Thomas Barr (Ferrybank) and Ciara Mageean (UCD) will lead a strong Irish team of 41 athletes competing at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin on August 6-12.

It was entirely in keeping with John O’Shea’s self-effacing character and career-long commitment to the concept of the ‘team player’, that the elegant defender’s farewell address to the Irish supporters seemed to be about everyone but himself, writes Liam Mackey.

UCD put one foot in the quarter-finals of the Fitzgibbon Cup thanks to this surprise win away to UCC.

UCC 1-19 - CORK IT 0-12: UCC’s class was always going to be the telling factor. And so it proved, even if it took a little longer than expected to boil to the surface.

Thomas Barr has pulled out of competing in the World Championships in London after being struck down by gastroenteritis, writes Ciara Phelan.

Ciara Mageean will bid to become the first Irish woman to break two minutes for 800m when she lines out at the Morton Games in Dublin this evening.

Ciara Neville’s life in the fast lane seemed to be running on fumes long before the Castletroy teenager had even gotten into top gear but a hard edge and support now sees her on the cusp of her first senior international championship.

There was never any doubt that Thomas Barr would win the athlete of the year award at the Irish Life Health National Athletics Awards yesterday.

With one Olympic cycle concluded, so begins to road to Tokyo.

Waterford 5-25 Antrim 1-8: Concrete solutions may have been thin on the ground, but at least there was general agreement Saturday’s futile exercise in Thurles did no-one any favours. 

They cheered when he arrived on the track; they cheered when he was introduced to the stadium; they cheered when he took his position on the blocks; they screamed as he mounted a late, late challenge for a medal; they had their hands on their heads as he crossed the line; and they cheered when he ended up agonisingly close, the dip of a head away from that coveted place on the Olympic podium.

Almost €4 million was transacted in a Cork-based property auction, with 15 of 25 lots selling under the hammer, at an inaugural DTZ/Sherry FitzGerald southern auction with a further DTZ commercial property auction due with 15 more lots, on July 27 in Dublin.

For Olympic hopefuls, Mark English and Thomas Barr, the last few months had been nothing short of a nightmare, but the two great hopes for Irish athletics are now daring to dream once again.

Phil Healy’s epic relay leg for UCC last month may have entered athletics folklore, but her first official attempt at the 400m left no one in doubt of her future potential over the one-lap distance.

Thomas Barr’s heart was pounding on stage when he was awarded Athlete of the Year at the GloHealth National Athletics Awards at the Crowne Plaza in Santry yesterday.

Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin will renew their battle for World Championship gold this afternoon after the pair cruised into today’s 200 metres final (1.55pm Irish time, live on BBC2).

Thomas Barr and Mark English missed out on making their respective finals at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing yesterday.

Robert Heffernan believes he is in with a “fighting chance” of defending his World 50km Race Walk title when he toes the line at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing next week.

Rob Heffernan walked away from the Morton Stadium frustrated as he saw a mid-afternoon red card in the men’s 10,000 metres walk.

The stage is set for a top class evening of athletics at the Morton Games in Morton Stadium, Santry this evening headlined by the second fastest man in history, Yohan Blake, and World Universities 400m hurdles champion Thomas Barr.

Thomas Barr is European athlete of the month for April, rewarded for his European-leading 400m hurdles time of 49.08 to win at the Tom Jones Classic in Gainesville, USA, on April 24.

Thomas Barr was in scintillating form at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational Meet in Florida on Friday, winning the 400m hurdles in 49.08 seconds — a world championship qualifying time.

Cork County SHC

Emerald’s Ciara Neville announced herself as a star of the future at the GloHealth National Indoor Championships in Athlone as current stars Mark English and Kelly Proper continued their dominance.

Fionnuala Britton will earn her 31st international cap at next month’s European cross country championships in Bulgaria.

Kelly Proper and Christine McMahon bowed out in their respective semi-finals at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich – but Proper still scored a lifetime best in exiting the 200m.

Kelly Proper breezed into the semi-finals of the women’s 200m at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich this morning, taking an automatic qualifying spot by coming fourth in her first-round heat.

It was a case of relief with Mark English qualifying for the final of the men’s 800m as a fastest loser in 1:46.23 at the Letzigrund Stadium last night while Thomas Barr unfortunately couldn’t replicate that in the 400m hurdles.

Mark English put in a classy performance to win heat two of the men’s 800m in 1:47.38 on a positive day for the Irish athletes at the European Track and Field Championships in Zurich.

Phil Healy is an athlete in a hurry.

All-Ireland MHC: Waterford 2-18 Dublin 0-19

Rob Heffernan will lead an Irish team of 25 athlete’s to Zurich for next months Europeans, which take place from August 12 – 17.

Fionnuala Britton sprinted to the Women’s 5,000 metre title at today’s Glo Health Senior track and field championships in Santry stadium.

Thomas Barr beat world champion Jehue Gordon in the 400m hurdles in a new stadium record of 48.94 at a pulsating Morton Games in Dublin last night while the mile record for Morton was also shattered by American Will Leer in 3:51.82 as 10 men went under four minutes.

Thomas Barr goes into Tuesday’s Cork City Sports ranked number three in Europe over 400m hurdles and he believes the home meet can help him in his quest for a medal at the European Championships in August.

Waterford minor hurling manager Derek Lyons has made sweeping changes for the Munster semi-final clash against Clare tomorrow night.

Athletics: Ireland finished a solid seventh out of 12 teams at the European Team Championships 1st League in Tallinn, Estonia yesterday with some notable victories on the track.

Irish 400m hurdles record holder Thomas Barr (Ferrybank) will headline an Irish team of 45 athletes at the European Team Championships 1st League in Tallinn, Estonia this weekend.