The appointment of Anthony Foley as Munster’s next head coach was great, the timing was right, and I think there is so much more to come from him that we haven’t yet seen.

With large suburban gardens and site potential, this Cork property has options aplenty, writes Tommy Barker

Three men involved in the search for two missing fishermen in Co Clare had a lucky escape after their boat capsized in rough seas and only one of their life jackets inflated.

KILFEACLE defeated arch rivals Clanwilliam to book their place in the semi-finals of the Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Cup with a 30-7 victory.

A CONTROVERSIAL multi-million-euro marina planned for a west Cork village has received the thumbs down from An Bord Pleanála.

YOU can see the question coming a mile away …what makes Declan Kidney such a successful rugby coach?

YET another Munster invasion of France beckons this weekend and with it, no doubt, another clutch of ‘planes, trains and automobiles’ tales from their legion of resourceful travelling fans.

MURDERED Limerick man Shane Geoghegan earned admiration on the rugby field as a Garryowen captain.

IT’S BEEN a while since he announced his retirement, and there’s still a lot of rugby to be played before Munster’s outstanding number eight Anthony Foley finally hangs up his boots, sails into the sunset, but already the tributes have started.

DYNAMIC on the park, laid back to the point of being horizontal off it. It’s a contrast in styles that has served Jamie Heaslip well as he continues his climb up the ladder of Irish rugby.

WHILE the Genesis report as presented by the IRFU on Monday evening didn’t carry a single direct reference to the Irish coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, it has considerable implications for a man who has come in for fierce criticism from many quarters from the day the Irish World Cup challenge began to unravel.

A former top official with the Garda Complaints Board today said there was nothing special about a string of accusations received by the office in 1997 about alleged garda misconduct in Donegal.

IT is 10 years, more or less to the day, since Declan Kidney was first appointed coach of the Munster rugby team. He only got the job because the initial appointee, Welshman John Bevan, accepted it and then turned it down on seeing the turmoil that professionalism and the advent of the European Cup was creating in Irish rugby.

I WOULD like to apologise to readers for my seriously inaccurate column that appeared on this page on the first Friday of September.

AS she prepared for the latest round of RTÉ’s You’re A Star programme next Sunday, teenage singing sensation Maeve O’Donovan yesterday spoke of her first, and saddest, public performance.

DECLAN KIDNEY was presented with the Philips Manager of the Year award yesterday, capping an unforgettable year for Munster rugby.

Niall O’Donovan’s Ireland side will pay full respect to hosts Japan tomorrow despite the huge gulf in class.

IRISH eyes are on the Triple Crown. The Six Nations Championship title is the bonus that coach Eddie O’Sullivan and captain Brian O’Driscoll seek but dare not dream of.

IRISH second row Malcolm O’Kelly promised team manager Brian O’Brien that everyone will “stand up and fight” in Cardiff next weekend.

THERE will be mixed emotions for Brian O’Brien when the final whistle sounds at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.

MAYBE it is a marking of changing times. Or maybe it is something more positive that is creeping into the Irish sporting mindset.

THE thousands of Irish who made their way to the Melbourne Cup today can enjoy a welcome breather from the Rugby World Cup.

DAVID WALLACE’S outstanding performance for Ireland against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday has proved insufficient to earn him a place in the World Cup squad.

FRANKIE SHEAHAN yesterday estimated that the legal costs of his successful appeal against a two year ban for doping could rise above €100,000.

IRISH international Frank Sheahan, dragged back from Ireland’s trip to Australia after testing positive in a drugs test following Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Toulouse, is unlikely to have his case settled in time to re-join his Irish colleagues before the end of the tour.

IRISH international Frankie Sheahan may have to wait for at least a week before facing an ERC Independent Judicial Tribunal after traces of prohibited substance Salbutamol was found in a urine sample.

LEO CULLEN isn’t everybody’s idea of the ideal Ireland second-row.

ALTHOUGH both players missed last week’s game against Italy, Girvan Dempsey and Shane Horgan have been included in a 24-strong panel from which the Irish team to play France next Saturday will be finalised on Tuesday.

Ireland fly-half Ronan O’Gara will launch his fight for a starting place in the RBS 6 nations clash with France next week when he lines up for his club in the AIB League tomorrow.

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN didn’t like Warren Gatland’s recent comment that it was a mistake to give the captaincy to Brian O’Driscoll. O’Sullivan bristled visibly in Edinburgh last night when the matter was raised at the Irish press conference.

The official line is that it’s outside of their own control, there’s nothing they can do about it, their hands are tied... but there is also a deep rooted frustration in the Irish rugby camp.