AS rough and challenging a week as it has been for the country and sport, it has generally been perceived as a good one for Irish basketball.

Sport may shrink in significance in these unprecedented times but the sight of empty stadiums and speculation over the fate of previously ‘untouchable’ events as the Olympic Games and European Championships hammer home just how serious things have become.

Garrett Fitzgerald, the straight-talking Munster-to-the-core rugby man, who oversaw the province’s greatest days as coach and CEO, has passed away.

Sports Dispute Solutions Ireland (SDSI) are to adjudicate on a controversy which has rocked the Men’s SuperLeague.

Sports Dispute Solutions Ireland (SDSI) are to adjudicate on a controversy which has rocked the Men’s SuperLeague.

Here is a selection of people who have begun interesting new roles with companies in Ireland.

A bumper weekend of sports success for Irish women will “inspire the next generation of players and might even change opinion” towards female sport, says Mary O’Connor

Research published by the Federation of Irish Sport in partnership with Investec has shown that for every €100 invested in sport by the Government, the Exchequer receives up to €195 in tax revenues.

Well, there you have it.

Sport Ireland says opportunities to participate in sport and outdoor activities are being blocked by the rising cost of insurance.

Kate Sadleir was weighed down with boxes and brochures when she finished her business at the Irish Georgian Society on Dublin’s South William Street last Tuesday.

Gareth Thomas had to stop and gather himself more than once today. His voice faltered. It choked with emotion. Who knows how many times his nerves were betrayed by an subconscious impulse to tug at his right ear?

More needs to be done to make sport more inclusive for minorities, the economically disadvantaged, and people with disabilities, according to the chief executive of the organisation that represents Ireland’s sporting governing bodies.

Latest: Sport Ireland is set to tell the Oireachtas sports committee that a full audit of the FAI is necessary before funding will be restored.

Ireland rugby Grand Slam winner Lynne Cantwell has been appointed to lead a major new drive to break down the barriers to women in sport.

Mary O’Connor is chief executive of the Federation of Irish Sport. She is a former acting chief executive of the Camogie Association, holds 12 All-Ireland medals in camogie and ladies football, and is a driving force behind the 20x20 initiative.

The Sports Minister says he aims to double the funding for the Women in Sport programme next year to €2m.

Peter Miskimmin made no bones about it: he was torn.

Paul and Gary O’Donovan’s bid to win another Olympic rowing medal is being jeopardised by a shortage in funding that has left the Skibbereen pair making do with a four-year-old boat.

Paul and Gary O’Donovan’s bid to win another Olympic rowing medal, in Tokyo in 2020, is being jeopardised by a shortage in funding that has left the Skibbereen pair making do with a four-year old boat.

The shortlist for the first Irish Sports Industry Awards was announced this morning.

The Federation of Irish Sport has said the Government could increase sports organisations' funding by giving them money from taxes on betting receipts.

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Post-primary schools in Ireland have been urged to redouble their efforts to ensure that students get at least two hours' physical education per week.

The bid to restore sport’s savaged funding levels kicked-off yesterday with a call for the Government to increase their commitment to the sector by €4.4m in the next two years.

The Federation of Irish Sport has called on sporting organisations to seek private sector investment in the wake of continued cuts to Government funding.

As sporting losses go, yesterday’s was up there with the worst of them.

Never mind the Republic of Ireland’s loss in Cologne, or Munster’s woeful experience in Edinburgh, Irish sport’s most damaging defeat is about to be recorded today, and in Leinster House, of all places.

We do like a gripe, us Irish.

A proposed ban on alcohol sponsorship will have a “detrimental effect” on Irish sport, an umbrella organisation has told an Oireachtas committee.

HIS lack of sporting credentials were viewed with dismay when he took office but Irish sports officials are hoping that may work in their favour this week as they meet with Sports Minister Leo Varadkar, for the first time.