A man who raped a child three times after bringing her to an underpass near her home has been jailed for nine years.

Former Tyrone star Owen Mulligan believes the ‘knives will be out’ for long-serving manager Mickey Harte if the Red Hand fail to come through tomorrow’s tricky All-Ireland qualifier trip to Newbridge.

Don't be fooled by the scoreline.

A short-term gain for Davy Fitzgerald yesterday could turn out to be a long-term pain. His intervention seemed to upset Galway’s momentum and got his players going.

“I considered myself utterly filthy. I felt so unloved and worthless. It was a very dark and lonely place to be in my mind. I wanted to die.”

Donegal waltzed back to the top flight of the Allianz League with a comprehensive 13-point win over a listless Kildare at Fr Tierney Park in Ballyshannon yesterday.

With Cork unable to do themselves any favours on Saturday, it was the unintentional goodwill of others that has them still in with a slim chance of avoiding the drop.

Ryan McHugh has put his injuries behind him and is now concentrating his efforts on getting Donegal back to Division 1 and preparing for the defence of the Ulster SFC come summer.

Martin McElhinney says the current Donegal squad is the best he’s been involved in.

Michael Murphy gave us a glimpse of his past brilliance on Saturday. Past brilliance as one of the best Number 14s in GAA history. He has dominated hundreds of ‘squares’ for the best part of a decade.

What an amazing spectacle in Thurles yesterday and James McGrath can believe he contributed to it, writes Brian Gavin.

Donegal 2-18 Fermanagh 0-12

My expectation that Fermanagh would make things horrible for Donegal in yesterday’s Ulster final never materialised. Perhaps I hadn’t factored in how much of an occasion this was for the Fermanagh players.

It’s said if you’re once bitten you’ll be twice shy, so Declan Bonner has reason to be tentative as Donegal head to nearby Celtic Park in Derry well-tipped to win Sunday’s Ulster SFC quarter-final.

Although some of the fizz has been taken out of the provincial championships since the introduction of the qualifiers back in 2001, there’s a semblance of a climactic feel to Donegal’s preliminary round opener against Cavan in Ballybofey tomorrow.

This current Galway outfit must be totally tuned in from the first whistle or they can take an awful pasting against Kerry, writes Ray Silke.

It’s hard to believe. Tyrone 1-21 Donegal 1-12 — and it was a scoreline that flattered Donegal.

Donegal 3-19 Antrim 1-9: With the wheels of change evident in Donegal, there was further evidence of its forward trajectory at Ballybofey yesterday.

Big three, big four, two groups of 16, three tiers, and the Super 8. The GAA is all about the numbers at the minute, writes Oisín McConville.

Kerry corner-back Shane Enright has been ruled out of Saturday’s Allianz Division 1 clash against Mayo with concussion but he may be available for the Monaghan game on February 26.

A man given 12-year sentences for raping and sexually abusing his three step-children must wait to hear the outcome of an appeal.

A man has been given a 12-year sentence for raping and sexually abusing his three step-children.

Donegal 1-11 Down 0-11: Frank McGlynn’s goal, after only 68 seconds, fired Donegal to a useful opening-day win over Down, in the Dr McKenna Cup, at Ballybofey.

Donegal GAA chiefs last night released a statement in response to comments made by Jim McGuinness regarding last year’s team holiday.

The lack of competitive games this weekend ensured they passed without any major controversy, even as we get close to the summit of the football season.

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Gaelic football has moved on, but the media and GAA officialdom are clinging to a past that has long since ceased to exist.

Two minutes before half-time in the 2011 Ulster semi-final, Tyrone ripped through the blanket and Brian McGuigan fed Stephen O’Neill, who cut inside two Donegal defenders.

Jim McGuinness has rejected commentary by Joe Brolly and Jarlath Burns about the state of Gaelic football.

Travelling up to Croke Park yesterday morning I had serious concerns as to whether Fintan Goold and, in particular, Eoin Cadogan, were a suitable duo for Cork at midfield.

In school, we were taught one of the fundamental truths that it is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.

Jim McGuinness has made two changes to the side that overcame Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final for tomorrow’s decider at Croke Park.

It’s a Wednesday evening and the main street in Ardara is quiet.

Donegal boss Jim McGuinness has opted against publicly naming his starting side for tomorrow’s All-Ireland SFC against Kerry at Croke Park.

MY brother Brian was corner back for the Galway minors in 1986 when they beat Cork in the All-Ireland final. Later that afternoon Kerry beat Tyrone in the senior game. Brian is 45 now and in the intervening 28 years Kerry have since failed to defeat an Ulster team in an All-Ireland senior final.

A few years ago a television advertising campaign proclaimed that this was rugby country. The marketing team that came up with it had obviously never been to Glenties to see the Jim McGuinness effect.

Brian McEniff fancies Jim McGuinness on Sunday to make up for the last time he faced Jim Gavin in Championship football.

A man who had pornographic images of children as young as10 on his phone was forced to leave his home because of media reports of these offences, a court has heard.