A small ante room in the Westbury Hotel yesterday morning is the setting.

A few weeks ago we sat down with Cork footballer Eoin Cadogan, who mentioned the course he was doing in Setanta College.

IT HAD that wet, sticky feeling of an Irish summer in the Chinese capital yesterday, but Derek Burnett must never have felt as far from home in all his life.

DERVAL O’ROURKE has a time and a position for the world championships in Osaka written in her wardrobe since last year and, despite whatever setbacks she might have had in the meantime, it is still the target.

DERVAL O’ROURKE will follow a familiar path when she concludes her preparations for the world championships in Germany over the weekend.

EILEEN O’KEEFFE has had one eye on the weather forecast in the hours leading up to today’s defence of her hammer title at the Woodies DIY national track and field championships at Morton Stadium.

AFTER breaking the national 100m record for the second time this season with 10.18 secs for second place Saturday, Paul Hession put the finishing touches to a sensational weekend at the European Cup in Vaasa, Finland, by beating European silver medallist, Johan Wissman (Sweden), in the 200m yesterday.

DERVAL O’ROURKE renews rivalry with European indoor and outdoor hurdles champion Susanna Kallur at the European Cup in Vaasa, Finland this weekend on a crucial weekend for Irish athletics.

DERVAL O’ROURKE and Paul Hession head to the first Golden League meeting of the year — the Bislett Games in Oslo tonight — hoping for better weather than that which greeted them at an international meeting in Stavanger, Norway on Wednesday night.

Athletics trainer Jim Kilty is set to join John O'Mahony's Mayo senior football management team

JOHN O’MAHONY is in the process of putting the final touches to his Mayo management team, with former Olympic coach Jim Kilty likely to be involved.

Ireland's biotechnology industry is expanding, according to leading experts.

DERVAL O’ROURKE put the perfect finishing touch yesterday in Nuremberg to her preparations for next week’s European championships in Gothenburg when she ran close to the new national record she set at 12.85 last week in both the heats and the final of the women’s 100m hurdles.

DERVAL O’ROURKE is hoping that one more race followed by some fine tuning will send her to Gothenburg in the shape of her life for the European Track & Field Championships.

JOANNE CUDDIHY (UCD AC) stole the limelight from Derval O’Rourke at the Woodies DIY national championships in Morton Stadium, snatching the 200m title with a new personal best of 23.33 secs on Saturday, before producing another lifetime-best to win the 400m in a championship-best time of 51.28 secs yesterday.

DERVAL O’ROURKE is all set to take her place in the line-up for the 100m hurdles at the BUPA Cork City Sports this afternoon relieved to be finally able to get her outdoor season under way after an injury scare.

FOR THE participants, day one of the annual National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel is the worst.

SPRUCE HUNTER, owned by Master Darragh Bourke from Castleisland, Co Kerry — beaten in the semi-finals of All-Aged Stakes at Castleisland and Kilflynn — made it third time lucky yesterday when taking the Jades Dilemma and Big Fella Thank Stake at Clonakilty.

Two prisoners sharing a cell died in an apparent suicide pact today.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN finished 15th of 16 finishers in the 1,500m at the Grand Prix in Madrid on Sunday night, but it was a run that was totally out of context and there is no need to panic.

CORK is among the front-runners to host the European Cross-Country Championships in 2005 — the year the City will hold the status of European Capital of Culture.

DERVAL O’ROURKE reaped the rewards of professional preparation when she ran 8.18 secs to win the 60m hurdles at the international meet in Cardiff on Sunday.