At 1.93m tall, and with shoulders that could carry a nation, it’s not that difficult to imagine Republic of Ireland defender Shane Duffy as a nightclub bouncer keeping Manchester United out of his penalty area in the FA Cup at Old Trafford tomorrow; and it’s an image he is perfectly happy to embrace.

When Arsenal lost 3-0 at home to the best team in England, four days after losing in the Carabao Cup final, there were some onlookers who described it as rock bottom. Now that statement is looking both over-ambitious and lacking in foresight.

You wait 130 years for video technology in football and then,with pundits poised and the world watching, nobody could decide if it had been used or not!

Tomer Hemed's hooked strike denied Newcastle the chance to move fourth in the Premier League as Brighton prevailed 1-0 at the Amex Stadium.

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Ryanair has called on the Government to review its policy on travel arrangements for civil servants after it emerged only a fraction of more than €6m spent on air travel last year was with budget airlines.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said he has been approached by companies interested in buying the State’s 25% share in Aer Lingus.

Ryanair is annoyed that the European Commission doesn’t use the airline to get its staff from A to B, but maybe Michael O’Leary’s caustic insults and failure to acknowledge his company’s flaws is not the best way to court its custom, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

The US Federal Reserve granted American Express’ request to become a commercial bank today, opening the door for the credit card giant to accept deposits and permanently access financing.

Wall Street advanced sharply today as the Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting expected to bring another interest rate cut to revitalise the US economy.

THE AMERICANS mightn’t be much good as a team but, rest assured, they won’t be slow in coming forward when they tee it up this week in the WGC AmEx Championship at the splendid new Grove complex near Watford on Thursday.

AMERICAN EXPRESS has taken direct control of issuing its consumer and corporate charge cards to its Irish customers.

IT’S been a turbulent year in many ways for Pádraig Harrington and nothing seems to change.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON is intent on building up a “war chest” of Ryder Cup points between now and December when he will take his customary nine-week break from competitive golf.

VIJAY isn’t here, Tiger is struggling with injury and the Europeans are hungover from Ryder Cup heroics.

“THE HEROES’ Homecoming” is how the advertisers are proclaiming this week’s American Express World Golf Championship at Mount Juliet.

TIGER WOODS has been handed a glorious opportunity to close the gap at the top of the world rankings on Vijay Singh as a result of the Fijian’s shock withdrawal last night from the American Express Championship starting at Mount Juliet on Thursday.

Investors left stocks in limbo today, making few commitments while they awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s testimony before Congress later this week.

TIGER Woods already has his sights set on the 2004 WGC American Express Championship at Mount Juliet even though it is still a full year away.

ALTHOUGH he is still in 2nd position on the money list, Darren Clarke has conceded the 2003 European Tour order of merit to South Africa’s Ernie Els.

IRELAND’S stature as the leading golf destination in Europe was further strengthened by yesterday’s confirmation that the WGC American Express Championship is returning to Mount Juliet in 2004.

This was the view of Tiger Woods after he had failed yet again in a major championship, this time the US PGA at Oak Hill.

AIB customers who have enjoyed "free" banking will see their privileges come to an end under plans

TIGER Woods believes Adam Scott, the runaway ten-shot winner of the Scottish PGA Championship on Sunday, is “a great player” who would probably be better off continuing to ply his trade on the European Tour before tackling the more competitive American circuit.

The New York Stock Exchange will delay the opening of trading on September 11 to mark the anniversary of last year's terrorist attacks.

A manager gave a pregnant employee a book which he joked was called '101 Things To Do With a Dead Baby', a British tribunal has been told.

Orange's disappointing return to the London market continued today as tech stocks were hit by woes in the US.