Few are feeling the absence of a full national senior women’s team more than the Dwyer sisters, but they remain standard bearers for Irish basketball. And tonight they aim to lead by example as their Team Montenotte Hotel Glanmire face DCU in the National Cup semi-final, writes Kieran Shannon

Double Paralympic gold medallist Mark Rohan believes Pat Flanagan is the man to resurrect Offaly’s footballing fortunes — if and when he is appointed to the role.

As if the inclement nature of the weather isn’t enough of an obstacle for Irish athletes’ endurance training, Mark Rohan has to cope with the added worry that failure to make the top three at the Para-Cycling Road World Championships in August will cost him €20,000.

Derval O’Rourke and Ciarán Ó Lionáird have expressed disappointment at the level of funding they are set to receive in 2014.

MARK Rohan lives the life of a professional athlete but he remembers how it was before a motorbike accident left him with four broken bones in his back, four compound fractures of his right leg, a bone broken on his left foot, four broken ribs, a torn Aorta, a broken sternum and a broken clavicle.

Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan has selected an unchanged team for Saturday's Leinster SFC quarter-final clash with defending champions Dublin at Croke Park (throw-in 7pm).

In sport, not just the GAA, routines are sacrosanct.

Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan has credited double Paralympic gold medallist Mark Rohan with inspiring the team’s unlikely Allianz FL Division 2 form.

GAA director of games development Pat Daly has confirmed this Saturday’s coaching conference in Croke Park is a 700-ticket sell-out.

As expected, Katie Taylor was last night named the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year for 2012.

Katie Taylor made it clear yesterday she would prefer to turn her back on the professional ranks and fight to retain her gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and the Bray boxer is expected to announce her final decision on her future within the next 10 days.

Double Paralympic gold medallist, Mark Rohan, has called for up-and-coming athletes to be prioritised at the expense of established sportspeople when the next raft of government funding is distributed.

It’s official — even our leaders can only dream of the adulation now being afforded to Ireland’s Paralympic athletes.

Ireland's most successful Paralympic team ever touched down tonight with 16 medals en tow, receiving a rapturous reception from the thousands of well-wishers at Dublin Airport.

Home are the heroes, a bit later than expected.

If smiling ever becomes an Olympic (or indeed Paralympic) sport, future participants should know the world record has already been set — at 9.09pm yesterday, to be exact.

Ireland’s double gold Paralympians shone with pride as they touched down in Dublin and vowed to defend their titles in Rio 2016.

It was the most incredible two weeks in London.

Meet the next generation of Irish paralympians.

Irish President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to Team Ireland on their outstanding performance at the London Paralympic Games.

Double Paralympic champion Mark Rohan, who won his second gold yesterday, has revealed one of the inspirations behind his success in London this week.

Mark Rohan shut his eyes tightly and exhaled the deepest of breaths as the first bars of Amhrán na bhFiann swept through the home straight in Brands Hatch and the tricolour was raised in his honour for the second time in three days.

Ireland’s Jason Smyth followed in the footsteps of Usain Bolt last night by completing a London 2012 sprint double.

Jason Smyth is a double Olympic Champion once again after he made it gold medal number eight for Team Ireland with victory in the 200 metres T13 final.

Ireland have won gold and silver medals this afternoon at the Paralympic Games in London.

Ireland’s Paralympic team took a break from the medal trail yesterday after six positively greedy days here in London but the pursuit will resume today when Mark Rohan and Jason Smyth attempt to double up on golds claimed earlier this week.

For five days, Mark Rohan could only look on as the medals were hoarded and the levels of expectation multiplied like ripples in a pond.

Team Ireland are celebrating another gold medal at the London Games.

They just keep on comin’.

“Forget everything you think you knew about strength,

Tomorrow evening, the opening ceremony for the 2012 Paralympics will serve as the world’s portal to over 4,000 athletes which Channel 4, the host country’s broadcaster, have been calling superhumans in their clever, pre-Games advertising campaign.

The 2012 Irish Paralympic team departed for a two-week pre-Games training camp this morning with chief executive Liam Harbison claiming they were ready to better the successes achieved four years ago in Beijing.

Team Ireland’s chef de mission Sonia O’Sullivan was not consulted when initial plans were being made for a medal winners’ homecoming, it has emerged.

Officials in John Joe Nevin's home town have insisted a red carpet celebration of his Olympic success was never in doubt.

A TOTAL of 49 Irish athletes will travel to the Paralympic Games in London later this summer.

Matthew Brammeier’s appeal to be included for selection in the three-man Ireland Olympic road race team has been unsuccessful.

Mark Rohan’s story is so engaging it could keep the spools of a recorder turning for hours but, this being Ireland, the conversation eventually wound its way around to the more humdrum topic of the weather on Thursday.

Ireland’s senior men finished sixth overall in the European Wheelchair Championships today after suffering a 64-44 defeat to Serbia at the National Basketball Arena.

Ireland captain, Mark Rohan, was bitterly disappointed at his side’s failure to reach the final of the European Championships after defeat tonight.