Ireland has one of the highest ages of consent in the EU. And until recently, Vatican City had the lowest, reports Peter O’Dwyer.

The news that Frank Lampard has signed a contract to write children’s books seemed the perfect hook for a quip-happy column until I learned that Frankie had beaten us all to pun, as it were, by naming the second in his series — about a young boy with a magic football — Frankie Versus The Rowdy Romans.

FROM the Hand of Gaul to the Hand Of God – Giovanni Trapattoni has said that he would one day like to manage the Vatican City football team.

POPE John Paul II’s successor won’t just face falling church attendance and an ageing priesthood.