By the time Colm Begley was 21 he had already played in three Laois senior football finals with Stradbally.

The moving of the Laurels to the early part of the year caused much consternation when the decision was made in early 2015, and its current residence will re main under scrutiny for as long as it remains a pre-summer date.

Ger Murphy always felt it was only a matter of time before he won the National Lottery and he was right — it just took 25 years of playing the same numbers.

The draw for the 2015 Irish Laurels was made yesterday afternoon at Curraheen Park and, despite concerns of a lack of numbers, management have brought together 66 greyhounds for Saturday night’s opening round.

Sportsmanship at its best!

There is quiet confidence but no certainty of success on the part of the Irish delegation in Geneva ahead of Uefa’s long-awaited announcement this lunchtime of the host nations for the European Championship finals of 2020.

Looking under the bonnet with Martin Murphy, a pharmaceutical worker in Dungarvan, Co Waterford

Four former directors of Pierse Contracting, once Ireland’s third-largest building contractor, are men of honesty and integrity who believed they were acting responsibly in allowing the firm to continue trading beyond 2009, the High Court has been told.

The Inquiry is one of the gems from this year’s documentary strand at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival; although, technically, it’s a drama written from documentary evidence, as its screenplay is threaded with newspaper cuttings and British parliamentary reports.

A total of 35 companies have been disqualified from the JobBridge scheme following investigations by the Department of Social Protection.

AIB MUNSTER CLUB SFC FINAL:

A group of eight farmers whose EU payments were cut off by the Department of Agriculture without any notice or reason took their case to the European Parliament.

“The years don’t be long going.”

House deals in the €700,000-€800,000 price bracket have been agreed in Cork’s environs in recent days, for an immaculate Victorian semi-d on the Blackrock Road, and again at Spur Hill for a 3,250 sq ft modern home on three acres: both houses had featured extensively in these pages, and found bidders and buyers very smartly.

ANNE Doyle is guest host for the Lighthouse Keepers’ Global Gathering, a three-day programme of lectures, fireworks and music, which kicks off today at Hook Lighthouse in Co Wexford. The former RTÉ newsreader has been enchanted with lighthouses since childhood.

A Dublin man charged with the murder of veteran criminal Eamon Kelly can appear at his next court hearing via video link, the Special Criminal Court has ruled.

Saturday night’s inaugural Night Of Stars at Shelbourne Park had its spills but, one unfortunate incident aside, it was overwhelmingly successful, and the Gain Feeds Open 600 which tailed the card, provided a fittingly spectacular finish to proceedings.

By trainer Paul Hennessy’s own admission, Priceless Sky is not very well known on the Open Race circuit but heading into Saturday night’s semi-finals of the Kerry Agribusiness St Leger, he’s vying for outright favouritism with Derby winner Skywalker Puma and former Puppy Derby winner Sparta Maestro.

The local greyhound racing community united in celebration on Saturday night as Knockglass Billy, owned by Martin Murphy of Ladysbridge, ran out a facile and very popular winner of the Connolly’s Red Mills Irish Laurels.

The 2012 Connolly’s Red Mills Irish Laurels comes to a climax at Curraheen Park tonight and the Graham Holland-trained Knockglass Billy can land the prestigious trophy for owner Martin Murphy, of Ladysbridge.

Injury concerns for Ireland ahead of Friday’s big World Cup qualifying test against Germany have worsened with the news that Glenn Whelan is the latest player to emerge as a major doubt for the game.

Ballymac Vic, who was beginning to make a real impact on the Irish Derby when his challenge was cut short at the quarter-final stage, came out on top in the hottest of last Saturday night’s opening-round heats of the Connolly’s Red Mills Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park and he rates nap material to follow up this evening.

Pre-tax losses at the Aviva Stadium, owned by the IRFU and the FAI, fell to €2.43m in its first full year of trading, having shipped losses of €7.16m in the prior year when it was open for six months but incurred costs on a full-year basis.

Two Irish backpackers were critically injured after they were attacked in a boarding house in Melbourne, Australia, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

There are two withdrawals from the third round of the Ladbrokes Irish Derby but it remains highly competitive.

Kerry boss Jack O’Connor yesterday paid tribute to defender Tom O’Sullivan describing the five time All-Ireland winner as “a great corner back and a great man marker over many years.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has arrived in New York for the latest leg of his St Patrick's visit to the United States.

Tonight’s programme features the second round of the Kudos Supersprint but the best bet of the night comes in the first semi-final of the Crossfield Kennels Puppy Oaks, where Francie Murray’s Smoke Pixie looks banker material.

Following his sale on Saturday last, Cabra Noel is likely to race as Tyrur Justin when he begins his quest for English Derby honours at Wimbledon.

There was all-too-rare good news on the jobs front yesterday, with the creation of almost 550 new positions in Galway, Kildare, Sligo, Limerick and Cork.

FOLLOWING the completion of voting, officials for the National coursing meeting in Clonmel at the end of the months have been named.

LEAVING Certificate pupils look set to be rewarded for studying science as Education Minister Ruairi Quinn examines the possibility of giving students extra points for taking up subjects.

THE new head of the Department of Public Expenditure said the public service would be a good deal smaller and that difficult decisions lay ahead for projects, payrolls and state agencies.

A national internship scheme has been launched to give up to 5,000 unemployed people critical work experience.

Ninety new jobs are on the way to Dublin and Galway.

Home games against France next week and England next month should finally roar the wrapping off the new Aviva Stadium, says stadium manager Martin Murphy. He spoke to Michael Moynihan.

Leinster Rugby have announced today that the forthcoming Heineken Cup quarter-final game with Leicester, set for the weekend of 8-10 April, will be played at the Aviva Stadium.

AS IF things weren’t bad enough.

AVIVA STADIUM director Martin Murphy has admitted that work is underway to solve leakage problems in the roof of the state-of-the-art venue.