annual congress.

There will be a new name on the cup at the Radisson-sponsored West of Ireland Golf Championship in Rosses Point this year.

The withdrawal of favourite Gary Hurley and Irish Close champion John Ross Galbraith has come as a major disappointment to organisers of the Clare Coast Hotels South of Ireland at Lahinch, which begins this morning.

West Waterford’s Gary Hurley needed just 25 holes to blast his way into this morning’s semi-finals of the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open at a sun-kissed County Sligo.

Dungarvan’s Kevin Stack and West Waterford’s Gary Hurley kept Munster interest alive in the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland Championship at a sun-kissed County Sligo.

Joe Lyons could not have been more pleased to hear about a school maintenance fund being restored after discovering a leaking roof when pupils returned from their mid-term break this week at Ballybrown National School outside Limerick City.

THE protection of class sizes may be heralded as a success for Ruairi Quinn but with more than 30 children being taught in six of its 10 classes, Budget 2014 is no reason to celebrate at Ballybrown National School.

Today’s Barton Shield final at Kinsale Golf Club promises to be a classic battle between youth and experience as the young guns of NUI Maynooth vie with Banbridge for an All-Ireland title at the Chartis-sponsored Cups & Shields National Finals.

The 2012 cups and shields get off to flying start at Kinsale Golf Club today with the Barton Shield semi-finals.

Brilliantly led from the front by Kevin Phelan, Munster got their Interprovincial Championship campaign off to the best possible start when beating holders Connacht with two matches to spare at Royal Co Down yesterday.

Noel Pyne reaches a remarkable milestone when he makes his 50th successive appearance in the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch next Saturday.

THE youngest and oldest players in the field met with mixed fortunes in yesterday’s second round of the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch.

CONNACHT joy knew no bounds at Rosses Point yesterday when they staged a remarkable recovery to force a tie with Leinster and capture the Interprovincial Championship for only the third time.

CONNACHT yesterday played themselves into a strong position to win the Men’s Interprovincial Championship for the first time since 1983 when they pipped Munster in a cliff hanger at Rosses Point.

CHANGES to school bus rules are an attack on rural Ireland and will mean new pupils travelling to different schools or their parents paying fares that are four times what they pay for their older brothers and sisters, teachers claimed yesterday.

RORY McIlroy is working harder than ever to get ready for the new season after splitting up with his girlfriend of six years over the Christmas break.

FOLLOWING a vicious assault by a child on the principal of a Limerick primary school, teachers union INTO warned of further classroom violence if back-up educational services are cut.

BANDON’S dreams of a famous double have been shattered by yesterday’s narrow loss to Dunmurry in the semi-final of the Bulmers Barton Shield at Castlebar. So now, they switch their attentions to the Irish Senior Cup, in which they meet Co Sligo in tomorrow’s semi-finals.

DONIE O’DONOVAN from Bandon and Kevin Byrne of East Cork intend to make little of the oft-expressed modern contention that golf is a young man’s game when they line out for their clubs in the semi-finals of the Bulmers Barton Shield and Irish Junior Cup at Castlebar today.

KEEPING Rathmore golfers out of the news these days is far from being an easy task.

THE greater experience of a well-balanced Galway team proved just too much for the West Waterford youngsters in Saturday’s final of the Bulmers Irish Senior Cup at Tullamore.

A WEST WATERFORD team with an average age of 20 is on the threshold of a historic and remarkable break through in the Bulmers Irish Senior Cup at Tullamore.

WEST WATERFORD’S chances of a first Bulmers Irish Senior Cup pennant at Tullamore over the weekend have taken a big blow because of the absence of key man Seamus Power.

THE finals of the Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields got off to a successful start in ideal conditions at Tullamore yesterday when Banbridge and Kilkenny produced golf of the highest calibre to qualify for today’s final of the Bulmers Barton Shield.

Defending champions Leinster were held 6 ½ - 6 ½ by Munster on the second day of the Golfsure sponsored Interprovincial Championships at Douglas Golf Club, while Ulster beat Connacht by 9 ½ - 3 ½ .