Far from the madding crowd, deep in the caverns of the birthplace of the once great bastion of altruistic volunteerism that was the GAA, a room full of megalomaniacs congregated.

Sky shares leaped to an 18-year high yesterday as investors bet that a transatlantic battle for the TV group had further to run after Comcast’s $34bn (€29bn) bid trumped an offer from Rupert Murdoch made just hours earlier.

If ever there was a microcosm of the battle for hearts and minds in Australian sport, then today’s fare is it.

In the tunnel underneath the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon moments before the 1967 European Cup final, Celtic’s players lined up alongside their opposition, Inter Milan.

Rupert Murdoch’s Fox and Netherlands-based Ziggo Sport — owned by John Malone’s Liberty Global and Vodafone — said they had been targeted in a European Commission investigation into a possible cartel in sports broadcasting rights.

Walt Disney offered to buy Sky News to help Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox win over UK regulators reviewing Fox’s £11.7bn (€13.3bn) acquisition of broadcaster Sky.

Sky News would be sold off to Walt Disney or ringfenced under improved concessions put forward by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox as part of its efforts to seize full control of broadcaster Sky.

US cable giant, Comcast, offered to buy Sky for £22.2bn (€25.3bn), in an unsolicited approach, taking on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox and Bob Iger’s Walt Disney in the battle for Europe’s biggest pay-TV group.

The great American comedian George Carlin had a terrific routine in which he talked about the language used in American football, writes Michael Moynihan.

Amazon’s sports broadcasting ambitions will be tested this week in a multi-billion pound auction of English Premier League soccer rights, potentially pitting it against Sky and BT.

Hit shows like Game of Thrones and Riviera have helped Sky deliver a 10% rise in first-half earnings, underscoring the appeal of the European pay-TV group to the US media companies trying to buy it.

The popularity of Game Of Thrones has helped boost broadcasting giant Sky as it posted surging revenues and customer numbers.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is "bitterly disappointed" by a US Department of Commerce decision to impose a tariff of nearly 220% on a new model of passenger jet manufactured by Bombardier, one of the North's biggest employers, Downing Street said.

Rupert Murdoch's £11.7bn (€13bn) bid to take full control of Sky through 21st Century Fox will be referred to the UK competition watchdog for an in-depth probe, British Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has confirmed.

The UK plans to expand its probe into 21st Century Fox’s bid for broadcaster Sky, exposing Rupert Murdoch and his family to further scrutiny over governance at their media empire and adding to the uncertainty about the £11.7bn (€12.8bn) deal.

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has decided to pull right-wing Fox News from Sky’s airwaves.

Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox has decided to pull right-wing Fox News from UK airwaves.

Senior gardaí are coming under pressure to explain the exact scope of the investigation into the recording of fake breath tests after it emerged the Road Safety Authority (RSA) had expressed concerns that a case of one garda breathalysing himself to boost figures was not part of the probe.

Senior gardaí are coming under pressure to explain the exact scope of the investigation into the recording of fake breath tests after it emerged the Road Safety Authority (RSA) had expressed concerns that a case of one garda breathalysing himself to boost figures was not part of the probe.

The British government is seeking further advice from Ofcom on Rupert Murdoch's £11.7bn swoop for Sky after receiving "new evidence and comments".

Rupert Murdoch may have to wait until at least March 2018 before finding out whether the UK government will allow his 21st Century Fox entertainment company to buy the rest of Sky.

The UK intends to subject Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of European pay-TV group Sky to a lengthy in-depth investigation after finding the $15bn (€13.2bn) deal risks giving the media mogul too much power over the news agenda.

The UK's competition watchdog looks poised to launch an in-depth investigation into Rupert Murdoch's £11.7bn swoop for Sky after British culture secretary Karen Bradley said she was "minded" to refer the bid for further scrutiny.

Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7bn (€13.2bn) bid to take full control of Sky has been given the green light by regulators in Ireland, leaving the UK’s decision the last remaining hurdle for the deal.

The guys who did the bad things seem to have been rewarded with a lot more money than the girls to whom the bad things were done, writes Terry Prone.

Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox has secured unconditional EU competition approval for its £11.7bn (€14bn) takeover of pay-TV group Sky.

The British government said yesterday it would refer Rupert Murdoch’s planned takeover of Sky to regulators to decide if the deal was in the public interest.

Did Britain’s political establishment and the media deliberately frame the Hillsborough tragedy as hooligan-inspired and exploit this falsehood to transform football. Brendan Daly examines the evidence.

THE night of the Brexit referendum, I go to bed with an unfamiliar sense of trepidation. Dread, almost. What if they actually do it? Naaah.

Prosecutors ended one of the biggest scandals in British journalism, saying they would take no more action over phone hacking charges against two of the country’s largest newspaper groups.

The founder of the global News Corp media empire, Rupert Murdoch, is suggesting that US president Barack Obama is not a “real black president.”

The inevitable has come to pass.

The former head of security at Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper empire has threatened to blow the whistle with “shock” revelations about the company.

Expansion costs at the online news agency established by former RTÉ presenter Mark Little contributed to accumulated losses at the firm increasing by €2.2m to €5.8m, last year.

The media baron Rupert Murdoch is preparing to hand over the CEO job at Twenty-First Century Fox to his son, James, the firm’s channel Fox News reported.

Rangers 1 Motherwell 3

Your guide to tonight's TV programmes.

Leech therapy is among the alternative medicine practices featured on Inside Harley Street, Monday.