There was a mix of joy, drama and heartbreak for the Irish athletes in action on the opening day of the European track and field championships in Helsinki yesterday.

Twins featured strongly at yesterday’s Woodie’s DIY National Junior & Under 23 Track & Field Championships in Tullamore, with the Monaghans and Nevilles sharing four medals between them.

Irish record holders Deirdre Ryan and Derval O’Rourke will not compete in the European Track and Field Championships in Helsinki at the end of the month.

Olympic team manager, Patsy McGonagle, predicts Ireland could have 24 athletes at the London Olympics.

European cross-country champion Fionnuala Britton has secured her second Olympic 'A' standard for London 2012 by beating the 10,000m mark by 16 seconds.

BRIAN GREGAN took his career to anew level with asilver medal in the men’s 400m at the European U23 championships with a new personal best time of 46.12 secs in Ostrava on Saturday.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE (Loughrea AC) had to settle for the silver medal in the 20km event at yesterday’s Athletics Ireland International Grand Prix of Race Walking in the Phoenix Park.

SOME of Ireland top young talents secured qualification for international events at the Woodie’s DIY AAI Games at windswept Santry yesterday.

LIAM HENNESSY, President of Athletics Ireland, was elected to the Council of European Athletics at the European Athletics Congress in London.

Mary Cullen broke away from the field in the final 400 metres to win gold in the 1500 metres final at the Woodie's DIY Irish Indoor Championships in Belfast.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE gets the programme under way in the women’s 20k walk at 7.05am (Irish time) when she faces a field of just 23 in her quest to add a European Championship medal to her world championship medal and only Sonia O’Sullivan and Eamonn Coghlan have done that in outdoor competition before.

DERVAL O’ROURKE, Leevale AC, produced a solid performance to win the 60m hurdles at the UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield yesterday.

PAUL HESSION believes David Gillick has a superb chance of claiming a bronze medal at next month’s IAAF World Championships in Berlin.

SPRINTERS Paul Hession (Athenry AC) and Derval O’Rourke (Leevale AC) will captain the Irish team to compete in the European Team championships in Slovakia this weekend.

THOMAS CHAMNEY was rewarded for a last minute dash from Heusden-Zolder to Dublin to compete in the Woodies DIY National Championships yesterday when he was named on the Irish team for Beijing.

MARY COGHLAN is to replace Brendan Hackett as CEO of Athletics Ireland. The chair of the Finance and Risk Committee begins her new role on May 19.

Athletics Ireland have announced their squad for this year’s World Youth Championships which take place in Ostrava, Czech Republic from the July 11-15.