Taking Sides by Brian Gallagher (O’Brien Press; €7.99) is a very apt title as the story is set in the early twenties when the newly independent Ireland rushed headlong into a bloody and divisive civil war.

ALL right, so it hadn’t exactly been going to plan. Yes, England are through but at what cost to their psychological well-being.

Lennox Lewis has been awarded the CBE in the Honours List after an eventful year in which he lost then regained the world heavyweight championship.