More than €250,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent on new velvet carpets for Leinster House after the improvements were “prioritised” over other services.

A father of four has been jailed for three and half years after he left a woman needing life-saving surgery when he cut an artery in her arm with a blade.

Giddy-up! Three national champion horse-carriage drivers have set off on an epic journey to drive a horse and trap the length of Ireland.

Nine suspected members of a major gang of drug traffickers were arrested and drugs with an estimated value of almost €6m seized by gardaí in Dublin and Meath yesterday.

The fractured relationship between the Kildare County Board and their fund raising arm — Club Kildare — came to a head at a specially convened EGM in the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge last night.

League games at Croke Park could be a lucrative business for a debt-ridden county like Kildare.

As was widely forecast, Jason Ryan has been ratified as the new Kildare senior football manager at last night's County Board meeting at St. Conleth's Park.

Former Wexford manager Jason Ryan was last night ratified as manager of the Kildare football team for the next three years.

Former Leinster Championship-winning captain Glenn Ryan is now out of the running to replace Kieran McGeeney as Kildare senior football manager.

Ousted Kildare senior football manager Kieran McGeeney has issued a statement which he hopes will help to move on the process of appointing his successor.

The Kildare players were last night considering their options following the county board’s decision not to offer Kieran McGeeney an extension as manager.

The unrest over Kieran McGeeney's axing as Kildare senior football manager is set to continue with the players due to hold a meeting tonight, just 24 hours after a narrow County Board vote ousted McGeeney from his position.

Insult could be added to Kildare’s injury in the form of a hefty fine for supporters’ behaviour towards Joe McQuillan following Saturday’s Championship exit.

Shades of Lazarus!

Newstalk has been rocked by the departure of the award-winning team behind the acclaimed Off the Ball sports show in a row over the programme’s start time.

Sheriff’s deputies who believed they had cornered a fugitive ex-cop in the mountains above Los Angeles did not purposely torch a cabin where a nine-day manhunt ended, but the deputies may have ignited the blaze by firing tear gas, officials said.

The Brady Family have been announced as the new sponsors of Kildare GAA football and hurling teams at all grades.

Kildare’s hurlers will resume training tomorrow night after a dispute over costs for the season ahead came to an amicable conclusion.

James Kavanagh could be on the verge of a dramatic switch from Kildare to Galway.

Thomas O’Gorman will miss Waterford’s Allianz Football League campaign due to a persistent shoulder problem.

Kildare will receive a cash inducement to play two of their four Allianz Football League games at neutral Croke Park instead of Newbridge.

Rural depopulation is a serious threat to the future viability of many clubs throughout Kerry and particularly in the south of the county, Chairman Patrick O’Sullivan warned at last night’s annual convention at the Ballyroe Heights Hotel in Tralee.

Jason Ryan has admitted he missed being involved at inter-county level and his new role as coach/selector with Kildare is a perfect fit because it will not place the demands on his time that being manager of Wexford did.

Kilkenny chairman Paul Kinsella has questioned the scheduling of the All-Ireland senior hurling champions’ first home league game on a bank holiday Monday.

Kieran McGeeney is to have another meeting with Kildare GAA chairman, John McMahon before a decision is made on whether or not he will see out his second three-year term as senior football manager in 2013.

Kildare chairman John McMahon says he expects a decision on the future of Kieran McGeeney to be made within a week.

Kildare forward Johnny Doyle believes Seanie Johnston’s transfer to the county had nothing to do with their poor form this year and called on his county board to ensure Kieran McGeeney remains in their managerial hot seat.

Kieran McGeeney's future as Kildare senior football manager will become clearer in the coming weeks, according to County Board Chairman John McMahon.

A judge has congratulated all sides in resolving a legal row over an alleged “dud” €14,400 pony.

Kildare chairman John McMahon admits Croke Park’s decision to stage their home qualifier on Saturday to Portlaoise will focus minds on the urgent need to redevelop St Conleth’s Park.

The Kildare county board has confirmed that it will not be appealing the GAA's decision to move their All-Ireland football qualifier against Limerick to Portlaoise.

THE tension in Ireland over seizing Unionist hostages in the North was raised considerably on Feb 11, 1922, when the IRA in Clones, Co Monaghan, clashed with a group of 19 Ulster Special Constables (USC), travelling from Belfast to Enniskillen by rail.

Gardaí are examining whether or not they can take a criminal prosecution against double killer John Gallagher, who voluntarily returned to the Central Mental Hospital on May 14 after 12 years on the run.

The case of a double killer who handed himself in after 12 years at large is being examined by a senior detective.

2FM is facing a battle to hold on to listeners after suffering further drops in audiences for its prime time programmes.

A father has said that a pony he was told would take his eight-year-old daughter to compete in the RDS instead nearly killed her.

Munster GAA officials will introduce a new raft of price incentives to boost attendances at this year’s Championship venues.

By stunning Ballymena with a late winning try, Belfast Harlequins inched ever closer to being crowned Division 1B champions and winning promotion to Division 1A.

DUBLIN chairman Andy Kettle has revealed he is completely against the idea of paying inter-county managers.

KILDARE GAA has been told it must “stop the haemorrhaging” of money as officers negotiate a loan of €500,000 to cover losses over the last four years.

Allianz Sciath na Scoil roundup

KILDARE GAA officials will be meeting with players and managers to discuss cost-cutting measures for 2012 to wipe out a €200,000 deficit.

CROKE PARK could be set for an All-Ireland SFC qualifier double-header at the weekend.

DUBLIN manager Pat Gilroy has said the rules — not the referees — are to blame for the recent rise in criticism of match officials.