A cynic, according to Oscar Wilde’s Lord Darlington, is “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”.

A living legend of Irish and world motorsport, Rosemary Smith enjoyed huge success as a public figure but endured a series of devastating blows in her private life. Having just published her autobiography, at the age of 81, she recalls how she came through it all and is now the happiest she has ever been.

World champion race-walking star Rob Heffernan has announced his retirement from international athletics.

Another day in the Brexit saga, and another round of soundbite diplomacy, with the Taoiseach warning that Irish airspace could be closed to overflying British flights if European Union fishing fleets are kept out of UK waters, to which the hardline Leavers holler blackmail.

So, sports fans are outraged that Jermaine Defoe is missing from the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award shortlist? (According to click king Mr Google Analytics). Wait til they see this evening what the chainsaw gang in Montrose have done to the array of Ireland’s Greatest Sporting Moments in the 2000s, writes Tony Leen.

Extreme weather conditions over continental Europe impacted the opening races of the Moth World Championships on Lake Garda this week.

The London attack terrorist who is believed to have been living in Ireland as recently as last year was not being monitored by gardaí, outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny has confirmed.

Tyrone legend Owen Mulligan has ruled out the prospect of playing for London footballers in the championship.

World leaders have condemned the bloody terror attack outside the British Houses of Parliament that ended in the deaths of four people and left up to 40 injured.

The City of London’s powerful lobbying group has reluctantly given up on its lobbying efforts to keep full access to the EU, a sign which is being interpreted here as a further signal that the UK is heading for a hard Brexit that would be bad for the Irish economy.

Here's a full recap on how Team Ireland got on yesterday in Rio.

Carol O’Callaghan looks at a new book on pattern design and an upcoming show PATTERNITY at this month’s London Design Week.

Irish light-heavyweight Joe Ward eased into the last-16 of the European Elite Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria yesterday, but Dean Gardiner is out.

Belfast light-fly Paddy Barnes stepped into another man’s shoes to help Italia Thunder beat the Puerto Rico Hurricanes in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) in Palermo on Saturday night.

Up to 1,800 jobs will be created as part of an all-island drive to promote Irish design across the world, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton has announced.

Michael Phelps has been handed a six-month suspension by USA Swimming following his arrest for allegedly drink driving last month.

Ireland qualified for the Laser Radial event for the Rio 2016 Olympics after Annalise Murphy finished the ISAF Sailing World Championship at Santander yesterday.

An eight-strong Ireland team has been named for the 2014 European Union Men’s Elite Championships in Bulgaria which starts on Friday.

Footballer Luis Suarez may have taken one too many bites at the World Cup, but tennis grunters and eye gougers have also been banned, Robert Hume reports

Defending champion Sean McComb believes whoever wins the lightweight title at the Irish Elite Championships at Dublin’s National Stadium will be a worthy champion.

Irish comedian Brendan O’Carroll picked up another gong tonight, this time at the National Television Awards (NTAs) in London.

John Joe Nevin’s absence from the Ireland boxing squad for next month’s World Championships in Kazakhstan has left the nation without a representative in the bantamweight slot.

Rocket man Usain Bolt recovered from an awful start to light up the Olympic Stadium once again last night as won the 100 metres in 9.85 seconds.

Yesterday’s killing is thought to be the first terrorist attack on British streets since the 2005 London bombings.

Even among all the Olympians and multiple champions one man stood out at this year’s Elite Boxing Championships in the National Stadium — Wexford’s Adam Nolan.

Undaunted by the Boston bombings, big crowds lined the route of the London marathon yesterday to cheer on around 36,000 runners, many of whom wore black ribbons to honour the dead and wounded in last week’s tragedy.

The number of police officers on duty for the London Marathon has been boosted by 40% to provide reassurance in the wake of the atrocities in Boston, Scotland Yard said today.

London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel is confident Sunday’s race will be safe and live up to its reputation as an event at which “humanity can be united”.

The London Marathon will go ahead as planned, organisers said today after the Boston Marathon explosions prompted an urgent security review.

New York came to sunny West Cork as Clonakilty got its bite of the Big Apple’s Hurricane Sandy mop-up and 2,500 athletes worked up a pre-Christmas appetite at the town’s third Waterfront Marathon series of races.

Since the moment, nearly two weeks ago, when Professor Stephen Hawking, astrophysicist and occasional Simpsons guest, arrived in his space-age chair at London’s Olympic Stadium to take part in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics, we have seen the very best of the human spirit.

Ciarán Ó Lionáird will be the star attraction for Cork in tonight’s 61st annual Cork City Sports with the Macroom native a strong contender in the iconic mile distance, writes Conor George of the Evening Echo.

It might be the closest Ireland ever gets to hosting the Olympics, but the visit of the Olympic torch to Dublin today is being celebrated like an Irish gold medal in the London games later this summer.

No tickets for London’s big event? Get into the Olympic spirit on a tour with a sporting twist, says Sally Howard

RAFAEL NADAL has hit back at Yannick Noah’s claims that Spanish sporting success is due to doping.

QPR 1 Chelsea 0

NEGOTIATIONS about the future of the 2012 Irish Open are ongoing with a June 28 to July 1 date favourite to get the green light according to sources close to the European Tour.

OLYMPIC athletes should be given tax breaks to train here ahead of next year’s London games, a committee has urged.

TONY MCCOY was installed as 1-4 favourite to ride Kauto Star in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day after Noel Fehily was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist following a fall at Newbury yesterday.

In the wake of the London bombings of 2005, a single mother (Blethyn) tries without success to contact her daughter, who lives near the bombing location.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN is a warrior and a fighter and he will win a medal at the Olympic Games in London 2012, according to his coach, Ivonne Cassin.

The Ulster Council has been forced to call off Sunday's Ulster SHC semi-final between Down and London due to a disagreement over the scheduling of the match.

OLYMPIC Council of Ireland (OCI) President Pat Hickey last night warned that Irish hopes of medal glory at the London Games in three years’ time will be ‘a complete flop’ if proposed cuts to sports funding are implemented.

Extra checks to link July 7 London bombing ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan to terrorism did not take place because of limited resources, a report said today.

Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru kept his nerve to win the men’s Flora London Marathon ahead of Beijing bronze-medallist Tsegay Kebede.

Drogheda man Jimmy Gradwell has been appointed as new president of the Paralympic Council of Ireland, it was announced today.

The FTSE 100 Index finished the session just 1% lower today after a bail-out of the US car industry helped Wall Street markets open on the front foot.