TYRONE manager Mickey Harte has compared the manner in which the GAA prevented supporters onto the Croke Park pitch after the All-Ireland SHC final as akin to “an anti-riot squad policing a militant and potentially dangerous gathering.”

THE secrets of 100 years of spying and counter-intelligence work were laid bare yesterday with the publication of the first official history of the Security Service, M15.

HE HAD a tight grip on all aspects of his nation’s life but Romanian diplomats were anxious that their president Nicolae Ceausescu would not be outdone by rival communist leader Marshall Tito during a 90-minute stopover in Shannon during April, 1978.

EDWARD O'GRADY has prospects of a double with Bernabeu and Querido at Tramore this evening.

The real heroes of the Cathal Lombard saga are the drug testers and, in spite of everything, the athlete himself also deserves credit for admitting his guilt.

CATHAL LOMBARD, the 28-year-old Cork runner, has acknowledged that he tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug, EPO.

LIGHT heavyweight Kenneth Egan got Ireland’s Olympic qualification bid back on track yesterday when he stopped Spaniard Mairo Duro on the 20 point rule 15 seconds into the third round of his opening contest.

WITH Limerick southpaw Andy Lee safely through to the Olympics, the remainder of Ireland’s Athens boxing hopefuls are currently training in Heidelberg in advance of next week’s qualifying tournaments in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and Warsaw.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was today heading for summit talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac - as the EU prepares to get to grips with a membership of 25.