By Will Downing

Seán Hehir and Maria McCambridge capitalised on the domestic entry at the 34th Airtricity Dublin Marathon yesterday to become the first joint Irish winners since 1993 in two exciting duels that ebbed and flowed as record numbers took to the streets for the classic distance.

Sean Hehir became the first Irish winner of the Dublin marathon in 20 years this morning.

A retailers group said that plain packaging on cigarettes will provide fuel for the illicit trade and cause job losses.

In her letter (Aug 9) Cliona McCormack of the Irish Heart Foundation either deliberately or accidentally misrepresented the stated position of the minister for finance on the introduction of plain packaging of cigarettes.

In the article “City’s illicit cigarette trade costs local jobs’’ (Irish Examiner, July 30), Joe Sweeney of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents described the proposed plain packaging of tobacco products as “just a feel-good gimmick that will drive up the illegal trade”.

A nationwide survey has found a rise in illicit cigarettes in Cork City in the past 12 months — a trend newsagents claim is costing jobs.

The National Federation of Retail Newsagents in Ireland is warning the Government to tackle the sale of illegal cigarettes.

Before the Off the Ball team went off the air, Jerry Kiernan went off the wall on the show.

Fionnuala Britton was already looking to the future after yesterday’s sensational performance at the European Cross-Country Championships in snowy Budapest.

Fionnuala Britton has created history by becoming the first ever woman to retain the European cross country title and has led Ireland to the team gold.

The words of encouragement from coach Chris Jones will fill Fionnuala Britton with confidence as she defends her European cross-country title in Budapest tomorrow.

Fionnuala Britton and Joe Sweeney, fresh from impressive performances over the weekend, form a strong backbone to the Irish team for the European Cross-Country Championships to be held near Budapest on Sunday week.

Joe Sweeney of Dundrum South Dublin Athletic Club triumphed in yesterday’s Woodie’s DIY National Inter-County Cross Country Championships at Tattersalls in Meath.

Dundrum South Dublin pair Joe Sweeney and Ava Hutchinson claimed the titles at today’s Woodies DIY National Cross Country Championships in Ratoath Co.Meath.

Olympic team manager, Patsy McGonagle, predicts Ireland could have 24 athletes at the London Olympics.

FIONNUALA BRITTON produced the performance of her life to win the BUPA Great Edinburgh cross-country race on Saturday, leaving the best runners from Europe and the US gasping behind her over the hilly and muddy Holyrood Park course.

NEWLY crowned European Cross Country champion Fionnuala Britton arrived in Dublin Airport yesterday evening to a rapturous reception.

IRELAND has a rich tradition in cross-country running stretching back to the 1930s and Tim Smyth’s world dominance, through John Treacy’s back-to-back world titles in 1978 an 1979, Catherina McKiernan’s European title in 1994 and then Sonia O’Sullivan’s two world titles on successive days in Marrakech in 1998.

FIONNUALA BRITTON put the golden seal of approval on a tremendous year for Irish athletics when she claimed the senior women’s title at the 18th SPAR European Cross-Country championships in Slovenia yesterday.

FIONNUALA BRITTON will line up as one of the medal favourites alongside Turkey’s Binniz Uslu and Portugal’s Ana Dulce Félix for the European cross-country championships in Velenje, Slovenia tomorrow.

EUROPE’S top cross-country runner, Fionnuala Britton will be one of the favourites for the gold medal when she leads the Irish women’s team into next month’s European cross-country championships in Slovenia.

JOE SWEENEY may have other things on his mind but his coach, Jerry Kiernan, won’t be surprised if he adds his name to the list of qualifiers for next year’s Olympics.

JOE SWEENEY strengthened his stranglehold on the domestic cross-country scene when he produced another powerful front-running display to retain his Woodies DIY inter-counties title at Sligo Racecourse yesterday.

JOE SWEENEY goes into tomorrow’s Woodies DIY national inter-county cross-country championships overwhelming favourite to retain the title he won in Derry last year.

LINDA BYRNE (Dundrum/South Dublin) claimed her place at next year’s Olympic Games in London when she finished sixth in yesterday’s National Lottery Dublin Marathon in 2:36:21 which was just inside the “A” standard set by Athletics Ireland at 2:37.

MARTIN FAGAN is ready to take on all comers when he defends his title in tomorrow’s Spar Great Ireland Run.

THE winners of the senior men’s and senior women’s titles at Saturday’s Woodies DIY national inter-clubs cross-country championships at Santry Demesne are not interested in going to the world cross-country championships in Punta Unbria, Spain, on March 20.

MARIAN HEFFERNAN has been added to the Irish team for next week’s European indoor championships in Paris.

MICHAEL MULHARE, North Laois AC, yesterday added the men’s senior title at the 42nd Rás na hEireann Cross-Country International to animpressive list of victories notched up over the past several weeks.

CIARA MAGEEAN has secured the most lucrative sponsorship deal in the history of Irish junior athletics after signing a six-figure deal with sportswear giants New Balance.

THE star of Ireland’s U23 team which claimed gold at the European cross-country championships in Albufeira yesterday predicts this title will be the catalyst for senior glory.

THE icy weather conditions failed to deter some of Ireland’s top athletes from competing at the Woodie’s DIY cross country championships at Gransha Park in Derry yesterday.

WITH Ciarán Ó Lionáird committed to competing and David McCarthy set to return from Providence, the task of putting together a medal winning under-23 team for the European cross-country championships should be completed on Sunday at the Woodies DIY national inter-county cross-country championships at Gransha Park, Derry.

AS many as 10,000 people working in wholesale and retail will lose their jobs in the second half of this year, resulting in almost 20% of retail sector workers being laid off over a two-year period.

DURING the week RTÉ televised a fascinating documentary on of the discovery in Dublin of the priceless Caravaggio painting, The Betrayal of Christ. Its whereabouts had been a mystery for more than 200 years before it was found hanging in the dining room of the Jesuits’ house on Leeson Street, where it had been for some 60 years.

Hurdling star Derval O'Rourke warmed up for her Barcelona bid by securing her eighth national title in the 100m hurdles on the final day of the Woodie's DIY National Senior Track & Field Championships in Santry.

Mullingar's Martin Fagan became the first Irishman to win the SPAR Great Ireland Run with an impressive performance in today's event in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

GARETH TURNBULL, Mary Cullen and Maria McCambridge will not contest Sunday’s European cross-country championships in Toro, Spain.

LAST summer Gary Murray was told by the renowned Munich sports injury specialist, Dr Hans Mueller, that his back was in such bad shape that he should not be running at all.

MARK CHRISTIE who was the victim of a harsh disqualification in the final of the 5,000m at the European under-23 championships in Debrecen on Thursday night was reinstated in the early hours of yesterday morning and the records now show that the Mullingar man finished sixth in 13 mins 58.83 secs.