For the Cronin brothers, Keith and Daniel, Sunday’s Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster Rally in west Limerick has different agendas.

Cork’s Keith Cronin will debut a different car in the British Rally Championship as he bids to equal the legendary Jimmy McCrae as a five-time winner of the series.

Cork driver and four-time British Rally Champion Keith Cronin will campaign the new generation Hyundai i20 R5-N in this year’s British Rally Championship that includes rounds of the World Rally Championship (Wales Rally GB) and the European Rally Championship (Rally Ypres).

There is widespread agreement across several platforms that junior rallying under the umbrella of Motorsport Ireland requires a radical overhaul as it has departed from the true spirit of its inception some 15 years ago.

Promising motorsport starlets Derry’s Callum Devine, 23, and Mullingar’s Jordan Dempsey, 17, scooped the main prizes at the Beta Tools Motorsport Ireland awards ceremony at Dublin’s

For the third year in a row, Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin and Cavan’s Stephen McCann face one another at the six-stage Banna Beach Resort Kerry Winter Rally.

Cork driver Keith Cronin in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 faces a difficult task in winning a fourth British Rally Championship crown that will be decided over the two-leg 138.com Rally Isle of Man that began last night.

Monaghan’s Sam Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC) strengthened his grip on the Triton Showers National Rally Championship when claiming the Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster Rally, round four of the campaign.

Taking the lead on the third stage, Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) won the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally finishing 32.1 seconds ahead of the Subaru WRC of Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy. 

There are certain similarities between Kris Meeke and Keith Cronin - both of whom need a strong result in their respective outings in this weekend’s rounds of the World Rally Championship and the British Rally Championship.

This weekend is likely to be a defining moment in the annals of the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes in Killarney. A glance through the list of previous winners reveal that drivers of World Rally Cars have triumphed since the Millennium, but that thread is tenuous as the new breed of R5 cars is set to bring the sequence to an end.

In the history of rallying in Ireland, one name stands out above all others for the respect in which he is held and the ability he demonstrated behind the wheel of the cars — predominantly Fords — that he drove.

Although victory in the Abbey Hotel Munster Moonraker Rally wasn’t the ultimate goal for Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta R5), they secured a fine win with a measured and composed drive that provided the perfect preparation for their next outing in the British Rally Championship in three weeks time.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly bids for a fourth successive victory at the Quality Hotel West Cork Rally this weekend - a feat that has never been achieved in the 40-year history of the Clonakilty event.

A case of third time lucky and with it the luck of the Irish as Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle took their Citroen C3 WRC to victory in Rally Mexico, round three of the World Rally Championship. 

Having failed to go the full distance in the opening two rounds of the World Rally Championship, the Irish duo of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) seek better fortune on this weekend’s Rally Mexico, the first gravel event of the year. 

Cork driver Keith Cronin has penned a deal that will see him and Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin contest this season’s Prestone British Rally Championship with M-Sport and the Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta R5.

Donegal cousins, Declan and Brian Boyle (Fiesta WRC), won the Hyundai Limerick Motor Centre Clare Rally, the penultimate round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

Having built his racing career in Northampton and within earshot of Silverstone, Matt Griffin is content with life following his decision to return to his native Leeside from where he continues his globetrotting motorsport career as a professional Ferrari factory-racing driver.

The best young drivers line up to contest the Circuit of Ireland that gets underway today in Antrim.

Coping admirably with challenging conditions, the Fermanagh/Letterkenny partnership of Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Subaru WRC) were too good for the opposition as they netted a convincing victory in the Hotel Ballina/Kennedy Motors Mayo Rally, the first round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

Monaghan’s Sam Moffett (Ford Fiesta R5) won the Dickson Insurance Fivemiletown Spring Rally in Tyrone. Co-driven by Jason McKenna, they finished 48 seconds ahead of the Mitsubishi of Omagh’s Mark Donnelly/Stephen O’Hanlon. Another Omagh crew, Niall McCullagh/Ryan McCloskey (Mitsubishi Evo VI) were third.

Dubliner Robert Barrable, better known for his rallying forays, will compete in this season’s British GT Championship where he will team up Northern Ireland’s Wilson Thompson in a Team HARD-prepared Ginetta G55 GT4.

The Irish pair of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) topped the leaderboard after last evening’s two stages of Rallye Monte Carlo, the first round of the World Rally Championship.

In a week where the FIA announced changes to the World Rally Championship for 2017, the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship Organisers (TROA) were hit with a backlash to their proposed rule changes for 2016 — a ban on the current World Rally Cars from winning the series — with the announcement that the Donegal International Rally was withdrawing from the series.

Despite having rolled their Citroen DS3 WRC seven times in yesterday’s shakedown stage, Tyrone’s Kris Meeke and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3R3) made it to the start of last evening’s Super Special in the Lotos 72nd Rally Poland, round seven of the World Rally Championship.

Dean Raftery is ready to make his mark in the World Rally Championship after being honoured at the Irish Motorsport Awards yesterday.

Although not exactly threadbare, Declan Boyle’s title aspirations in the Dunlop National Rally Championship hinge on securing maximum points from all three remaining rounds.

A 20-year-old driver has been killed while competing in a motor race in the North.

On the cusp of his maiden Irish Tarmac Championship success, Donegal’s Declan Boyle (Subaru WRC) is taking nothing for granted ahead of the Todds Leap Ulster Rally, the penultimate round of the Clonakilty Black Pudding-supported series in Enniskillen this afternoon.

The Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) made a bright start to Rally Poland – round seven of the World Rally Championship – and hold third place, seven seconds behind the VW Polo WRC of leaders Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia heading into today’s seven stages.

The make-up of next season’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is one of the main topics on the Tarmac Rally Organisers Association (TROA) agenda in Dublin on Sunday.

Dunlop champion Declan Boyle is an absentee from Sunday’s third round encounter the Seven Oaks Hotel Carlow Rally.

Over terrain that will be relatively familiar, Keith Cronin knows that any advantage he can accrue over Frenchman, Sebastien Chardonnet will be a bonus as they go head to head for the most lucrative prize within the WRC3 feeder category of the World Rally Championship.

The Waterford-based Raven’s Rock Rally, round four of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, was stopped after six of the day’s nine stages after popular Dungarvan driver, Paul Mulcahy was killed when his Toyota Starlet collided with a stone fence on the fourth stage near Kilmacthomas.

There is a strong Irish presence in the Jim Clark International Rally, the second round of British Rally Championship, that begins with a stage around the streets of Duns in the Scottish borders this evening.