Major changes are afoot in the Irish Hockey Association (IHA) after it was revealed that both chief executive Angus Kirkland and high performance director Dave Passmore stepped down from their respective roles.

EIMEAR CREGAN could overtake fellow Munster woman Rachael Kohler as the most capped Irishhockey player of all time this month.

NEW Ireland senior men’s hockey coach Paul Revington gets his first chance to see his new charges in action later this month as Scotland arrive for a three-game series.

PAUL REVINGTON has been appointed Irish senior men’s hockey coach.

IRELAND senior men’s interim coach Dave Passmore believes the young players in his squad will be in for a serious test as they take on Argentina in the first of an international double-header at Belfield tonight (7.30pm).

DAVE PASSMORE yesterday stepped down as the Irish senior men’s hockey coach but will take on the full-time role of high performance director, as part of the Irish Hockey Association’s (IHA) decision to split the roles.

IRELAND hockey coaches Gene Muller and Dave Passmore insist there are positives to be taken from the Setanta Sports Trophy despite seeing their sides finish bottom of the pile yesterday.

IRELAND hockey coach David Passmore has slammed the organisers of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Auckland after a controversial goal helped the host nation to a 3-1 win over Ireland yesterday.

DAVID HOBBS will celebrate his 100th Irish cap this weekend, and become the youngest player in Irish Hockey history to do so.

IRISH HOCKEY has had many depressing days over the years, but not many as bad as yesterday at these European Championships when a French team which had been thrashed 8-3 and 6-0 by Holland and Spain — teams which Ireland had performed so gamely against here in Belle Vue — managed to derail the Irish effort.

Ireland 0 Holland 1

IF IT might reasonably have been expected that the Irish men’s and women’s teams would deliver thin gruel in their European Championship openers against Spain and England respectively, it transpired that the men at least delivered some haute cuisine here in Belle Vue yesterday.

Ireland men’s coach Dave Passmore has named his 18-man squad for the EuroHockey Championships in Manchester this month, keeping faith with 15 players who featured at last year’s World Cup qualifiers.

IRELAND’S two senior teams are getting ready to embark on the biggest tournament to take place in the country this year.

CORK Church of Ireland’s John Jermyn is one the notable absentees from the Irish senior hockey squad to take on Holland next month.

THE Irish men’s international hockey season has a tough opening weekend with three tests against Scotland at Instonians’ newly laid water-based pitch in Belfast.

THE Irish Hockey Association yesterday appointed Gene Muller as the new women’s head coach and director of player performance.

RIET KUPER yesterday tendered her resignation as coach to the Irish senior women’s hockey team in a move which could ultimately see several changes in the sport’s international coaching system.

DESPITE this incredible result against a powerhouse of world hockey, there was a sense of frustration in the Ireland camp yesterday.

IRELAND aim to defeat tournament favourites Pakistan in this morning's Hockey World Cup qualifiers, to keep alive their hopes of making the finals in Germany, in September.

CANADA pulled out all the stops in their efforts to psych Ireland out of yesterday’s World Cup hockey qualifier, but Ireland held on for a vital 2-1 win to recover lost ground after their defeat by England.

IRISH coach Dave Passmore refused to be disheartened by yesterday’s 5-1 loss to England - and believes his team will bounce back from the defeat.

COACH Dave Passmore is confident the Irish men’s hockey team are in peak condition for their attempt to qualify for September’s World Cup in Germany.

NIGEL HENDERSON has returned to the Irish senior men’s team to help solve national coach Dave Passmore’s goalkeeper crisis.

VICTORY in the European Nations Hockey Championship was a turning point for the sport in this country. As the Irish continue to progress on tour in South Africa, national coach Dave Passmore tells Declan Colley why.

IRISH men’s coach Dave Passmore has been appointed High Performance Director for the Irish Hockey Association.

Ireland men’s coach Dave Passmore has been appointed high performance director for the Irish Hockey Association.

Ireland coach Dave Passmore has finalised the squad he will take to South Africa next month.

IRELAND’S senior men’s hockey squad face a demanding but exciting programme over the coming months in preparation for the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Chanzhou, China, from March 12 to 23 next.

VENI, VIDI, VICI! How appropriate it was Rome where Ireland came, saw and conquered in the European Nations Championship on Saturday night.

Ireland 2 Austria 1

THE Irish men’s hockey team today stand on the brink of attaining their goal at the European Nations Hockey Championships, but dodgy floodlights at the Tre Fontane Stadium in Rome may frustrate their ambitions.

Ireland 1 Wales 1

Ireland 7 Belarus 3

IRELAND’S senior men’s hockey team will travel to the European Nations Championships in Rome several days ahead of schedule to acclimatise properly ahead of the tournament, which begins on Sunday, September 11.

IRISH men’s hockey coach David Passmore has announced his squad for next month’s European Nations Trophy in Rome.

IRELAND will face China, the team ranked fourth in the world, in the bronze medal match at the KT Cup in South Korea after beating Malaysia 4-0 yesterday.

LAST WEEK’S fine victory at the Tri-Nations men’s hockey tournament in Cork proved to Ireland coach Dave Passmore that the Irish team has great potential as it continues its preparation for the European Nations Trophy in Rome from September 11-17.

DAVE PASSMORE, the Ireland senior men’s hockey coach, is expecting a testing time in this weekend’s Tri-Nations tournament at the water-based pitch in Garryduff.

Michael Moynihan

Annadale’s David Smyth has returned to Ireland’s squad for a tri-nations event against Canada and Italy after an 18-month absence.