Much as he was satisfied with the ample positives of Ireland’s 3-1 win against New Zealand, arguably the biggest lesson Mick McCarthy will take from that sideshow game into Monday’s crunch encounter with Denmark is that some of the blemishes of Thursday’s performance could, if not eliminated, prove fatal against Christian Eriksen and company.

Brigid Flanagan is a family carer but she also wants to be a mother to her three children, something that is impossible because of her youngest child's severe health problems.

Callum Robinson has a twinkle in his toes to match the twinkle in his eye.

Tomorrow’s Donegal Harvest Rally in Redcastle will mark the Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 debut for former Irish Tarmac and National champions Donegal’s Donagh Kelly and Monaghan’s Josh Moffett.

Derry driver Marty McCormack will give the Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 its Irish rally debut on next week’s CBtoolhire.com Cork “20” International Rally providing the Munster Car Club organisers with a major coup for their two-day event that brings the curtain down on the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

David McGoldrick and Callum Robinson are out of Tuesday night’s friendly with Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland international striker Callum Robinson will be fit for Sheffield United’s clash with Leicester tomorrow (3pm Bramall Lane). Robinson came off injured against Crystal Palace but is recovered, according to Blades boss Chris Wilder.

Baby steps but significant ones. That was Mick McCarthy’s assessment after witnessing James McCarthy’s first appearance in a Crystal Palace shirt.

The squad for the Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland will be announced on Friday.

So there was Mark Travers talking to us at Ireland base camp on the Algarve on Tuesday, buzzing with enthusiasm at his second international call-up and all teed-up not only to show off his golfing prowess to the rest of the squad but, more importantly, confirm on the training pitch that he would be ready to step into the breach, should anything befall Darren Randolph, for Ireland’s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Waterford made it to Sunday's Allianz Hurling League final the hard way.

England manager Gareth Southgate would have no hesitation unleashing teenagers Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi against the Czech Republic tonight.

The Dublin student from Skerries left Olly Murs and the rest of the judges stunned with her performance of Teardrop by Massive Attack during the blind audition stages.

Parents Ann-Marie and Paul Lafferty said Cormac, who died aged three months, surprised them constantly during his short life.

Aspiration of milk was a factor in the death of a three-month-old baby who became ‘inconsolable’ following a feed.

His manager Alex Neil has blamed the injury on his workload with Ireland during the international break.

The ride into Exeter was not for the faint of heart, Munster’s charter flight buffeted violently in gale force winds. The landing was pretty white-knuckled too, not helped by the knowledge that five earlier flights had been diverted at that stage. It all made for a strong test of the constitution which would serve Johann van Graan’s men well on Saturday at Sandy Park, writes Donal Lenihan.

The Atlantic storms name list is out. This year could be a turning point. A sea-change, if you will.

Whodunnit? That was the question that was being asked after Preston kept their play-off hopes alive with a 2-1 Championship victory at QPR.

That just last Sunday saw him crowned the League of Ireland Player of the Year for his pivotal contribution to Cork City’s 2017 title triumph is a timely reminder of how fast and how far Sean Maguire has come over the past 12 months, with not even the intervention of serious hamstring injury putting anything like a full stop to his gallop in the Championship with Preston.

A family who have been left homeless by a fire days before Christmas have said they are lucky to be alive.

Republic of Ireland winger Callum O'Dowda is set for a three-month spell on the sidelines.

Mark Kinsella feels history will repeat itself over the next 12 months when it comes to revamping Ireland’s international squad.

He might not get to start in Copenhagen on Saturday but don’t rule out the possibility of Callum O’Dowda having a say in proceedings before the play-off against Denmark reaches its conclusion in Dublin next Tuesday night.

If Ireland are to extract a buzz from their final two World Cup group games, then they’re going to have to search for it within, not in the fact that Gareth Bale will be absent for Wales.

Last year's ante-post favourite Ivan Grozny finally gets the chance for Betfred Ebor glory at York on Saturday.

From supporting Ireland at Euro fanzones last summer to being part of the squad aiming for World Cup qualification, Callum O’Dowda has enjoyed quite a year.

While almost all of the pre-match focus zeroed in on the three men Martin O’Neill would be deploying in his retooled and reshaped rearguard, there wasn’t nearly as much thought given to who would line up in front of them.

6.30am

Irish nurse Berna Breen tries working in the A&E section of a hospital in Honduras on Toughest Place To Be, on Monday on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.

As a footballer, Callum O’Dowda seems to take all the big tests in his graceful stride – whether that be moving from League 2 Oxford United to Bristol City in the Championship, getting his first senior cap on the eve of the Euros against Belarus in Cork or, just last month, making his competitive debut for Ireland when coming off the bench in the 3-1 win in Moldova.

A woman who knocked down a child after he suffered an angry episode due to his Asperger’s Syndrome told his family she will think of them every day of her life.

A mother has told how she desperately waved her hands in a bid to stop a car hitting her young son seconds before he was killed.

Former Westmeath All Star John Keane has described Sunday’s Leinster semi-final as the county’s make-or-break fixture for 2016 and believes victory over Kildare would dispel the dark clouds hanging over Tom Cribbin’s side.

From knowing what a playdate is to caring about work/life balance, being a dad changes it all. Olivia Kelleher talks fatherhood with three well-known broadcasters .

Martin O’Neill wouldn’t say whether David Meyler will start against Belarus tonight, but the Hull City midfielder will have longer to impress than the last time he effectively auditioned for a current member of the Ireland management team at Turner’s Cross.

There's an Assassin's Creed movie on the way starring Michael Fassbender and after months of teasing the first trailer is here.

Michael started life as a journalist. He worked for Hot Press, writing news-based stories, and eventually moved to Magill. He was at the stage of securing a staff job, but he’d always wanted to study law.

Stoke 2 Bournemouth 1: Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe admitted things did not look good for Callum Wilson after the Cherries’ top scorer was carried off on a stretcher having suffered a knee injury early on under a challenge from Philipp Wollscheid.

It is the car which award-winning Jaguar designer Ian Callum said he never wanted to pen, but the all-new Jaguar SUV, the F-Pace, was one of the stars of this week’s Frankfurt Motor Show and will undoubtedly be a big hit with customers when it hits the dealer showrooms next spring.