There was late drama at today's EirGrid All-Ireland U21 football semi-final between Mayo and Dublin at O’Connor Park in Tullamore.

The chief protagonists in Mayo’s 2013 minor success made a conscious decision in the days and weeks after delivering the county’s first All-Ireland at that grade in 28-years; they vowed, on and off the field, to stick together.

Aidan O’Shea has admitted that losing Mayo’s long-running status as a Division 1 team would be a major setback, though conceded that the situation has effectively been taken out of their hands.

Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice has backed Paul Murphy to shine again at centre-forward, though he accepts that tomorrow’s Allianz FL Division 1 clash with Donegal in Tralee will represent a different challenge for the Rathmore man than Down did last week.

Three second-half goals propelled Mayo to their first victory in the Connacht U-21 football championship for three years last night.

New Kerry captain Kieran Donaghy will make his first competitive start of the year in Sunday’s Allianz Football League Division 1 clash with Dublin in Fitzgerald Stadium (2pm).

AIB MUNSTER CLUB SFC FINAL:

Mayo 2-13 Tyrone 1-13

Mayo 3-19 Monaghan 1-12

Staff at Institute of Technology Tralee are said to be in shock that anyone who leaked details of a plagiarism complaint against the college chairperson might face disciplinary action.

Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has followed through on a pledge when he took office to make the corporate tax rate competitive.

Three external academics have been chosen to investigate allegations of plagiarism against IT Tralee chairman Flan Garvey.

The statutory body which lecturers want to investigate a plagiarism claim against their college’s chairman says Institute of Technology Tralee has proper procedures to do so itself.

The chairman of the Institute of Technology Tralee, Flan Garvey, has been accused of plagiarism in his research project for a master’s degree.

It would be a “dreadful shame” if budget cuts result in schools dropping chemistry and physics from the Leaving Certificate programme, a senior academic has said.

A HORSE trainer and a property developer are among a “secret” group of 17 people advising the Health Service Executive (HSE) on reconfiguration of health services in the South.

BRITAIN’S plan to cut the headline rate of corporation tax over the next five years, starting in next month’s emergency budget, could pose a threat to inward investment into Ireland if the cuts are steep enough.

BANK of Ireland, cross-border shoppers and the IDA were the winners in yesterday’s pre-election British budget.

New Zealand’s management reacted with disbelief today over an “inaccurate rumour” that a player may have used racist language in the presence of groundstaff at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

A professional motor assessor has told the Ir£151,000 fraud conspiracy trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that a Rover car he examined was never involved in a traffic accident.

SIX FEET UNDER, the macabre drama about life and death in an undertakers' parlour, has received a record 23 Emmy nominations.