A carnival atmosphere grips a number of coastal towns and villages in south-west Cork this bank holiday weekend as summer time officially kicks in.

YOU CAN get cynical in this game pretty easily. You meet idols with feet of clay, the clay ending somewhere in the mid-thigh region.

Tonight the Airtricity League kicks off after a 12-round close-season that left even Roddy ‘Queensbury Rules’ Collins punch-drunk. After all the off-field attrition – though the battle scars are yet to heal – a football match will break out.

The legendary Harlem Globetrotters basketball team launch their first UK tour in almost a decade this week, after bouncing back from the brink of bankruptcy.