James O’Reilly and his pals on the Ballincollig junior B football team had an idea.

THE Government has announced there is no money available for the long-mooted indoor training arena and track at the National Sports Campus in west Dublin, and is instead seeking help from the state’s wealthier citizens.

LAST Thursday, some of the most powerful men in all of Irish sport met in Leinster House.

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.

JIM AUGHNEY, the man responsible for founding and developing the Dublin Marathon and Race Series, was one of 11 volunteers honoured for their outstanding contribution to sports at a ceremony at the Aviva Stadium yesterday.

EVENTS in Cardiff, Croke Park and Cheltenham may be uppermost in most minds this month but Irish sport claimed its most important victory of the year yesterday when it was retained at the cabinet table by the new Government.

AS examples of naked political opportunism go, few can match Charlie Haughey’s decision to call for the government’s private jet 24 years ago and make a dramatic dash for Paris.

ALL the political parties scrambling to be part of the next government are being asked to guarantee that a percentage of National Lottery funding will be set aside for the use of the Irish Sports Council (ISC).

THE FAI last night confirmed plans to reduce ticket prices for international matches along with sweeping cost cutting measures including pay cuts and redundancies.

Some of Ireland's biggest sporting names today pleaded with the Government to spare sports funding in what is widely expected to be a difficult Budget for the country.

MORE than half of Irish children are couch potatoes and do not play any sport, according to a study.

THE majority of the country’s sporting fraternity was breathing a sigh of relief last night after escaping the worst of the budget’s cuts.

THE mothballed National Sports Campus in Abbotstown is set for a badly-needed boost with news that up to €40million is being earmarked for the development in west Dublin.

IRELAND’S top Olympic official has warned that some of the country’s elite athletes could be forced to retire before the London Games in 2012 if government funding continues to be cut.

SEVENTY Irish sporting bodies — including the GAA, FAI and IRFU — have come together to demand that the government does not impose any further cuts on the Irish Sports Council.

THE days of sports disputes being settled in the country’s courts could well be at an end, with the establishment of an independent and specialised dispute resolution authority.