Galway GAA chairman Pat Kearney is to be challenged for the position by businessman Mick Culhane as a turbulent year for the Tribesmen looks set to end with a battle for the top position in the county.

A large number of moderate MPs, especially young women, will not contest next month’s British election. Many say they cannot endure the aggression representatives face.

What the country does not need replicated is the scenes that developed in Oughterard. Surely, even in the midst of various domestic problems, this country should offer a warm place of refuge, even if only temporarily, for some of the most vulnerable people on the planet, writes Michael Clifford

Publican Rory Clancy, spokesman for a demonstration supported by over 2,000 people at the weekend, said the community was once again asking the department to “come and speak to us here in Oughterard”.

"The system of direct provision is wrong and is one we need to bring to an end," she said.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has called on residents of the Connemara town of Oughterard to “step back” and allow for the process of selecting new direct provision centre for asylum seekers to take place.

For the second time inside 11 months, Dean Walsh and Ray Moylette will clash in the standout bout at the finals of the National Elite Championships, but there is more on the line than national pride tonight (live on TG4 from 7.30pm).

Back for more punishment, all so that we can all have even more fun and rows, writes Kieran Shannon.

TWO Derry footballers were in court for being involved in a pub brawl in Galway city after their team’s defeat in the recent semi-finals of the Celebrity Bainisteoir television series.

With our water distribution systems nationwide leaking like a huge sieve I should imagine that the installation of water meters should be at the bottom of the list for any sane thinking Government. Such meters would become totally unworkable with the next cold spell.

A CONFERENCE in Rome yesterday observed, via satellite link, a revolutionary hip replacement operation at Mayo General Hospital.

AT A time when rugby is growing in Connacht at a rate of knots, new clubs springing up in the most unlikely of places, new schools taking part – and winning – in the old cup competitions, does it make a whit of sense anymore to treat Connacht like a second-class citizen, to deny them equal funding with the other three provinces?

GALWAY’S hopes of finally getting the go-ahead for floodlights at Pearse Stadium have received another set-back with Galway City Council demanding more information before making a decision on planning permission.

WINNING All-Ireland titles comes easily to some parts of the country, and Kilkenny were at it once again in glorious conditions at Tullamore yesterday.

THE finals of the Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields got off to a successful start in ideal conditions at Tullamore yesterday when Banbridge and Kilkenny produced golf of the highest calibre to qualify for today’s final of the Bulmers Barton Shield.

TULLAMORE, a splendid midlands course originally designed by James Braid and subsequently upgraded by Patrick Merrigan, is the venue for the finals of the Bulmers Irish Cups and Shields from September 16-19.

WITH its thatch sprouting in fits and starts, this Renvyle, Co Galway home is as much in need of a comb-over as a makeover.

A BUILDER has been ordered to pay almost e93,000 to seven Polish workers amid claims they were paid less than the minimum wage and were given no wage slips.

ONE of the great lakes of the west of Ireland, Lough Corrib, has a strong reputation from brown trout fishing, and properties with shore frontage there are virtually impossible to get.

Galway could be without versatile forward Matthew Clancy for Sunday week's Connacht SFC semi-final clash with Leitrim at the new-look Páirc Sean MacDiarmada.

A month after the crypto outbreak was first reported in Galway, nothing has changed.

ANGLERS are, arguably, the best watchdogs you can have regarding water quality. They are the first to take note when things go wrong, but all too often the powers-that-be do not listen to them.

The final of the inaugural All-Ireland AA Insurance Ladies Championships gets underway at Headfort Golf Club this Wednesday.

Competition in the AA Insurance Ladies Championship is set to intensify as the Western District approaches the final stages with County Sligo hoping to sweep the board, playing in an impressive five out of six competitions.

THE finals of the national under-21 boxing championships provide some interesting pairings at the National Stadium tonight when some beaten finalists from the seniors will be involved.

An 84-year-old man who raped and sexually assaulted five young girls was today sentenced to five years in jail.

THE three national champions dropped from the High Performance Squad after failing to turn up for the first training session after Christmas will rejoin the squad in the middle of the month, but won’t be going to the European Championships - the first of the Olympic Qualifiers.

THERE were four Irish victories at the multi-nations boxing tournament at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork last night, as James Moore, Conor Ahern, Andrew Murray and Marvin Lee claimed their places in tomorrow night’s finals.

THOMAS LEE (Oughterard) and Eric Donovan (St Michael’s, Athy), members of the Irish team for the multi-nations tournament in Cork, will be in action at the national under-21 boxing championships finals at the National Stadium tonight, while a third member of the squad, Conor Ahern (Baldoyle), gets a walkover in the light flyweight division.

ANDY LEE (St. Francis, Limerick) claimed his first National Senior Championship title by doing what had to be done at the National Stadium last night when he out-pointed Eamon O’Kane (St. Canices) 27-12 in the eagerly awaited Middleweight final.

DUBLINER Ben Dunne hopes to finish off his apprenticeship in style when he boxes his final four-rounder against Eric Trujillo, a reigning Golden Gloves champion from Colorado, at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas tomorrow night.

VAL DALY would probably have had something very different to say instead of wishing everybody ‘Happy Christmas’ after leading Mountbellew to victory over Milltown in the Galway football championship of final of 1986.