BALLINCOLLIG head coach Kieran O’Sullivan is a Liverpool supporter so could be forgiven for coming over all Jurgen Klopp when the possibility of a perfect season for his Men’s Division One champions crops up.

Deferred by 24 hours due to poor weather conditions, Clare were not deterred by the delay, with attackers Mark McInerney and Shane Meehan on song for the Banner.

Pope Francis staged a surprise visit to admonish the IMF chief and several finance ministers to help alleviate the debt burden of struggling countries, calling for “a new financial architecture” to ensure social justice.

Irish author Declan Henry’s new book ‘Forbidden Fruit: Life and Catholicism in Contemporary Ireland’ looks at what he calls the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church towards the LGBT community. He spoke with Donal O’Keeffe

TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Turlough Duffy raised an eyebrow ever so slightly at his teacher’s suggestion that he be on the debating team opposing the motion: “We need a change of government.”

Gardaí investigating the gruesome killing of another homeless man in Cork, whose head and arms were apparently cut off, have appealed for witnesses to contact them.

Daniel Storey asks if Mourinho will change for Spurs or if Spurs will change for Mourinho.

Footage has emerged reportedly showing tourists being robbed at gunpoint in Dublin.

The most senior Catholic to be found guilty of sexually abusing children has lodged an appeal in Australia's highest court against his convictions for molesting two choirboys in a cathedral more than two decades ago.

Atiyah will be the first storm to blow across Ireland, Britain, and the Netherlands this winter, with Brendan, Ciara, and Dennis set to among those that will follow.

World Cup-bound Lewis Ludlam was considering his options outside of rugby a year ago as he reflected on a career that was in danger of fading away.

From the Taj Mahal to Tahilla, Francis Brennan’s TV Grand Tours have always ended at this Ring of Kerry retreat, says Tommy Barker.

After his resignation in 2013, Pope Benedict chose to live in the Vatican in silence. But his presence, his influence, and a growing campaign is causing problems for Pope Francis and threatens to undermine his papacy, writes TP O’Mahony.

The wife of an Irish mountaineer who tragically died on Europe’s highest mountain has said she has lost her “best friend”.

About the kindest way to describe how John Horan is going about fixing the fixtures is that it’s as if after commissioning the Brennan brothers to assess and improve his hotel, he has them arrive on site only to find him already unleashing his inner Dermot Bannon who is about to give a foreman the thumbs up to a garish giant water fountain being plumped in the middle of the foyer.

Viviane Hagner will be among the stars of the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, writes Cathy Desmond.

The Cork branch of Celtic Stickmakers is one of the most active — its co-founder explains the benefits of turning wood, writes Ellie O’Byrne.

A 53-year-old man has been charged with dangerous driving causing death after an Irish tradesman was killed in a horror crash in Sydney.

The move is part of a new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks.

Paul Connolly has 215 previous convictions including 14 for dangerous driving and three for hit-and-runs. He admitted taking cocaine and tablets the night before his car mounted the footpath in this case.

Good historians and archaeologists don’t sit on their laurels.

Arlene Harris speaks to four women in their 50s who, with their children raised, have made big life changes in order to find excitement and inner fulfilment.

Expansive Waterfall home was built in the 1970s for a family whose children have now grown, and flown says Tommy Barker.

Retired pope Benedict XVI has published an analysis on the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse scandal, blaming it on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and church laws that protected priests.

Pope Francis has said women have "legitimate claims" to seek more justice and equality in the Catholic Church, but stopped short of endorsing more sweeping calls to recognise the "urgency of an inevitable change" to give them leadership roles.

Pope Francis has declined to accept the resignation of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin as archbishop of Lyon after he was convicted of failing to report a known predator priest to police, the Vatican said.

A new book paints a picture of rampant homosexuality in the Catholic Church but builds castles on the sands of rumours and innuendo, writes TP O’Mahony.

Three All-Ireland titles in a row. In any other code in Gaelic games, it would be hailed as the astonishing achievement it is, but so much of the Slaughtneil camogie story is hidden from view.

Apart from achieving independence, joining the European Union, and almost unlimited access to education, nothing has changed this society as dramatically as the Catholic Church’s spectacular loss of power.

His stated intention to decentralise the Catholic Church’s power and reform its central bureaucracy, the Curia, has not endeared Francis to traditionalists, says TP O’Mahony

Pope Francis has urged politicians of all faiths to safeguard the rights of the unborn and has exhorted abortion opponents to also assure that children are born into a world where they can live with dignity.

The Vatican's women's magazine has denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by priests, and the resulting "scandal" of religious sisters having abortions or giving birth to children who are then not recognised by their fathers.

Pope Francis has said fear of migration is "making us crazy" as he began a trip to Central America amid a standoff over President Donald Trump's promised wall at the US-Mexico border and a new caravan of migrants heading north.

The Labour Court has recommended that the Brennan brothers’ five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare, Co Kerry, pay €90,000 to a general manager sacked in April.

It was all a bit last-minute but Pope Francis had something important to do before saying Mass in the Phoenix Park. He had to go to confession.

The Pope has paid tribute to the dignity of the homeless as he kissed a baby at a day centre in Dublin.

A former top Vatican official has accused Pope Francis of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent US cardinal for five years before accepting his resignation last month and he called on the pontiff to resign.

In Mayo, they’re still praying for a miracle — or, at least, the end of a curse.

Pope Francis will arrive in Dublin at 10.30am tomorrow.

The great thing about this Pope is that, in the inevitable tension between those who favour change and those who don’t, Francis is on our side, writes Fr Brendan Hoban.

Latest: Pope Francis has said he hopes the World Meeting of Families will bring "renewed encouragement to families everywhere".

It's back!

I disagree with those atheists and materialists who have been launching scathing attacks on the Pope’s upcoming visit. It’s not often that a pope takes a trip to Ireland so I think we should extend every courtesy to him.

A new book on Pope Francis argues that, given the various crises which face the Catholic Church, what’s needed is a new blueprint, especially here in Ireland, says TP O’Mahony.