Working with classical musicians was a new departure for Declan O’Rourke, and one that Cork audiences will get a chance to sample this weekend, writes Ed Power

From Robbie Williams to Emeli Sande, we just can't keep up these days.

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EARLIER this week, singer Damien Dempsey stood on stage at Trafalgar Square, in London, under the stern gaze of Admiral Nelson’s statue.

TV host Graham Norton will return to Irish shores this summer to top the bill at a festival to celebrate literature.

An all-star, eclectic line-up is expected to draw 20,000 revellers to the Killarney Festival of Music and Food, on June 27-28.

Health insurance provider, Laya Healthcare, has confirmed the sale of 100% of its shares to international insurance organisation, AIG.

An online Wellness Workshop to help people battle depression over Christmas and beyond has been launched as support groups advised people to look out for others over Christmas.

A star-studded line-up of Ireland’s musical greats has teamed up with the John Murray Show once again to raise funds for Aware with a festive album, A Murray Christmas 2.

Dublin County Board chiefs have announced a staggering sponsorship deal with international insurance giants AIG, current backers of New Zealand rugby.

Drinks giant Diageo has been forced to defend its Arthur’s Day celebration — a Guinness-sponsored music event — after it was attacked by doctors and well-known personalities.

Pádraic ‘Podge’ Collins is part of a new breed of hurler to have blossomed in recent times.

Some of the Clare players who soldiered after the ‘97 All-Ireland final victory recall the ‘famine years’.

THE Temple Bar TradFest begins in Dublin this week. Promoted by the Temple Bar Company (an association of traders in the city centre), the acclaimed festival of traditional and folk music will begin on Tuesday and run until Sunday next.

Arthur’s Day promises top-class pub gigs. Tanya Sweeney recalls some great stories from Irish pubs

Legendary singer songwriter Paul Brady is set to make a triumphant return to one of the country’s longest running folk festivals for the first time in almost three decades.

Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said her visit to Ireland will be one of the most unforgettable days of her life.

MUSIC NEWS: For a man knocking on the door of his seventh decade (his birthday is Jun 18), Paul McCartney is showing no signs of slowing down.

Mourners at the funeral of Barney McKenna, the last of the original Dubliners, have heard how his memory will be treasured.

PRESENTER Miriam O’Callaghan, who hosts RTÉ One’s New Year’s Eve Live show tonight, says viewers can expect a big star line-up.

TG4 stalwart Geantraí features The Chieftains and other special guests on Christmas Day, says Gerry Quinn

HE may have an All-Ireland senior medal in his back pocket and more than a decade of representation at the elite level of the intercounty game behind him, yet Niall Gilligan remains on the hunt for glory.

FOLLOWING the success of the minors on Sunday, Clare capture their second Munster hurling title in three days when their intermediate side captured a first provincial crown at Cusack Park in Ennis last night.

FORMER Clare senior star Niall Gilligan is a major injury doubt for the county’s intermediate team who face Limerick in tonight’s Munster IHC final in Cusack Park, Ennis at 7.30pm.

Some of Ireland’s hottest acts have been confirmed for The Music Show, which takes place at the RDS, all day on October 4 and 5.

He’s not the biggest, but he’s one of the busiest. Clare wing-forward Jonathon Clancy spoke to Diarmuid O’Flynn ahead of the Munster final.

CLARE senior hurling manager Mike McNamara has made one change to the team which defeated Waterford in the opening round for Sunday’s Munster Championship semi-final against Limerick at Semple Stadium.

The Irish film industry will be in the international shop window at the Cannes Film Festival, which begins on Wednesday.

Clare 1-16 Limerick 1-23

THE NHL games which fell victim to the weather last weekend have now been re-fixed, with Cork playing Waterford in Walsh Park on Saturday at 2.30pm, while Carlow take on Meath at 1pm the same day in Dr Cullen Park. Dublin now play Antrim on March 28th.

UPWARDS of 50,000 people are expected to flock to Ballybunion, Co Kerry, for the week-long World Fleadh, which got underway yesterday.

ONE of the country’s top seaside resorts is set to come alive to the sounds of an international Irish and Celtic music festival next month.

WE doffed the cap to a few of the more surprising omissions above, but what about those bubbling under, those who won’t just be knocking at the door but will have their feet well and truly under the table come the end of 2006.

Clarecastle 0-9 Wolfe Tones 0-7

NOT unexpectedly, the Cork senior hurling selectors have stuck with the same 15 which defeated Waterford in the quarter-final for Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Clare in Croke Park.