The Government has said it will take steps to increase the number of IT graduates as 80 new jobs were announced in an equity software firm in West Cork.

The Junior Finance Minister says high taxes are scaring off foreign companies.

Victims of the Setanta Insurance scandal are not guaranteed to receive 100% of their claims, it emerged in the Dáil yesterday.

With just 48 hours or so to go, there will be many frayed nerves in the Fine Gael ranks this morning.

Lawyers acting for Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe have written to the minister for justice demanding that Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan be removed from her post for the duration of the Disclosure Tribunal.

Nyberg kicks up some uncomfortable truths

All of Willie Mullins’ big guns are waiting in the wings for Cheltenham, but it makes no difference to a trainer who simply has a wealth of talent at his disposal.

There was no fairytale ending to Davy Russell’s reign as first jockey to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud at Tramore yesterday.

The starting of races in Ireland, which has long been a bone of contention, reached farcical proportions for the opening Maiden Hurdle at Tramore yesterday.

The 12-year-old Captain Cee Bee was far too good for his younger rivals in the Grade 2 Friends’ Of Tipperary Hurdle at Tipperary yesterday.

The Annual Membership Maiden Hurdle at Limerick yesterday didn’t half capture the imagination.

Pride Of The Artic, the outsider of three runners, produced a fine display to land the John F McGuire Novice Chase at Listowel yesterday.

A row which threatened to drag on for weeks was resolved yesterday when talks between high-ranking officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the gardaí, and turfcutters resulted in the end of an 18-hour protest at Clonmoylan bog in Co Galway.

Defiant turf cutters have claimed they won a battle against officials, but not the war.

DAVY RUSSELL can surely now be described as champion jockey-elect, following a splendid double at Thurles yesterday.

THE potentially top-class Joncol, a horse who has been plagued by problems, made a fine start to the season when taking the John Meagher Memorial Chase at Thurles yesterday.

HENRY de Bromhead continued his terrific start to the season when saddling 40-1 shot Case Jove, almost 190-1 on the tote, to land the Cashel Maiden Hurdle at Clonmel yesterday.

THE talented Michael Winters trained Rebel Fitz lit up Cork yesterday with a fine display of front-running to land the INH Stallion Owners’ EBF Novice Hurdle.

CAPTAIN PAULIE, disappointing at Wexford previously, was back on track in the Munster Waste Management Handicap Hurdle at a packed Cork yesterday.

Mervyn Torrens is not worried about Hughies Grey’s novice status ahead of a crack at the Ladbrokes Irish Grand National.

IT doesn’t take long for Darach MacDonald, author of Blood & Thunder: Inside an Ulster Protestant Band, to make a provocative comparison.

STREETS OF GOLD, trained by Christy Roche for J P McManus, dug deep to land the paddypower.com Grand National at Cork yesterday.

ADRIAN MAGUIRE’S Anshan Dreams followed his win in a maiden at Tipperary with a smooth success in the INH Stallion Owners’ EBF Novice Hurdle at Cork yesterday.

SPILL THE BEANS, who had hit the bar on a couple of occasions previously, got off the mark when landing the opening maiden hurdle at Tramore yesterday.

CRACK Irish jockey Davy Russell, who has not had a drink for 15 years, failed a breath test at Listowel yesterday – over mouthwash.

MOON DICE, trained by Paul Flynn and having a first outing since finishing down the field behind Where’s The Dosh at Navan back in December, landed a gamble in the Ladies’ Day 10th October Maiden Hurdle at sun-drenched Limerick last night.

GRA Geal Mo Chroi has a leading chance in the Mayo Advertiser Handicap at Ballinrobe tonight.

PAUL NOLAN’S classy Cuan Na Grai toyed with the opposition on the way to landing the Supermacs’ Drive Thru Hurdle at Limerick yesterday.

MICHAEL DARCY missed four rides at Limerick yesterday, having failed an alcohol breath test prior to racing.

ADRIAN HESKIN added to his growing reputation when powering False Economy, backed from 7-1 to 5’s, to an easy victory in the opening maiden hurdle at Tipperary last night.

WHAT a job Willie Mullins has done with Our Monty.

IT WAS one of those panels studded with the famous, lucid and loquacious.

AIDAN O’Brien, fresh from a treble on Tuesday, took his tally for the two days to four when Liszt galloped his rivals silly in the featured Waste Disposal Ltd Handicap at Killarney last night.

The jury in a Tipperary murder and arson trial has heard that charred debris was found at the home of the accused in the days after the killing.

THE layers got a screamer of a result in the Glen Chase at Thurles yesterday when 33-1 shot Florida Express beat 5-4 favourite Scotsirish and there was certainly no fluke about it.

EAGLE’S PASS, third behind Farmer Brown in the Galway Hurdle twelve months ago, is on the trail of that major prize again, following a smooth victory in the Ulster Bank Mallow Hurdle at Cork last night.

ADRIAN MAGUIRE and Colman Sweeney are a solid combination when joining forces and they were on the mark again at Tramore yesterday when Optimus Prime landed the Directors’ Chase.

PUNTERS were left gasping for breath after 16-1 shot Gaspar, the outsider of the five runners, trounced his rivals in the Grade 3 Phil Sweeney Memorial Chase at a bitingly cold Thurles yesterday.

Greatwood Hurdle winner Sizing Europe is in flying form as he prepares for the bewleyshotels.com December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown on December 29.

TONY MULLINS is already thinking in terms of Cheltenham for his exciting Decoy Daddy, who was far too good for market-leader, Venalmar, in the Mitchelstown Hurdle at Cork yesterday.

Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter has tonight retaken the seat he lost in 2003 in the final count in the Dublin South constituency.