An amateur astronomer with an eye for exploding stars in the night sky has celebrated the latest celestial discovery from his back garden with a cup of tea.

The last of the Irish cousins of the famous Kennedy dynasty gathered at their ancestral homestead to remember John F Kennedy yesterday.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has joined John F Kennedy's daughter in lighting the 'Emigrants' Flame' in New Ross, County Wexford this evening.

Dozens of descendants from the world’s most famous political dynasty gathered today at a farmhouse in Ireland to mark the day John F Kennedy came back to his ancestral home.

An amateur astronomer has said he got the shock of his life when he made Ireland’s second discovery of a supernova in less than two years.

As expected, London picked up their first win of the year with a facile victory over Division 4 strugglers Kilkenny in Nowlan Park, the Cats’ second heaviest defeat in the campaign.

AFTER an amazing Avonmore Milk Munster Schools’ Senior Cup tie at Cork Institute of Technology yesterday, both sides must battle again for the right to meet either St Munchin’s or Ardscoil Ris in the semi-final.

CORK CITY maintained their strong promotion challenge, thanks to a second-half goal from Shane Duggan which gave them a narrow victory over bottom side Salthill Devon at Turner’s Cross last night.

FROM a shed in a Raheny backgarden, an amateur astronomer has made the first-ever Irish discovery of supernova – a star which exploded 290 million years ago.

IT was a chance sighting that has earned an amateur stargazer his place in the history books.

A photograph of one of five men accused of carrying out the Omagh bombing stuck out like a sore thumb in an identification album, it was claimed in court today.

A man who robbed a Co Laois bank four years ago has been given an eight-year suspended sentence after repaying the €10,000 taken in the raid.

Glenstal Abbey 6 Crescent Comprehensive 5

James Keane will replace the injured Nigel Grennan at left corner-back for Offaly's Leinster Championship clash with Carlow on Sunday.

Former captain Karol Slattery has been passed fit to line out for Offaly in their Leinster SFC opener against Carlow this Sunday (Portlaoise, throw-in 2.10pm).

TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Killian Young from the Renard club makes his National Football League debut for Kerry when they take on Mayo in the opening round at Castlebar on Sunday.

CORK GAA officials are seeking thea re-arrangement of their teams’ schedules in the All-Ireland SFC and SHC championship in Croke Park.

NIALL McNAMEE would never have believed that two weeks could take so long to pass.

Wexford 1-14 Offaly 2-15

Kildare 0-15 Offaly 3-9

Westmeath 0-11 Offaly 0-15

Offaly 0-12 Tyrone 2-15

Boherbue CS 4-9 Borris VS 1-8

IN the village that gave its name to the country’s most infamous Catholic diocese, a small middle-aged man stepped into the bar, trying to be inconspicuous.

OPPOSITION politicians have called for the establishment of specialist garda child protection units across the country in the wake of the Murphy Report into the Ferns scandal.

THE Gardaí responded in a “wholly unsatisfactory” manner to one of the most infamous clerical child abuse cases in the Diocese of Ferns, the Inquiry report has stated.

The gardaí and the Vatican is being accused of failing to act to stop priests abusing young boys and girls in Co Wexford.

STAFF staging a sit-in over unpaid wages following the closure of a nursing home blocked a hospital supply company from entering the residential complex and removing items yesterday.

Offaly 2-11 Westmeath 0-14

James Grennan, Head of Insurance Law at Dublin law firm A&L Goodbody, has been named as the number one practitioner in Ireland for insurance and reinsurance legal expertise by a leading legal publication.

Offaly 1-10 Down 1-8

Offaly 1-15 Kildare 1-8

Athline IT 43 UL 32.

SERIOUS questions remain unanswered now the Catholic Church has settled a legal action with an alleged victim of clerical sexual abuse in a Wexford diocese plagued by allegations, a victims’ group says.

Offaly 1-12

A Garda told a murder trial today how he realised that an alleged double murder suspect captured on video footage was a man he had spent four days taking a witness statement from.

TWO bishops have been accused of obstruction in a case of alleged sexual assault by a deceased priest in their diocese.

Offaly 0-13, Laois 2-6

The Government came under growing pressure today to launch an immediate inquiry into a child sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church as more victims of paedophile priests came forward.

The outcome of the first of the Leinster football semi-finals in Croke Park yesterday had as much to do with Dublin achieving their victory as Offaly allowed a chance of advancing to slip through their fingers.