Equestrian: Horse Sport Ireland chairman Pat Wall yesterday said Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is applying his own stamp to the sport horse sector strategic plan before its publication.

It is unlikely Dermot Mór MacCarthy could have envisaged that, 600 years after he built Drishane Castle in Cork, its rolling grounds would reverberate to the sound of horses and riders jockeying to be champions of Europe.

Ireland pony show jumping team manager Tom Slattery is confident his charges will rise to the occasion as the European Championships return to Millstreet next week after 25 years.