Talking to eventer Padraig McCarthy this week as he prepared for the startof Ireland’s Olympic challenge tomorrow, the conversation has a recurring theme: Positivity. 

Sweden 0 Slovenia 0: Sweden drew a blank last night in their penultimate pre-Euro friendly but Martin O’Neill shouldn’t get too excited as talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic was kept in reserve.

Before Sweden faced Denmark in a play-off to reach the European Championships, there was mounting speculation that their captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic would retire from international football if his team did not make the finals.

Belgian authorities have detained a total of six people suspected of ties to the Brussels bombings, including the last known fugitive of last year's Paris attacks and a Swedish fighter linked to the French massacre.

Thousands now expected to flood into Sweden to seek asylum.

Around 700 refugee children are arriving every week without their parents in Sweden, many injured in accidents and some bearing the physical and psychological scars of beatings or rape by their smugglers.

Kris Commons has denied Ronny Deila’s claims that Celtic played with fear when crashing out of the Champions League to Malmo on Tuesday night.

Ireland’s dominance of the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show came to end in yesterday’s feature €200,000 Longines Grand Prix, courtesy of American Kent Farrington.

Cork needs to present itself no longer as one of Ireland’s provincial cities but as Ireland’s second city, writes William Brady

Kudos is due Horse Sport Ireland for securing Investec as the first corporate sponsor of the Irish show jumping team.

Greg Broderick feels the current form of MHS Automatic justifies him being favourite to lift The Underwriting Exchange Grand Prix at tonight’s final of the Jumping In The City Series at Shelbourne Park.

It’s 41 years since the Swedish band won Eurovision with ’Waterloo’, but, at 68, co-writer Andersson is still diversifying. The composer of musicals Chess and Mamma Mia has just produced a teen horro with his son, writes Helen Barlow

A Russian military jet nearly collided with a commercial passenger airplane in international airspace near southern Sweden on Friday, Swedish authorities said, but Russia insisted its jet had kept at a safe distance.

RICHIE Egan is clearly a man who loves what he does.

People who take eight or more portions of high-fat dairy produce every day are at a lower risk of developing diabetes than those who have only one portion a day, new research reveals.

Ireland’s Rory McIlroy shot a disappointing final round 72 for a final score of six under par in the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio yesterday.

A week may be a long time in politics but 20 hours can feel like a marathon for one of the game’s greatest golfers when his game goes from the sublime to the ridiculous in such a short space of time.

Shane Lowry believes he has rediscovered the mindset which allows him to play at his best after an impressive couple of weeks.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry believes he has rediscovered the mindset which allows him to play at his best after an impressive couple of weeks.

For a moment there, Paul McGinley had the cream of European golf within arm’s reach as the European Tour staged its flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, on home turf at Wentworth.

Of all the cities in England, there’s a connection between Liverpool and Ireland that stretches far beyond the players who have represented Everton and Liverpool.

I see our old friend Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruffling feathers again, this time with comments which Pia Sundhage, coach of the Sweden women’s team, branded “boring” and “sad”.

Newly-crowned European number one Henrik Stenson has given a guarded welcome to a new European Tour regulation requiring players to support their home events or be forced to play an extra two tournaments.

Sam Watson proved best of the Irish at the European Eventing Championships in Malmo, Sweden, placing 21st, as the team finished seventh of 10 countries.

Ireland eventing manager Nick Turner conceded he “had to make a few difficult phonecalls in the last few days” as he finalised his squad for next month’s European Championships.

Drogheda United drew a blank for the fourth league match in a row as they had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home to bottom side Shelbourne.

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING GROUP C:

The Germans are blaming Angela Merkel for their disappointing Eurovision result — but here in Ireland, we don’t really know what went wrong.

There was disappointment for Ireland's Ryan Dolan at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo tonight.

Favourites Denmark could prove a disaster for bookies if they land their predicted win at the Eurovision Song Contest tonight.

As well as the Eurovision, highlights include the return of The Good Wife to RTÉ

A leather-clad Ryan Dolan gave it all in Sweden last night and was rewarded with a final place in Saturday’s night’s Eurovision.

Ireland has made it to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden.

Millstreet hosted the Eurovision 20 years ago, in an equestrian centre, for free. The town relished it, says Richard Fitzpatrick

Highlights include new RTÉ/BBC thriller, The Fall, and the Eurovision semi-final

When Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a kid in the mid-1980s, his mother sometimes hit him on the head with a wooden spoon.

With a voice as good as his looks and a bodhrán backing beat, Ryan Dolan was chosen last night to represent Ireland in the 2013 Eurovision.

A murder suspect was told a police station was closed when he tried to turn himself in.

Germany striker Miroslav Klose is looking to continue his impressive scoring streak against Austria and is confident the team will be better in front of goal than their opening World Cup Group C qualifier tonight (7.35pm).

Shane Sweetnam was disappointed when Cian O’Connor was selected ahead of him for the Olympics... and the rest is history.