Since Tom Brady and Deflategate earlier this year, the match ball in sport has come under scrutiny, but the chances of such an episode being repeated at Croke Park on Sunday are slim to none, writes John Fogarty

Donagh Kelly and co-driver Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC) took a strong victory in the Dooley’s Hotel Raven’s Rock Rally in Waterford, round five of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

The mood music around the election of left-wing Syriza in Greece changed significantly in the EU as voting day approached.

“Sometimes, they just don’t want to buy, what I want to sell.”

To achieve something in your home place that has never been done before is something very special.

Defending champion Brendan Cummins, who is chasing his seventh All-Ireland Poc Fada title, will have to beat some of hurling's best talents in the final on Annaverna Mountain next month.

Comedian Ardal O’Hanlon has revealed he has returned to Channel 4 to take on a starring role in a sitcom.

Goals from Mikael Lustig, Georgios Samaras and James Forrest gave Celtic a comfortable win over Cliftonville and ensured there is little chance of an upset when the Irish League side travel to Parkhead next week for the second leg of their Champions League second round qualifier.

Despite numerous attempts to give it publicity, despite the fact that it was tied to a very popular charity, Crumlin Children’s Hospital, last weekend’s Martin Donnelly Interpro football final in Croke Park was a bit of a damp squib, even if some of the biggest names in football were in action for both Ulster and Leinster.

Connacht 3-13 Leinster 1-16

People who feel the interprovincial championships, the old Railway Cup, don’t have a future should have a chat with Jackie Tyrrell.

Munster Interprovincial football manager Ger O’Sullivan is adamant his team stand a great chance of beating Ulster in Sunday’s semi-final despite four of the province’s six counties being Division 4 teams.

Irish golf clubs have a major part to play in making next year’s The Gathering event a successful enterprise, says a leading tourism official.

The GAA are looking into the possibility of staging one or both of the Interprovincial finals in Dallas, Texas in 2014.

The International Golf Travel Market (IGTM), is where the golf tourism industry gathers each year to do business.

The Irish golf industry is not just focused on its overseas clientele and Fáilte Ireland will next Tuesday turn its attentions to homegrown golfers when it hosts a free Golf Promotion Night in Dublin’s Burlington Hotel, between 6pm and 10pm.

Clare’s victory on Saturday made the perfect occasion for the launch of Davy Fitzgerald’s new Ennis pub.

On the night of July 18, 1992, Martin Donnelly sat in his hotel room in the Clare Inn looking at 20 brand new Clare jerseys.

The weekend events north and south of the border provide an interesting contrast.

Holders Shamrock Rovers beat Cliftonville 3-1 on penalties to advance to the semi-finals of the Setanta Sports Cup on a dramatic night at Solitude.

Less than a minute into Kilkenny’s win over Waterford in Walsh Park in the Allianz Hurling League game on Sunday last, Michael Fennelly laid down a marker — a full-blooded frontal hit on Waterford’s powerful centre-back, Kevin Moran.

On the field, Kilkenny senior hurling captain Eoin Larkin leads by example. When the need is greatest, that’s when Eoin is most prominent and time and again throughout a glistening career we’ve seen that.

An official attendance of 658 was recorded for the Martin Donnelly Interprovincial hurling final in Nowlan Park on Sunday as hosts Leinster easily fended off the late challenge of Connacht to claim the title.

All-Ireland winning captain Eoin Kelly has insisted the door is “wide open” for Lar Corbett should he ever decide to return to the Tipperary hurling panel.

Lar Corbett has broken his silence after withdrawing from the Tipperary panel.

Munster captain Tomás Ó Sé says Tipperary should have shown more respect to the M Donnelly Interprovincial series.

The powerbases of hurling in Leinster and Munster was reflected in the starting sides chosen by the respective managers Joe Dooley and Liam Sheedy for this Martin Donnelly Interprovincial Championship hurling semi-final in Nowlan Park yesterday.

Kerry duo’s selection for the Martin Donnelly interpro series is a huge boost, writes Diarmuid O’Flynn

Tipperary chairman Seán Nugent believes the Premier County will come out strongly against paying managers at next Tuesday’s monthly board meeting.

The 2012 M Donnelly-sponsored Interprovincial Football and Hurling Championship was launched today by GAA President Christy Cooney at Croke Park.

The GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) were yesterday forced to make a dramatic fixture U-turn following an intervention by Leinster interpro boss Seán Boylan.

Leinster manager Seán Boylan argues the Interprovincial Series is a valid way of helping curb the recent spats of indiscipline at inter-county level.

A goal on his 23rd birthday from Dinny Corcoran and a wonderful strike from Karl Moore got Aaron Callaghan’s Bohemians reign off to the uplifting start that all at Dalymount Park would have hoped for as they’ll take a deserved 2-1 lead to Portadown for next week's second leg.

MARTIN DONNELLY has confirmed he will sponsor the interprovincial championships next month.

RAILWAY Cups patron Martin Donnelly is awaiting a call from the GAA about again becoming involved in the sponsorship of the competitions.

MARTIN DONNELLY, Irish sponsor of Matthew Macklin, planned to have hundreds of green T-shirts printed today with “Matthew Macklin — WORLD CHAMPION” on the back.

The Interprovincial Football and Hurling Championships, formerly known as the Railway Cups, are poised to return to the GAA calendar in 2012.

GAA interprovincial championships sponsor Martin Donnelly has welcomed the Central Council’s plans to discuss the future of the competition this Saturday.

RENOWNED GAA patron Martin Donnelly has called on the GAA to allow the GPA to take ownership of the interprovincial football and hurling series to revive the sidelined competition.

RAILWAY Cup sponsor Martin Donnelly believes the ailing competition still has a future though GAA chiefs have suspended the competition this season.

DELEGATES were in no real mood to embrace changes in the playing rules experimented in the subsidiary competitions and the league in the early motions debated at last night’s opening session of the GAA Congress in Newcastle, Co. Down.